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See Preparing for the First Scientific Conference in World of Warcraft for background and links. As a proud member of the Science Guild I attended Session 1 of the conference: “people who have published about WoW will briefly describe their completed work, and the abstracts and links will be available on the wiki. Others, who are currently engaged in research, will explain what they are doing at somewhat greater length, including any preview of results, in response to questions. The concluding part of the session will be a debate about future in-WoW projects that would be valuable to do, especially those that students might use as term papers and dissertations”. Then I joined the Expedition 1, was killed by a beast and resurrected by a kind soul, but then lost the group.

First impressions: I was still distracted by the novel (for me) WoW environment, but the content of the conference was very interesting. WoW has built-in voice chat, but it was not used for the conference (we used private guild chat) because, as it happens with most voice chat systems, it is difficult to manage conversations with more than a few participants (everyone seems to talk at the same time etc.). Bill Bainbridge gives some useful advice: “Although most of each session will be spontaneous discussion - a happy bedlam of ideas, information, and hypotheses - some material needs to be prepared ahead of time, and may be easiest to manage during the session by judicious use of chat macros...”.

But I still think not using voice reduces the communication bandwidth far too much. Most of my groups in SL have spontaneously settled on the same strategy: The main speaker speaks, people in the audience ask questions by text chat, if someone else wants to speak (s)he asks the floor to a moderator. This technique relies on the good manners of the participants -which is normally the case for this type of events- but I understand that some technical moderation features will be implemented soon. Also, I miss the presentation aids that we use in SL (PPT slides, video etc.). I do not think this can be done in WoW (I may be wrong). I still think that SL is a better environment for this kind of events, but look forward to today’s and tomorrow’s sessions in WoW. I will try to participate actively in the last session on the future course of development of WoW and other virtual worlds.

Session 2: “the relationship of the WoW economic system to the economy of the surrounding world; interesting comparisons between WoW and other games or virtual worlds; allegorical features of WoW in such areas as colonialism and state corruption; the importation of real-world social movements into WoW like environmentalism; this virtual world as an arena for players who want to explore alternative personalities and roles; the impact of WoW on players, whether educational or possibly harmful”. A very interesting discussion of sociology of VR worlds. I did not know how to find the conference place - people in the Science Guild directed me to go there by airship (zeppelin). I even made Level 2!!

My first impression was confirmed: a very interesting academic discussion of social aspects of VR worlds, in an environment that does not really offer much support for such things. The main interest of the WoW metaverse (I consider WoW as a VR world rather than a game) to a newcomer like me not much interested in gaming is exploration and sightseeing. My Tauren character (picture below) is an explorer who loves seeing new places in this very neat fantasy world. I also find the fictional history of WoW interesting, like a good fantasy novel, and I understand why millions of gamers find WoW addictive. Contrary to Second Life, WoW does not have an identity crisis: It is, and it is interpreted as such by its users, a good solid and very well done fantasy world.

Today’s Session 3 has been the most interesting: “This session will analyze the future course of development of WoW and other virtual worlds, at a time when many highly involved observers have expressed concern that progress is stalling, even as other observers imagine we are passing a breakthrough threshold, after which virtual worlds will become central to society. The failure of Sims Online, the continuing technical issues with Second Life, and the fact that no other MMORPG seems able to surpass WoW are warning signs. Recall that Active Worlds is over a decade old, and there is little hope that home computers or Internet connectivity will be vastly more capable over the next five years. It is possible that rapid future progress will actually depend upon us, because the success of a virtual world will depend upon the socio-cultural design qualities that make it serve human needs, and our research will contribute to the fund of knowledge supporting innovative design. Ten questions to begin with:” + my own answers:

1. Given that computer technology and Internet have stabilized, are current virtual worlds a technological dead end?

I do not think computer technology and Internet have stabilized - on the contrary they are advancing faster than ever, in particular VR technology. For example very soon there will be consumer interfaces based on VR technology much more immersive than a screen and a mouse, and even direct neural interfacing (see the website of Emotiv Systems for a first implementation that will reach the marketplace soon).

2. Other than WoW’s are there really any long-term viable business models for virtual worlds?

WoW’s model based on paid subscriptions is certainly viable and successful. WoW is one of the few VR worlds compelling enough for millions of users to pay a monthly fee. Another is Entropia Universe (which will become much more interesting after the implementation of Cry Engine 2). I think there will be a few VR worlds worth paying for, and some independent operator will offer subscription packs like for TV. Other viable models are business collaboration and v-learning - see the Qwaq website.

3. Would standardization of software-data platforms be revolutionary, permitting migration across many worlds?

Perhaps, but as some people have noted at the conference this may be more of a social and cultural issue than a technical issue. Also, too much standardization too soon limits innovation, and perhaps we should let creative people experiment some more before adopting rigid standards.

4. Could virtual worlds become living memorials for deceased persons, housing AI avatars of them?

Perhaps, but I and many other participants are more interested in another scenario: that VR worlds may permit deceased persons _living on_ as uploaded consciousnesses in virtual reality. We will have to wait some decades, but mind uploading is the logical end point of today’s advances in brain-to-computer interfacing technology. Our host Bill Bainbridge is also a pioneer in the emerging field of personality preservation, and the CyBeRev website has all eleven of the Bainbridge personality modules available as interactive, web-based tools with instant access to data analysis. Of course today’s interfaces are far too slow for such application, but wait a couple of decades for very high speed direct neural interfaces, and then…

5. Will virtual worlds create social and cultural alternatives that then thrive in the “real world?”

This is already happening. Perhaps also in WoW (I still don’t know enough about WoW), but we are beginning to see some real social and cultural alternatives emerging in Second Life.

6. Which online games will become permanent features of human culture, like chess and Monopoly?

WoW could be one, also because its fantasy settings protect it from becoming obsolete, that could happen to a SF world or one strongly based on the current world. If WoW is maintained, updated and stays at the forefront of VR technology, people could play it for decades. And perhaps… (see 4).

7. Will some virtual worlds declare political independence, like geographically based nations?

This would be a very welcome development. The sooner communities are decoupled from geography the better.

8. What as-yet unrecognized social functions could virtual worlds serve?

Reducing the impact of distance and enabling the establishment and maintenance of true, strongly bound distributed communities decoupled from geography (see 7). Also, permitting severely disabled people to have a more active social life.

9. Could augmented reality (e.g. pervasive LARPs) be the next revolution, virtual and real world combined?

I see this happening soon. It is already beginning to happen with the first experiments in Second Life and Google Earth. Then pervasive sensor networks will be coupled to VR worlds and offer users a seamless integration between physical and virtual realities, and VR telepresence based on realtime data feeds may become indistinguishable from physical presence for all practical effects.

10. What will persist into the future from today’s virtual worlds?  Will they have a history?

I am proud of having participated in writing a page of the history of VR worlds by attending this conference.

I will continue to visit World of Warcraft occasionally, and certainly attend all events organized by the Science Guild. This is a group of very bright people with interesting ideas. Good news: “The Science guild will continue after this conference as a point of communication about WoW and other virtual worlds, and a fun questing group”.