More MMO Story Stuff

I’ve been trying to come up with something really interesting for my final post on the class blog, something that would give people an excuse to procrastinate even in the face of finals week, but my brain keeps going back to the same nerdy place: Stories in virtual reality. Worse yet, I don’t have anything specific to talk about this time. Just a bunch of miscellaneous odds and ends I’ve encountered through the course of the quarter. Then again, these little link saturated posts are the best (worst?) time wasters in the world, and keeping things brief might not be a bad idea considering my own obligations.

First off, for those of you who are interested in role playing, or interested in pointing and laughing at the people who partake in it, I have stumbled across a few detailed guides on how to act out the various races in WoW. Inside you’ll find the answers to burning questions like “How strong should my broken Rastafarian accent be when I’m role playing a troll?” Even I will admit that this stuff is incredibly nerdy; just a half notch beneath lightsaber practice via broomhandle on the nerdometer, but there’s also an anthropological feel to them, given their cultural focus.

Not all role players take themselves dead seriously though. Prof. Boellstorf mentioned machinima, and there are some mildly amusing ones set in WoW.

Finally I was wondering if anyone has read ANIMA: A novel about second life? It was another one of those things I just happened on, and I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. It’s difficult to judge from the wikipedia summary, which makes it sound interesting but possibly too complicated for its own good. Given my fixation on this stuff, I’m putting together the syllabus for an independent study course next quarter examining the various fiction involved with virtual realities. If anyone has stumbled across specific articles that seem relevant to this, or know of books and movies that deal with virtual reality (aside from the really obvious ones), please tell me!