Freedom of Speech in Online Game Worlds by Mark Waters
In the offline world, we've seen this intersection in (among other situations) U.S. Supreme Court cases addressing private speech at privately owned company towns and shopping centers. In some cases, the Supreme Court has said that certain landowners cannot prevent speakers from speaking on... With the emergence of these "virtual worlds," we must once again consider how we balance a customer's speech against a virtual world provider's rights to squelch speech. ... But how do we distinguish between AOL's response to spam (which seems right) and a virtual world's decision to kick off a user?

Simulation Games by Elizabeth Morgan
Simulation games create a whole new world to explore, one that is virtually realistic. They represent a virtual environment, with virtual characters having interesting and life-like interactions between the various components of a virtual world. The graphics and sounds are often amazingly close... Life games are like living in a game, only in the skin of your fictitious character that interacts with the different components of the virtual world. ... Some games allow you to act as a creator and manage a world, like the Sim City series that include virtual city planning and building with...

World of Warcraft Gold - Virtual Gold for Real Money by Mark Willigerod
As J.R.R. Tolkien pointed out half a century ago, "All that is gold does not glitter." That statement seems particularly apt when applied to World of Warcraft gold. Not only is World of Warcraft gold the virtual currency of a virtual world -- and therefore doesn't glitter at all except on... A cross of gold Recently, World of Warcraft gold peaked at almost a dime per gold piece -- not bad when you consider that the World of Warcraft MMORPG, where it's the prime unit of in-game currency, debuted in late 2004.

Should Links Between Real And Virtual Economies Be Encouraged Or Banned? by Richard Kingston
For players of online role-playing games such as EverQuest 2 and World of Warcraft, battling monsters and amassing treasure is an enjoyable form of escapism. Yet the real and virtual worlds are increasingly intertwined. Last month, a "Project Entropia" player paid the game's creators $26,500 for... Some dedicated virtual items stores sell game currencies such as World of Warcraft Gold , EQ2 Gold for many years: virtual objects are sold for real money to the tune of at least $100m a year. ... But the sale of the "Project Entropia" island, and the popularity of "World of Warcraft", a...

Benifits of Online Games by Peter C.
Online games are perhaps one of the most popular types of games, a place where people meet on whole new worlds, create new characters and become entities that can grow into anything they like. Quite obviously the first and foremost reason for playing an online game is to escape the hassle of... Although most online games have policies against real life for virtual trading, on World or Warcraft alone $1 billion is traded for virtual items. ... Online games have many people from all over the world playing them, and although most online games are based on English it is still easy to find...

VR - Virtual Reality Salesmen - Avatar eEducation Teachers and Other Technological Advances by Lance Winslow
You might be pleasantly surprised at the rapid advances in technology in the Virtual Reality World. Not only are such things as Life II capturing the imaginations of their users, but software VR engineers are learning how humans wish to operate in virtual worlds. ... Someday the real world and the VR World may all be a blur. ... In fact, in reviewing on fast moving UK Virtual World company; I was very much impressed with what they have done with a Salesman VR program there. ... Of course these advances in the business world can also be relevant to the scientific world as well.

Another Kind of Computer Game by Allan Price
The term computer game might have one more meaning than you realize. You are familiar with one kind, games that run on computers? They are set in eras from prehistoric and Roman times up to the present, and into various wonderful and depressing future worlds. ... Of course like the rest of the world, Mage exists in the virtual world too. ... There are also games in the physical world, played with pens and paper and imagination which involve the characters doing things in the virtual world of the Internet.

The Online Game Industry is an Excellent Way to Study the Economics of Fun by Richard Kingston
While scientists developed sensory-input devices to mimic the sensations of a virtual world, the games industry eschewed this hardware-based approach in favour of creating alternative realities through emotionally engaging software. "It turns out that the way humans are made, the software-based... As technology improves, players could make enough money to pay for the upkeep of their real-world bodies while they remain fully immersed in the virtual world. ... Virtual-world economies are designed to make the resulting game interesting and enjoyable for their inhabitants.

Virtual Reality and the Future of Mankind by Lance Winslow
The Virtual Reality world is much like the present world in that it is "all what you make of it" and thus that truth will become quite evident for those who pursue their destiny and desires in the world of VR for pure entertainment or even enlightenment. ... VR reality world like the World of AI and BioTech life longevity, computer-human interface is almost here and it will be when Mankind becomes his own God. ... You could change the world with that level of income stream. ... Another issue will be as the full extent of VR permeates our present world is that the social implications, work...

Virtual Book Markers Needed for Digital Library and E-Book Initiatives by Lance Winslow
Have you ever read a book online and felt compelled to keep on reading even though you did not have the time because you did not want to lose your place? This is actually a serious problem for people who like to read books online. Not everyone likes to read books online because it kind of... By doing as it would help people who read in the virtual world and make things user-friendly, as it would be similar to how they do things in the real world. ... The E-book reader would hit a tab at the top of the page and it would create a virtual bookmark to hold a place.