There have been many efforts at measuring Azeroth, and MeFi's own Hogshead has the latest, which not only determines the land area but also touches on the geophysical properties of the planet's most populated fantasy world.
posted on Jun 27, 2008 - View this thread

Nick Yee's Daedalus Project (touched on previously) is dedicated to the study of human behaviour in MMOs. His recent dissertation names "The Proteus Effect": a correlation between MMO characters' appearances, and their players' behaviors. "In the final study (pdf), I showed that the Proteus Effect persists outside of the virtual environment. Placing someone in a taller avatar changes how they consequently negotiate in a face-to-face setting." His archives cover a lot of ground, and current MMO players can help by taking the survey. For a little lighter reading, refer to his critique of Internet Addiction Disorder, a "condition" that started as a joke, but almost made it into the DSM-V.
posted on Sep 2, 2007 - View this thread

The 2005 outbreak of Corrupted Blood in World of Warcraft may provide epidemiologists with a new platform for studying the spread of disease.

By using these games as an untapped experimental framework, we may be able to gain deeper insight into the incredible complexity of infectious disease epidemiology in social groups.

It comes as no surprise that the "stupid factor" plays a role in susceptibility to viral marketing, but it may also be a factor in the spread of real life germs.
posted on Aug 21, 2007 - View this thread

Watch The Guild! Why? Cuz it's the funniest damned thing since Leeeroy Jenkins! (more inside)
posted on Jul 28, 2007 - View this thread

I am Murloc. Cool World of Warcraft music video. (Note: Impressed me, but I've never played WoW. Might not impress WoW players, I dunno. Won't change your mind if you already hate WoW. Horrible vocals.)
posted on Jul 17, 2007 - View this thread

The History Of Dance -- World of Warcraft style.
posted on Jul 16, 2007 - View this thread

The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer.
posted on Jun 19, 2007 - View this thread

We live in a weird time. via plasticbag.org
posted on Oct 16, 2006 - View this thread

Othello - shot entirely in World of Warcraft.
posted on Jun 6, 2006 - View this thread

Freezing Blade, Quiet Moon and Bronze Mustache. A tale from modern China of betrayal, vigilantism and general woe in WoW and Real-Life^TM.
posted on Jun 1, 2006 - View this thread

Google Maps + World of Warcraft = MapWoW. (Via)
posted on May 5, 2006 - View this thread

LGBT gamers not welcome in World of Warcraft - Despite praise from queer gamers' groups, a feature in the July 2005 issue of Out magazine (sadly not archived online, reader responses 1, 2) lauding the game's gay community, and the presence of hundreds-strong LGBT-positive player groups, developer Blizzard has decided the presence of out gay subscribers would "allow for discussion that we feel has no place in our game". Of course, this isn't the first time Blizzard has angered its paying fans...
posted on Jan 27, 2006 - View this thread

The Internet Is For Porn is a song from the Broadway comedy Avenue Q (an adult version of Sesame Street) that I found myself humming for quite a while after watching this homemade machinima video using World of Warcraft characters. (warning first link goes to a Google Video with audio).
posted on Jan 14, 2006 - View this thread

No time for Warcraft? There's a whole new industry growing in China for outsourcing your "character". So called Gaming Factories (nytimes reg req.) have men playing for $250 a month 12 hours a day 7 days a week.
posted on Dec 9, 2005 - View this thread

Games for the Web: Ethnography of Massively Multiplayer On-line Games Students of Trinity University's Communications department wrote their term papers on various issues that come up in the MMORPG, World of Warcraft. I'd like to take that class!
posted on Dec 6, 2005 - View this thread

We believe that a power greater than Sid Meier can restore us to sanity. Yeah, World of Warcraft may currently be ruining your life, but I'd bet good money that over the long haul Civilization and other games by Sid Meier have ruined more lives than that upstart. Don't give in! NO MORE TURNS!
posted on Oct 26, 2005 - View this thread

"Virtual Virus Sheds Light on Real-Life Behavior." A researcher at Tufts University's Center for the Modelling of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Nina Fefferman, is studying the behavior of World Of Warcraft players during the recent plague that broke out in Ironforge (discussed on Metafilter here.) But Dr. Fefferman is not the first academic to study MMORPGs seriously. Edward Castronova, an economist, arguably pioneered the field with his 2001 paper Virtual Worlds, in which he argues that the economy in Everquest produced a GNP per capita somewhere between that of Russia and Bulgaria. (He has followed up that paper with many more on similar subjects.)
posted on Oct 5, 2005 - View this thread

Plague in World of Warcraft.
posted on Sep 19, 2005 - View this thread