Because there has been a real danger of having this blog mistaken for the Unofficial Yahoo Weblog of late, I've got to change the subject. That subject, and my new obsession in my thin margin of "spare" time (when does time become "spare"? It's like an "extra" cigarette… do they really exist?), is World of Warcraft. Yes, I went in with the noblest of intentions — research, pure, research — but I've been sucked in because you know what? This is what I've been craving from social software. WoW is a vast and startlingly real social metaverse I am exceedingly eager to spend time in. You can choose primarily solo play and certainly many do, but there are a number of quests and aspects of the game than can only be experienced socially, in groups with other players. And the most fun I've had is in banding together with guildmates and randomly encountered players, many of whom are more than eager to trade help on your quests for help with theirs (or who think nothing of offering no strings attached help).

There is always something deliciously unexpected going on around every turn, from spontaneous offerings of help from very high-level players who have almost nothing to gain in terms of game stats from helping you out, to curious and bizarre creatures (the trippy multi-colored Murlocs on the coast of Westfall I encountered last night come to mind), to middle of night %uFFFDcatch%uFFFD games instigated for no other reason than someone bought some throwing balls and wanted to infect other players with fun.

I was delighted by this thread on WoW Insider about families and extended friend families who play WoW together. And I%uFFFDve been psyched to start to share WoW lore and game discussions with some of my fellow WIN bloggers who play. The game captures the essence of something I%uFFFDve been craving more of from SocialSoftwareLandia %uFFFD actual shared experience, and the ability to really work together from within the software %uFFFD not merely using the software as a means to organize work that actually gets done elsewhere (groupware comes to mind). The realtime aspect is also extremely powerful. Nor is something like WoW any longer limited in appeal to mostly geeks or experienced gamers %uFFFD the interface is incredibly easy to use, and there are diverse aspects to the game that will appeal to anyone seeking engaging entertainment. It%uFFFDs also incredibly viral, as evidenced by some of the comments in the thread. MMOs are already huge in gaming circles (and huge in Asia to an extent they%uFFFDre not yet huge here), but I have no doubt they%uFFFDre poised to bust right on out over here in WesternLandia. And if you%uFFFDre a player, say hello to a gnome rogue named Brogotheum if you see him. :)