World of Warcraft Research

" * Virtual Worlds o Second Life o Twinity o Blue Mars o Entropia Universe o Open Sim * Internet & Technology * Gaming o XBox 360 o Playstation 3 o PC o Wii * MMO's"

"In the realm of online games, specifically massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs), leaders emerge that deftly navigate the motivational, emotional and social needs of their direct reports in a highly competitive, distributed, virtual environment. And there are many lessons to be learned."

"Mike Morhaime is the chief executive of Blizzard Entertainment, co-founded with his college buddies Allen Adham and Frank Pearce under the name Silicon & Synapse in 1991."

B"y the segment's estimate, an astounding half million Chinese now make a living - about $100 a month - from the acquisition and sale of WoW gold to US and EU gamers."

"Not only have Blizzard's games sold more than 40 million copies over the last 11 years, but they have also inspired a level of enthusiasm that may most closely resemble an opera audience's rapturous devotion to a renowned diva."

"In this way, the process of becoming an effective World of Warcraft guild master amounts to a total-immersion course in leadership."

"The quality and the popularity of World of Warcraft has propelled MMORPGs from a subculture into the mainstream; some call it the new golf. But it's more than that: World of Warcraft is millions of people with diverse backgrounds collaborating, socializing, and learning while having fun."

"We would like to invite those with inspirational personal stories to share them for consideration in our new series. We want to hear about the positive impact World of Warcraft has had on you and your life."

"Jeffrey Kaplan: I think World of Warcraft has captured much of our original vision for the game. Like all Blizzard games, we wanted something that was easy to learn, yet hard to master. The demographics of our player base are proof that we succeeded in accomplishing this goal. We have some very dedicated, skilled, hardcore MMO veterans logging in nightly. Yet at the same time, there are thousands of players who have never played an MMO who are playing right there alongside of the vets."

"Interview session with Blizzard's Frank Pearce, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, about WoW, Starcraft, Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2."

"During this year's Games Convention GamesIndustry.biz was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time with Frank Pearce, now senior VP at Blizzard, to talk about the progress of Starcraft II, working with online communities, the lessons learned from World of Warcraft's success, and how to keep secrets."