SOME academics are taking the adage 鈥渁ll work and no play makes Jack a dull boy鈥� rather seriously. Otherwise, why would they be playing games at a conference?
To be fair, these people study massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) and they will be attending the first-ever conference to be run according to the rules of such games. Starting on 29 September, the participants will be split into teams that will spend two days brainstorming and then present their ideas on how best to apply MMOGs to solve real-world problems. For example, a MMOG could be used to simulate the spread of a deadly virus.
During the conference the teams will be given the chance to solve puzzles that will earn them magic treasures, such as the 鈥渃halice of time鈥� that will give them an extra 10 minutes for their presentation, or a special hat that will allow them to spy on another team. The team with the best presentation wins a surprise prize.
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Edward Castronova, a passionate gamer who studies MMOGs at Indiana University in Bloomington, will host the meeting. 鈥淚 want to leverage what we know about game play and turn it into productivity,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 have spent a lot of time in games and seen how motivating they are. I have also spent a lot of time in academic conferences that are boring. This might become a new paradigm or it might fall flat on its face.鈥�
