I have quite firmly announced my status as an MMORPG’er on this very site in the recent past. I am still quite proud of it. Having said that, I acknowledge that participation in MMORPG’s, like participation in most hobbies, doesn’t actually contribute to the overrall betterment of mankind (I daresay MMORPG producers would disagree). While checking up on a number of worldwide charity organizations (don’t ask), I discovered this link which I find to be amazingly creative. Not only is the charity an older, quite legitimate one (as far as I can tell), but the organization sponsoring this is donating an additional 10% on top of what players contribute. That’s not bad at all. Now whenever I’m accused of wasting away my free time, and contributing to EQwidowhood, I can (somewhat) honestly respond that I am motivated sheerly by desire to further the cause of a humanitarian charity group. I wonder how long I’ll be able to pull this one off before the wife gets wise to it?
Check it out. Help save the World by playing the World (of Warcraft). Kudos to whomever thought this idea up.
Hey, maybe even Michael will step up to the lofty heights of geekdom and become an MMORPG’er. Remeber, it’s for the children. 
I find the idea, well, the fact that virtual wealth has become an alternative currency fascinating. Make money playing WOW and then spend it (or donate it) in the real world. Very cool, very economics geek friendly and I am sure disturbing to people who still view money as a thing, not a social construct.
Well, according to our local WoW-geek, this isn’t allowed in the game. (He said he tried it, which he shouldn’t be doing during business hours, but then neither should I be commenting…)
I gave up EQ shortly after becoming addicted to it.
Now, I’m working with a few guys to make a space-based MMO game. In our spare time, which we have almost none of.
Isn’t it? The unfortunate part, though, is that the industry that has sprung up around the idea of virtual wealth has a dark side, as well : sweatshops (usually Chinese) where people are hired to play games for hours and hours for no other reason than to make in-game currency which will be sold to virtual money companies for real life money (almost always US dollars, although Euros are catching on). The flip-side of this argument, however, is that the employees (although working in miserable conditions) are making more per hour than they would as, say, factory workers.
According to the End User Licensing Agreement (or EULA) no, this isn’t legal, but Blizzard, Sony, and the other online gaming companies have had a tough time catching those who are trafficking in on-line currency. In fact, Sony has virtually surrendered on this issue and has opened two servers for Everquest II where the provide a safe, secure environment for game currency transactions to be conducted. Of course, the currency sold can only be used with characters on those two servers, but hey, it’s a start.
Well, there is certainly a market. Star Wars Galaxies went from “extremley promising” to “why haven’t they closed this game down” in just a few years. Anarchy Online is a ghost-town with only a few servers and EVE Online (although extremely innovative and very anarcho-capitalist in its atmosphere) is struggling to build up its subscriber base. Better hurry, though, Tabula Rasa and Star Trek Online launch next year.
Mercy Corps gets a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
Me, I’m waiting for the Serenity MMPORG.
Very interesting, Achillea and thank you for the Charity Navigator link. I was researching them the hard way by looking at past financials, projects involved in, news stories, etc. This makes it a lot easier.
Also, I wish you the best of luck with the Serentiy MMORPG. I did actually rent the movie (though not the tv series DVD). Meh. It wasn’t bad, but just not my thing. I daresay I have stepped on both your and Lance’s toes, but I just couldn’t get into it. It all had the feeling of something that I’d seen before. Now I can pull bits and pieces out of just about every film and say that, but Serenity just felt too deja vu for me for some reason. Also, and maybe I’m spoiled by other sci-fi, the captain (Mal) seemed a little too Captain Bligh for my taste. Terrorizing crew members is just too over the top.
Watch the TV show. My feet hurt bad enough.
I’m a long-time fan of Charity Navigator … and Firefly, too. Lance is right, you should watch the show. While the movie stands alone just fine IMHO, you get much more of a feel for the the characters and their relationships from the show.