For a couple of months, we've had the Arden I environment available for people to experience, but we have to take it down now. We need the server space to run a social science experiment in Arden II: London's Burning. More on that in a little while.
If you are interested in playing around with Arden I, please do. The module is available for free download at this URL. Go ahead and monkey around however you'd like. See what you can do with a Shakespeare fantasy module.
As a educational space, it was very immersive imho. it brought out a lot of what Shakespeare intendeed to convey within the limitations of the medium.
As a game though, it could have used just a touch more weaponry.
Posted by: Patchouli Woollahra | Mar 17, 2008 at 12:31
We had a fun little MUSH many years ago at Murdoch U, called "Muppet" (The Murdoch University Purple People Eating Thing). I cant remember any serious research being done, as it was usually used for just dropping students into to experience the possibilities of textual performance spaces, but we sure had an awful lot of fun with it. Mostly just scripting in ever stranger contraptions and letting people socialise around them.
Unfortunately the university got all cockeyed about it and tried to ban it (because MUDs are not serious business), so the student union took it over, but due to a big data loss, people lost heart and it eventually fizzled out.
Shame, because there WHERE some good ideas and some pretty amazing little spaces in it.
The 'portable stormwater drain system' probably could never be implemented in a modern 3d enviornment because the geometry just wouldn't work. You could literally carry a manhole around, drop it down, and enter it. walk home in the drain, then return to your manhole when you wanted to continue exploring.
Posted by: dmx | Mar 19, 2008 at 20:11
"Blizzard's expert witness Dr. Edward Castronova argued that these bases damage Blizzard in the amount of twenty million dollars per year." Nice job reaching that position Ed.
Posted by: Danny | Mar 22, 2008 at 11:14