A few days ago, I related some news articles about the potential health benefits and addictive nature of the MMORPG (for the non-geeks following along at home, that stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) known as World of Warcraft. Shortly after posting, I received a message in my inbox from a friend (if you read the earlier post, you know how that goes) that he thought I might be interested in. This video also featured some interesting facts and studies about WoW and about gaming in general.
Wait, I know. This is the second time this week that I've mentioned WoW here on Geekcentricity. Lest some of you worry, unlike my friend and fellow blogger Jason over at De-Bugging Life, I have not "fallen off the wagon" and started playing again. I can stand up at my meeting and proudly say that I've been clean since September 2008. I must admit that I used Warhammer Online as my methadone equivalent for a while, but it was much easier to wean myself off of that game than quitting "World of Warcrack" cold turkey. The video my friend sent me finally made it clear to me why I spent so many hours over several years playing this game (and of course, by the transitive property of gaming, the same can be related to tabletop role-playing games as well).
The video is one of the TEDTalks from TED 2010. TED is a wonderful little non-profit organization that started in California in 1984. The name is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment & Design. Their mission is to encourage innovative thinking and the spread of ideas. They have had some fantastic presentations by some of the great minds of our time and a trip to their website could easily lead to three or four hours of video watching. Besides, how can you not like an organization whose musical director is Thomas "She Blinded Me With Science" Dolby.
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Wait, I know. This is the second time this week that I've mentioned WoW here on Geekcentricity. Lest some of you worry, unlike my friend and fellow blogger Jason over at De-Bugging Life, I have not "fallen off the wagon" and started playing again. I can stand up at my meeting and proudly say that I've been clean since September 2008. I must admit that I used Warhammer Online as my methadone equivalent for a while, but it was much easier to wean myself off of that game than quitting "World of Warcrack" cold turkey. The video my friend sent me finally made it clear to me why I spent so many hours over several years playing this game (and of course, by the transitive property of gaming, the same can be related to tabletop role-playing games as well).
The video is one of the TEDTalks from TED 2010. TED is a wonderful little non-profit organization that started in California in 1984. The name is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment & Design. Their mission is to encourage innovative thinking and the spread of ideas. They have had some fantastic presentations by some of the great minds of our time and a trip to their website could easily lead to three or four hours of video watching. Besides, how can you not like an organization whose musical director is Thomas "She Blinded Me With Science" Dolby.
