A swedish MMO anthology

The way information bounces around on the internet really amazes me sometimes. Today, this morning I received an email from a friend that works at Massive Entertainment regarding a fresh and interesting project. It seems that the game researchers Peter Zackariasson and Daniel Pargman has decided to write an anthology on online gaming with focus on "the border between the virtual and the real". And they need writers with firsthand experience from the world of online gaming.

(Now Zackariasson is working here at Umeå University and you can actually take part of one of his seminars at HUMlab, through videostreaming if you want to. I'd recommend it actually.)

Here's a quote from the email regarding the anthology project:

"Onlinespel, som World of Warcraft, är idag en aktivitet som fångar allt fler personer och som också börjar få större utrymme i medier - även om artiklarna oftare spelar på kuriosa-aspekter snarare än att försöka förmedla och analysera. Därigenom uppstår möjligheten för oss som har tillbringat tid med att spela och reflektera över onlinespel att skriva en antologi som har till syfte att underhålla och upplysa. Vet du någon som kan bidra till denna bok, eller vill du själv bidra?"

You can read the actual full invitation letter as a .pdf document here.

I have personally decided to take this opportunity to write an article I have been pondering on for a very long time, about my experiences and reflections during my time as a guildleader in Anarchy Online for about two years. I always thought it to be a bit too extensive in form to be a good article for the webformat. In this regard however I think I have an unique approach that should pitch well and be informative enough to fit into such a thrilling project. I also urge anyone in the swedish gamepress or game industry with unique experiences or knowledge to join in on this project and send their ideas to Zackariasson and Pargman. Deadline is the 12th of May.