Just to clarify: I don't equate "exploring one's identity" with "role-playing." In fact, I think sticking strictly to "thee, thou, thy" probably limits the kind of exploration one can doNow, chicken wrangling, on the other hand, that is an exploration of identitySeriouslyWhat's so cool about that chicken that you had to have it? What does it say about you that you went to the trouble to get it? What does it say about me that I think the prairie chicken is one of the coolest things in the game, but that I just can't be bothered to get myself one?  

But the coolness of the Alliance praire chicken did evoke some envy.

After our "high energy" presentation, the questions were even strangerSomeone asked why humanities research got left out, and we had to say that we couldn't find it to be directly relevant on our top 10 list of bulleted pointsIan made the point, and I agreed, that doing the research for this panel made us think differently about academic researchWhile I'm not going to say that what we've done personally has no value, it was a definite challenge to try and make it *directly relevant* in a BULLETED POINT for developersAnd there are huge gaps in what we don't knowWhere is the research about sports games, to take just one example? Anyway, the point is, I enjoyed the exercise, and learned a lot from itI hope the audience did as well

But overall, I like to think that the attendance demonstrates that developers are interested in what academics might be able to tell them (again I will point out: no fruit was thrown)And all week, I talked with developers who were interested in what was going on with research, from the smallest to the largest companiesMaybe the issue is the "larger" communityIt's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that levelBut I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going onI don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to beBut then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet

And there are huge gaps in what we don't knowWhere is the research about sports games, to take just one example? Would like to experience wonderful life in MMORPG, here you need to buy some World of Warcraft Goldare on hot sale on all servers, especially on American serversYou can Buy FFXI Gil from us, a professional, loyal and reliable SWG Credits exchange corporation work group.Anyway, the point is, I enjoyed the exercise, and learned a lot from itI hope the audience did as well

But overall, I like to think that the attendance demonstrates that developers are interested in what academics might be able to tell them (again I will point out: no fruit was thrown)And all week, I talked with developers who were interested in what was going on with research, from the smallest to the largest companiesMaybe the issue is the "larger" communityIt's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that levelBut I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going onI don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to beBut then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet

"Yes, we know that Tom Cruise, whom we watching in "The Last Samurai" is that same guy from "Mission Impossible." But if, at the critical moment in the 19th century, Japanese film he were to whip out a plastic-explosive, pull off a latex mask and say, "Show me the money, $#%!" we would run screaming from the movie

"There's plenty interesting to say about where online gaming convergence is goingCross-over of "stuff" from game-to-game ain't itIf the chicken is so cool, why doesn't everyone want one? Do you respond to being ganked with anger, sadness, pain, humor, disappointment or an unstoppable desire for revenge? How close to or distant from your avatar do you feel? Does seeing a level 60 kitted out with the most über gear make you more committed to getting some yourself, does it make you want to give up, or do you have some more neutral reaction, perhaps just marvel at how cool he/she looks? Etc.

These are all pretty simplistic questions, but I just include them here to illustrate the kind of identity exploration I'm talking aboutCome to think of it, if I remember my readings correctly, much of play is about exploring one's identity in such ways.