Alongside our daily coverage of online worlds, WorldsInMotion.biz is also going to be building up a database of the major virtual worlds in our new Online World Atlas.

This virtual world guide, which will become the basis for the forthcoming Game Developer Research papers on virtual worlds, MMOs, and virtual items, includes information on the world, its payment model, key features, useful links, and a brief in-world guide, including exclusive screenshots and analysis on in-world interactions.

We're expecting to add approximately two worlds per week to the Online World Atlas, so check back often to see the latest specifics on a multitude of virtual environments. Currently, we've completed overarching analyses on the following worlds:

Habbo Hotel (Sulake Labs) - June 2007
Club Penguin (New Horizon Interactive) - June 2007

If you have comments, feedback, or ideas on the worlds that you'd like to see profiled in the Online World Atlas next, please contact us via email at editors@worldsinmotion.biz.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

We've spent some time checked in to Habbo Hotel, the teen-focused virtual world from Sulake. We played games, explored a wide variety of rooms, drank colas and tried to make friends in dance clubs. So what's the verdict?

Get ready for three acronyms in one sentence! According to a recent report on a Korean news site translated by blogger IM69, Korea's National Tax Service (NTS), their equivalent of the IRS, has begun charging value-added tax (VAT) on real-money transactions (RMT) in virtual worlds.

The NTS has begun adding the new tax automatically to all virtual transactions involving real money as of July 1st, says the report, translated as follows:

Sellers who do between 6 and 12 million won ($6,500 - $13,000)/half year in business will have VAT auto applied by transaction's middle-man.

Sellers who do more than 12 million won/half year in business will need a business license and will pay the tax by themselves.

“This is not about defining RMT legal/illegal; we don’t see any contradictory facts to Amendment for Game Industry Promoting Law - we are not about to judge if RMT is legal or not,” he added.

The interesting complication comes in when you take note of the fact that, according to the report, many online games stipulate in their terms of service that in-game goods and currency are actually property of the developers, not the users. Thus far, the industry has yet to clarify its stance on the issue, so it's still unclear who, exactly, will be legally responsible for actually paying the tax.

[Via Next-Gen.biz]

Mannea LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of online media and ad company Church & Crawford, announced the development of a new, soon-to-be-deployed technology that will allow users to navigate virtual worlds using existing web URLs.

Mannea feels that currently, users in virtual worlds face challenges finding preferred locations unless they appear in a built-in search function, or unless the user is able to create a "landmark" with in-world location info.

The company's new technology, so far unlaunched, claims to allow companies or individuals to tie their web-based URL to a virtual world location (providing Second Life as an example in their press release), so that users can find locations by simply typing in a web address.

An obvious payoff of this sort of technology is that companies that have considerable investments in their online marketing will not have to incur further expense to make users aware of new virtual locations, supporting the security of existing brands.

[Note: Linden Labs already provides the SLurl service to the same effect-- it's unclear how Mannea's plans are different, or if they plan to tackle other virtual worlds outside Second Life. ]

Here's an interesting read: some thoughts on the shelf life of MMOs. In the article, Celia Pierce-- a director at Georgia Tech's Emergent Game Group-- pegs the life of the average user within a virtual world at about 18 months, and discusses some of the challenges designers face in retaining their userbase and keeping them from losing interest.

While new online worlds are cropping up all the time, others-- like Motor City Online and Earth & Beyond (both by Electronic Arts), and Bandai-Namco's Gundam Online (set to go offline Dec. 15)-- get shuttered for good due to lost users. How to spot an online world on the decline? According to the article, abandoned homes and vast stretches of vacant land are a sure sign that the inhabitants are on the move.

Pearce suggests that the market for fantasy worlds might be a little oversaturated, with World of Warcraft squarely in dominance and flanked by the likes of Ultima Online, the EverQuest games, and, most recently Dungeon Runners.

She also cites what she refers to as an "addictive curve," wherein: "People are playing 40 hours or 30 hours a week and they get burned out and wonder, 'Why am I spending all this time doing the same thing over and over again?' Then they go into another game and 18 months later find that they're doing it all over again."

LucasArts producer Jake Neri, who works on Star Wars: Galaxies (now in its fourth year) notes that keeping content fresh and customers focused is "not an easy challenge." After a decline in users following some considerable systemic changes in 2005, Neri and his team had to come up with a fresh angle.

"What we wanted to do is figure out a cool way to help our player base gain access to that land," says Neri. A new initiative called the "galaxy-wide demolition plan" was forged, wherein players who mark virtual homes that have been abandoned by inactive players will be rewarded with points redeemable for in-game items, such as home furnishings and pet robots-- rewarding the players while making available the virtual land for current players to develop anew-- all with as little disruption as possible to the narrative flow of Galaxies' fantasy world. "What we came up with was this idea that Darth Vader and the Empire wanted to clear out abandoned homes on the various planets," Neri says.

Still, Pearce doesn't see an end to the high turnover rate for online property anytime soon-- as the article says, it's much easier to create a virtual homestead than it is to put down real-world roots, and even easier to abandon one. But it seems likely that users will keep creating fantasy homes just as quickly as others are vacating theirs-- for as Pearce says: "For many people, this is their only opportunity to own a vacation home."

[Via HamptonRoads.com]

[For more about Celia Pearce and the Emergent Game Group at Georgia Tech, which investigates how culture emerges from game design, check out the EGG's website, or dig an interview with Pearce from our sister site, Gamasutra.]

A critical eye's been fixed on virtual worlds and gaming in general lately, with academics, pundits and parents wondering whether such play is constructive-- or destructive-- to children. Examining the issue is London-based Brunel University's School of Sport and Education, where Dr. Simon Bradford and Nic Crowe followed a group of kids ages 13 to 16 for three years, as they played RuneScape, a fantasy MMO from Jagex.

According to the press release, the research found that rather than creating a legion of pale, anemic shut-ins, online worlds "enhance, rather than constrict the imagination of young people," by letting them experiment with different identities and abilities, and try their hands at opportunities and situations they might not have access to in their offline lives.

"We met many players taking part in online role playing, sometimes to extend or to compensate for experiences in the real world," said Dr. Bradford. "For example, young people whose parents could not afford a summer holiday enjoyed virtual holidays online– hanging out with friends, visiting beaches and going to clubs at night to meet new people.”

Further, according to the study, kids seem to be able to reap benefits from interacting in virtual worlds that reach beyond leisure, such as managing virtual currency and property. Bradford noted "how entrepreneurial young players engaged in business deals online, experiencing positive opportunities often not open to them in the material world.”

It isn't immediately clear what specific markers were used to evaluate the study participants, or how many there were. Still, Brunel says it plans to continue its research into gaming, hoping to study behavioral differences in gender next.

The Serious Games Institute announced its "first European conference on the practical application of virtual worlds," set to take place September 13th and 14th in Coventry (the SGI is an initiative out of Coventry University).

According to the announcement and draft program, this year's theme will be "The Reality of the Virtual World," and will focus on various ways businesses are using virtual worlds, promising an intro to the serious uses of virtual worlds for organizations considering jumping in.

A lot of the panels seem to be Second Life-oriented, though there are others like "The Economics of Virtual Worlds" and "Virtual Disaster Management." Still, the conference claims to be a "first," and invites corporate professionals, multimedia developers, and public sector organizations to attend-- for £395 per day (£295 for academics) not including dinner!

[Via 3pointD.com]

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Today we take our first glance at RuneScape, the fantasy MMO from Jagex.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Today we explore the magical realm of Gielinor a little more as we look into RuneScape, the MMO from Jagex.

Just came across an interesting article in Wired by Clive Thompson, discussing some implications of an increasing trend-- the substitution of text-based chat in online gaming and virtual words with real-voice chat, via apps like Ventrilo.

The pros? Well, for one thing, speaking's a lot clearer, in a world where computer literacy varies, and linguistic proficiency when using a keyboard is still somewhat of an unrefined art. When exploring a virtual world, don't you wonder what that fellow typing "PPppppppp..;" is really trying to say? Not to mention that those who are less-than-speedy typists often find themselves struggling to keep up in a conversation, while high-speed keystroke wizards wait minutes for a response. Particularly in an action game like World of Warcraft, where large numbers of players commonly engage in high-intensity team play, an inability to keep up on the keyboard can actually be a barrier to participation.

On the flipside, Thompson points out that many users tap into online worlds to become their avatar, ditching their mundane personae behind. But while using your own voice to communicate might be faster and easier than typing messages, it also pierces the veil of illusion that's part and parcel of becoming someone else-- in Thompson's experience, the aura of compelling power surrounding his competent WoW quest leader evaporated in a puff of smoke when Ventrilo revealed him to be a squeaky-voiced, foul-mouthed adolescent.

Worth noting that there are other implications if voice chat in virtual worlds becomes increasingly more prevalent-- voice can give away age, for one thing, a potential hazard in communities that endeavor to maintain child safety. How would voice chat be moderated? Voice can also betray one's nationality or gender; would the hulking orc soldier stand out as he abstains from the verbal confab-- for fear of being found out as a female? Thompson provides as example the story of Krista Lee Malone, a University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee student who, when studying the impact of voice chat on virtual worlds, found that women in particular, when using their voices, suddenly attracted lots more unwanted attention from younger men.

Overall, while the increasing prevalence of voice chat certainly has the prevalence to become, as Thompson says, "the latest culture-shock in online worlds," it remains to be seen, owing to all these factors, just how far voice can encroach on a world once governed entirely by text.

[Via Wired]

Beijing-based online gaming developer Perfect World (Zhu Xian, Legend of Martial Arts) developed an eponymous MMO that launched in China in 2006 and continues to be published internationally, claiming over 30 million registered players. Now, it has filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq to sell up to $100 million in ADRs. The recent filing with the SEC didn't say how many shares will be offered, nor did it indicate a price range for the IPO.

Perfect World says it will use its proceeds from the IPO for research and development and general corporate purposes, and that it has applied to list its shares under the symbol PWRD.

[Via Forbes.com]

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

We've spent some time this week playing RuneScape, where we learned survival skills, traded with other adventurers, and battled monsters in the fantasy realm of Gielinor. So what're the over-arching facts about Jagex's MMO?.

In case you don't spend enough time at the computer and want to vacation there, too, Italy-based Mario Girosa is ready to help make your dreams come true with Synthravels, which bills itself as "the first online virtual travel agency." Currently, they're conducting tours of a long list of online worlds.

Membership to the site is free, and you can also get freebie selected trial trips conducted by a virtual tour guide. They advertise meet-and-greets with in-world celebrities and access to select locations, too. You do, however, have to be registered at the applicable world and have the software installed, where necessary. Looks like a guide will meet up with your avatar at a selected date and time, and show you the ropes.

Maybe it's not the best vacation (not yet, anyway!), but it might be a neat option for brand-newbies to online gaming for whom the learning curve can often seem steep.

[Via IBNLive.com]

The name of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, designer of synesthetic surreality trips Rez and Lumines, is already familiar to gamers. So is Japan's popular weekly game mag, Famitsu, which reports that Mizuguchi's agreed to collaborate with Japanese ad agency Dentsu to build a virtual Tokyo in Second Life.

No word on Dentsu's specific long-term biz plan for the virtual city, but the marriage of game design aesthetic with online architecture certainly sounds like fun. Mizuguchi was initially wary of the idea and declined, but later changed his mind, relenting, "My work all these years has been to entertain people through video games, but this Virtual Tokyo concept could be the next step and path."

Mizuguchi and Dentsu also discussed plans to open a Ski Jump Pair International contest in the heart of virtual Tokyo, inspired by artist Riichiro Mashima's Ski Jump Pairs. According to Mizuguchi, a giant ski slope in the heart of Virtual Tokyo will be the site of an international competition where users' ski-posing avatars "will compete based on longest distance, landing, comedic performance and so on. We've already been running tests in Second Life and this is quite fun. We hope to do this contest regularly."

Interestingly, rather than attempting to replicate the real-world Tokyo, Mizuguchi and Dentsu have designs on a city that, like a "museum of Japanese culture," captures its image and feel. "How do people in Tokyo perceive the city? How about foreigners?" Mizuguchi wonders. "That's what we want to express."

[Via 1Up]

MTV's Jeff Yapp chatted about the media giant's future musings on virtual worlds at the recent Under the Radar Digital Entertainment and Media Conference in Mountain View, CA. "The scale and the scope of this thing is absolutely immense; we have fairly ambitious plans," Yapp said, amid footage of Doppelganger's Virtual Lower East Side and MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach being synthesized as mobile, web, and TV content. "We believe in 'one avatar, one world'; the ability to take your avatar-- that personality, that 3D representation of who you are-- anywhere you want to go." Check out the video at CNet (for all you gamers, there's Rock Band stuff, too!).

Yapp's presentation was a keynote separate from the virtual worlds group presentations at Under the Radar, where Doppelganger and Kaneva were the highlights. During the panel, Doppelganger (Virtual LES) CEO Tim Stevens said their service currently has 150,000 users, growing at a rate of 10% weekly. Kaneva, whose 3D social networking site just went public beta in April, said that despite its resemblance to MySpace and its ilk, it sees its primary competitor as television and movies-- go figure. Both of these companies glean their primary income from sponsorship and the sale of virtual goods.

Another participant in the group was Meez, an avatar specialist. Through Meez's website, users can design custom avatars that can then be exported to other services. Photobucket members, through a recent partnership with Meez, can now export and store their 3D avatars on Meez. Despite having 2 million registered users (and 425,000 newcomers each month) to Photobucket's considerably larger estimated 40 million, Meez apparently gets enough revenue from sponsorship, virtual goods, and their associated promo partnerships to be able to pull it off.

Finally, founder Corey Bridges discussed Multiverse, an MMO development platform that runs in a "world browser" (according to Bridges, that's like a web browser) and can be used by anyone to make their own online games. Multiverse is the platform University of Indiana prof Ted Castronova is using to build Arden, his MacArthur-funded Shakespearean world. In a round of fundraising led by hedge fund Sterling Stamos Capital Management, Multiverse recently snagged $4.175 million.

[Via Webware.com]

The UK's Gambling Act of 2005 is set to see its last remaining provisions come into force this September, and it could mean that MMOs will have to change the way they do things.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, the Act will regulate the online gambling companies that will be permitted to operate from within the UK for the first time-- but since it defines "gambling" as "a game of chance for a prize," MMOs will have to obtain Gambling Commission operators' licenses to be able to offer virtual goods and currency to players, since those have actual monetary worth.

Further, MMO gaming does qualify as a "game of chance," since the Act applies that definition to "any game which involves elements of both chance and skill, or where superlative skill can eliminate chance. The definition of 'prize' includes cash prizes, products and virtual prizes which can be exchanged for money."

"This is something all current operators of these games, and those looking to enter this market, should seriously consider now," said Alex Chapman of Campbell Hooper-- adding that his firm is already working to obtain licenses for clients, and is in continued discussion with the Gambling Commission over the MMO issue.

[via GamesIndustry.biz]