Guilds are like that. But in this case, typographical idiosyncrasies aside, it’s been a rewarding adventure so far, and I’ve learned a lot from it. Take, for instance, the character of in-game guild text chat. Outside of a guild, the chat channels in WoW are full of snarky, silly chatter. In my guild, at least, chat is (1) constant, (2) situated both within and without the “reality” of the game, and (3) unfailingly supportive.

Level up? “Congrats” pour in from all around. New achievement? “wtg.” Getting camped by some level 20s? “I’m on my way.” Once you’ve played WoW in this fashion, going back to solo seems an unappealing option.

While we frequently applaud tools and technologies that promise to level the playing field, the fact of the matter is that a good toolset is never enough. Good storytelling is a craft that is not easily mastered.

Machinima provides an excellent example. Frequently praised by everyone from advocates of open source to educational theorists, I have a feeling that most machinima is watched the way we watch a first piano recital, or a middle school production of Annie Get Your Gun: With respectful indulgence, and an eye towards potential. Even the much vaunted machinima series Red vs. Blue from Roosterteeth is not funny inasmuch as it is amusing.

One recent addition to the world of machinima does little to change this state, but hints at a brighter future. It requires that we watch with that same indulgent attention, yes, but there is a sophisticated sense of movement and direction (in short, animation) that is otherwise lacking in most machinima. It is an effort that deserves attention (even if the product ends up being only a music video).

The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo Yahoo!.

For December, among American gamers who play Warcraft, Nielsen finds it played on average over 11 hours / week.

Years ago, I was a “Nielsen family.” The unwieldy set-top box, hard-wired into the TV and the Cable Box, was a mysterious, exciting presence, and leant an air of authority to my cable TV watching choices (however dubious they seemed to girlfriends at the time).

I don’t own a TV now, but do have several game consoles and a WoW account. It seems that since the mid-90′s, Nielsen and I both have changed. Now, Nielsen tracks games: mobile, console, and PC. And, according to the latest data, World of Warcraft continues to be the most popular PC game title in the US.

For October 2008 specifically, WoW netted a 12.509 share, and was played (among people who play PC games) an average of just over 9 hours / week. [As in TV, a "share" is a percentage of total audience: Thus, 12.5 gamers out of 100 were playing WoW in October.]

Nielsen also estimates the Total Minutes Played (out of all PC games measured): WoW here earned a 62.280%.

For December, among American gamers who play Warcraft, Nielsen finds it played on average over 11 hours / week.

It is interesting to speculate about how many “PC Gamers” there are in the US. While they provide no specific definition of “PC Gamer” in this press release, Pew has noted that upwards of 53% of American adults play at spend some time playing computer games.

According to Nielsen, 0.723% of “PC Gamers” are playing Warcraft during any given minute.