So I'm finally in the Bay Area in California, getting all settled in before grad school starts in the Fall. A friend and I drove my Toyota Corolla from Chicago to Palo Alto. It took us 33 hours to do the entire trip, including all the stops we made. I don't think I ever appreciated my more thrill-seeking and high energy friends until I realized how handy they are when you have to do long drives like these. But it was so jarring to leave Chicago at 4am on Friday and then get to Palo Alto the next morning at 11am. It felt like the drive took so much longer than that.

In terms of the MMORPG research, I've become slightly more interested in the qualitative narratives because they are so rich and players seem so willing to share their experiences. I think I go through quantitative and qualitative phases as my past presentations can attest to. So the bulk of this issue consists of player narratives and 2 essays on envisioning what MMORPGs might become in the near future.

How You Can Help:

- Participate in the current survey: http://www.nickyee.com/mmorpg/ques.phase10.html
- Post a message on your community forum or message board about the findings and survey.
- Create a link to "The Daedalus Project": http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/
- Create a link to "the HUB": http://www.nickyee.com/hub/

As usual, your comments and feedback are most welcome. Any questions should be directed to contact@nickyee.com