Apparently even reporters for NPR are playing World of Warcraft. Check out this piece that aired last week. The narrator discusses her "mature" guild in WoW, composed of Doctors, Lawyers, High School Students, etc.... She reports on a woman who changed states to live "nearer to her guild". There are a number of clips of guild members talking on ventrilo as they raid.
Developing real-world social sets through digital means, even through games, is not a new phenomenon. But somehow, hearing it aired on NPR -- an audience decidedly un-hip with regard to multiplayer gaming, gives gaming a new air of respectability and ubiquity. These aren't just high-school and college kids with not much else to do, but mature professionals getting together in their virtual living rooms to yak and play cribbage. Except the game is WoW.
