If I were independently wealthy, I’ve decided I’d just putter around, going to gaming conferences and reporting on MMOGs here at the site for fun. Because ehh … I really, really like doing it.

Luckily, Gamasutra has people they pay to do that, and has two write ups from recent events:

• Virtual Worlds 2007, held at the end of March. Those inexperienced with 3D social environments like Second Life struggled to learn about the potential in virtual worlds while others heralded its future impact, noting that the millennium generation had effortlessly transitioned into digital avatars. Along with allusions to Neal Stephenson’s book, Snow Crash and The Matrix, debates raged about appropriate metrics for return on investment, whether marketers should target the avatar, the alter ego, or the person behind the avatar, and the educational aspects of virtual worlds.
• Mastering the Craft of Online Gaming Infrastructure. On April 19, 2007, a conference of game developers, IT entrepreneurs, internet security experts, telecom executives, and technology investors gathered in San Francisco to take part in Mastering the Craft of Online Gaming, a day long event in which the complex issues surrounding the online gaming market were discussed.