International Journal of Role-Playing

Richard Bartle co-wrote the first virtual world, MUD (”Multi-User Dungeon”) in 1978. His 2003 book, Designing Virtual Worlds, has established itself as a foundation text for researchers and developers of virtual worlds alike. He is currently Visiting Professor of Computer Game Design at the University of Essex, UK.

Marinka Copier is heading the School of Art and Technology (Utrecht School of the Arts) and lecturer / (post-doc) researcher in New Media and Digital Culture at Utrecht University (Faculty of Humanities). She is a game -researcher, -educator and player, focusing on how games and play are part of our everyday lives. In 2007 she defended her dissertation on role-play in the online game World of Warcraft. Currently, she is working on educational applications of (online) gaming principles. This project is part of the Game Research for Training and Entertainment program (GATE) which is hosted by the Center for Advanced Gaming and Simulation (AGS: TNO, Utrecht School of the Arts and Utrecht University).

Anders Drachen is a post. doctoral research fellow at the Center for Computer Games Research, IT University of Copenhagen, and games journalist. His work centers on user experience measurement, empirical game research and gameplay metrics analysis. He also works with communication, storytelling in and design of multi- and massively multiplayer games, especially of the role-playing variant. His research reaches however broadly to encompass most aspects of communication, immersion, narratives, and interactive entertainment, within the overall framework of computer- and role-playing games. He also works with games design,focusing on the process of world generation and development (e.g., ecological systems) in MMORPGs.

Gary Alan Fine is John Evans Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. He is the author of Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds (University of Chicago Press). During his career he has studied youth baseball players, high school debaters, art collectors, and mushroom pickers. His current research is an ethnographic investigation of the worlds of scholastic and competitive chess.

John Kim is an ex-physicist now working as a programmer in Silicon Valley. He has written for several tabletop RPGs and contributed to the Knutepunkt books. However, his main contribution is a reference website where he maintains an encyclopedia of RPGs and a collection of theory articles and links.

Kurt Lancaster is an assistant professor of digital media at Northern Arizona University. Kurt has published several articles on role-playing, including a MA thesis on a live-action role-playing game, which appears in his book, Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments with Interactive and Virtual Environments (McFarland, 1999). He also wrote his disseration on gaming at NYU’s Department of Performance Studies, Interacting with Babylon 5: Fan Performances in a Media Universe (University of Texas Press, 2001). He is also the creator of the video-streaming web narrative, LettersfromOrion.com.

Craig Lindley is Professor of Game Development, Department of Game Design, Narrative and Time-Based Media, at Gotland University College,  and Guest Professor in Digital Game Development, Blekinge Technical College, Sweden. His previous roles include research manager, Zero Game Studio, The Interactive Institute, Chief Scientist, Starlab NV/SA, Brussels, Belgium, and Principle Research Scientist, CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Australia. Craig Lindley’s research interests include cognitive science of games and game play, methodologies for game design, game semiotics, AI in virtual environments, advanced game engine design, believable agents and characterisation, emergent and interactive story systems, multi-agent systems, knowledge systems and artificial intelligence.

Markus Montola (M.Soc.Sc.) works as a researcher in Nokia Research Center. Before joining NRC, he researched pervasive games at University of Tampere, Finland. He is also a doctoral candidate in University of Tampere, Finland, with a three-year grant from Finnish Cultural Foundation. He coedited two books on larp with Jaakko Stenros: Playground Worlds in 2008 and Beyond Role and Play in 2004. He is one of the main authors of the book Pervasive Games, which will be published by Morgan Kaufmann during 2009.

Jessica Mulligan is author and consultant, is an online game professional with over twenty years of industry experience at all levels of management. She was recently a consultant to the Board of Directors for Nevrax and Executive Producer of Saga of Ryzom for Nevrax - Paris. Her past positions include Executive Producer and Creative Director at Turbine Entertainment Software on the Asheron’s Call franchise, the Director handling in-game events and story in Ultima Online for Electronic Arts, Director of Operations for MM3D Inc on the Middle Earth Online game and positions with AOL, National Videotex, Origin Systems and Interplay Productions, among others, in various executive and management roles. A respected author and commentator on online games, Jessica is the co-author of Developing Online Games: An Insider’s Guide with Bridgette Patrovsky, which was published worldwide in 2003 in several languages, including Chinese and Korean. She was the author of the influential bi-weekly industry opinion column, Biting the Hand, between 1997 and 2003. Jessica also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Austin Game Conference.

Monte Singman is founder and CEO of Radiance Digital Entertainment. Monte is the founder and CEO of Radiance Digital Entertainment, the Shanghai based company focuses on production of high quality online game titles. He is also currently chief professor at Shanghai Theatre Academy heading up digital entertainment graduate school and main coordinator of the IGDA Shanghai Chapter. Monte was formerly the founder and CEO of Zona, Inc, founded in 2000, Zona was acquired by Shanda Entertainment in 2003 prior to Shanda’s IPO, later Monte headed up Shanda’s 300-400 staff R&D department. Monte is a 20 year veteran in US video game industry.

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Kudos to Lies van Roessel (Editing Assistant) who is research assistant at Utrecht University.