I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Hartshorn, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology at UNC-Charlotte. He along with his colleagues at Wake Forest and Purdue University, are conducting a study of MMORPGs (specifically WoW) and citizenship participation.
Read the Interview and learn more about why this study is being done and what affects it might have in the future of gaming.
http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=C ... ail&id=256