World of Warcraft - Governance

Discussion

Testimony by Joi Ito, from a lecture described by Bruno Giussani:

"For two years, Joi went to the Molten Core in World of Warcraft two times every weekend, coordinating a global team of 40 people. It is a very sophisticated activity, and is like a formal ball -- a 40 person raid can fall apart in a moment. John Seely Brown calls it an "ensemble", with the sense that you are bringing 40 people towards a common goal.

Joi goes on to note that MBA’s suck at leading these raids as they don’t listen. The best are those in the service industry (night shift nurse, etc.). Joi runs, as a Mage, a guild, and has a real-life priest in the guild. The priest has often stated that running a guild is a lot like running a congregation.

One of the key characteristics of WoW is that it is very working class. Joi states that in his guild, he has people who are practically illiterate. "You have 8 year olds who play with ex-cons, and you need to explain to them that the diversity is very important".

In WoW they use team speak, and have developed a series of protocols so that they can manage the open audio space for as much as 8 hours. There is a different skill set, which this generation will bring into the workplace.

Joi speaks briefly about the issues involved in running his guild, his forums and extensive by-laws. There are regular "town hall" meetings, and people are very focused on being fair and clear." (http://www.lunchoverip.com/2007/12/leweb3---joi-it.html)