You have to check out Jane McGonigal’s TED presentation from this past February if you have not yet seen it.
Back when I first started playing Mafia, I considered it a fun way to sharpen my communication, diplomacy, and persuasion skills. Ok, and escape from whatever I want to escape from at any given moment. 
Now that I’m a cranky and crusty old veteran, those optimistic days of yore have seemed like dusty old memories. At the same time, I have spent countless hours in cerebral proximity to some fine people over the past years. People who I have experienced many adventures and victories and trials and tribulations with, who probably vote very differently than I do, live their lives differently than I do, and I may not have ever had a chance to interact with if it weren’t for the game. That community aspect of Jane McGonigal’s thesis definitely resonates with me, even though I know that message-board Mafia is probably not even on her radar as far as the games she’s referring to.
I also play a lot of Halo with my ridiculously good and yet still very nice and helpful gaggle of gay boys who don’t mind that they are more likely to lose with me on their team than win.
Anywho, I find this whole emerging field very interesting and exciting, and I’m curious what y’all think.
