Fascinating article that has much to say about the genuinely far reaching extent to which a well-designed game can develop life-long skills… or wreck them:

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060222/sirlin_01.shtml

The most intriguing question here is actually… does World of Warcraft, the single most successful (in terms of active subscriptions) MMOG that there has ever been, actually teach lessons that could be damaging in the real world?

I am inclined to say: OF COURSE NOT!

But… on the other hand, my days in Everquest taught me much about genuine real-world leadership. That game rewarded players with progress on the sheer strength of natural leadership abilities… and quickly destroyed those would-be leaders who simply talked up a good fight. (I also learned I prefer to be led by genuine genius, than to confidently lead a swathe of idiots

What do you think?