The idea was first discussed at a couple of conferences in 2003, when a small group of people came together and wondered why their interests were not on the conference agendas. The League of Worlds was then established in 2004 to fill this gap.
Mission
At the end of the first conference in Helsinki, Finland, it was agreed that LoW’s mission should be to stimulate and disseminate research, analysis, theory, technical and curricular developments in the creative, educational, training-based and social use of role-playing, simulations and virtual worlds; and to contribute towards the development of coherent frameworks for their advancement, application and assessment.
LoW’s primary areas of interest include:
- theoretical analysis
- the development of practical applications
- the documentatlon of framework projects and case studies
Between 2004 – 2009 LoW organised a series of 5 annual conference as well as other activities – real and virtual.
History
League of Worlds 1
League of Worlds 1 was held in Helsinki, Finland in October 2004. It was attended by thirty two delegates from Australia, England, Finland, Germany, Guam, Sweden, and the USA.
There is a separate page listing the details of the attendees and activities at the conference, and the decisions made in the final session.
League of Worlds 2
League of Worlds 2 was held in Melbourne, Australia in November 2005. It was attended by twenty three delegates, of whom thirteen were attending their first LoW conference. This conference had a virtual component, and most of those who were unable to attend made contributions there. We were also joined by several new virtual attendees.
There is a separate page listing the details of the attendees and activities at the conference, and the decisions made in the final session.
League of Worlds 3
League of Worlds 3 was held in Boone, North Carolina, in October-November 2006. It was attended by thirty delegates, of whom seventeen were attending their first LoW conference. Many of the delegates who had attended previous conferences sent messages of support, promising to attend the 2007 conference.
There is a separate page listing the details of the attendees and activities at the conference, and the decisions made in the final session.
League of Worlds 4
League of Worlds 4 was held in Karlskrona, in southern Sweden in October 2007. The keynote speaker was John Lester aka Pathfinder Linden.
League of Worlds 5
League of Worlds 5 was held at the University of Hong Kong in October 2008.
Oops…
A conference planned for Amsterdam in October 2009 failed to materialise, due in part to the economic downturn and in part to the use of mindwarping Heat Rays by the Martian Expeditionary Force.