Virtual Worlds: Why?

I am a business student at the University of Washington and enrolled in an Information Systems class. I am in a small group working on a project that is looking into virtual worlds. In doing some preliminary research, I was intrigued and confused about what makes virtual worlds so popular.

From World of Warcraft to SecondLife or even Farmville, virtual worlds have expanded from categories such as fantasy and RPG into social environments, children’s (Webkinz or Club Penguin), and even built into social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace.

Now, I have never played World of Warcraft or Everquest. I just recently created an avatar in Second Life and I am COMPLETELY confused whenever I try playing it. Farmville seems like a time-waster and annoys the life out of me as I get updates on my Facebook news feed.

Dwight Schrute has been the defining voice for me in understanding what is Second Life–one of the most popular virtual worlds:

In effort to avoid being completely negative and trashing virtual worlds, I would love to hear from anyone who is playing, has played, or knows others who do and what makes these virtual worlds so intriguing.

There is no wrong answer or reason why you play or played. This is simply a process of discovery for me!

Thanks for the help!