In the late 21st century virtual reality has become the world’s favorite pastime, and people spend massive amounts of time exploring fantasy worlds instead of fixing bugs and making sure the servers can handle the game launch.

The world of massively multiplayer online games keeps getting, well, more massive. We've come a long way since I first picked up the genre eight years ago. World of Warcraft may still dominate the traditional monthly susbcription market, but free-to-play multiplayer worlds of all kinds boast tens of millions of…

I got excited in 2008 when news hit somebody was making a game based on Tad Williams' Otherland series of books. That game never turned up. Since it was an MMO, I am already over it, and now excited all over again because Otherland is being turned into very expensive motion pictures instead.

I don't read too many books these days. Blame video games & comics for that. But back when I did read books, one of my favourite series of all time was Tad William's Otherland series. Which, despite first appearing over ten years ago, did a pretty good job of depicting a future world hooked on MMOs. So imagine my…