A recent Manchester University study on gold farming pegs it as a $500 million global market, where some 400,000 workers -- 80 percent of which are based in China -- earn an average of $145 per month.

Speaking with the BBC News, Manchester University's Richard Heeks compared the gold farming industry's size to India's outsourcing industry.

"The Indian software employment figure probably crossed the 400,000 mark in 2004 and is now closer to 900,000," he said. "Nonetheless, the two are still comparable in employment size, yet not at all in terms of profile."

The study, titled "Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on 'Gold Farming': Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games," describes its "$500 million per year" prediction as a "best guess," taking into account subscription and employment data.

According to Heeks, the somewhat criminal nature of gold farming made it difficult to predict a definite number for the industry. "It seems unlikely to be less than $200 million per year, and it could well be more than $1 billion per year," he said.

Virtual environment platform developer VZillion Inc. (previously Fusion Road Inc.) completed its reverse merger with a Nevada corporation also named VZillion Inc. and traded over-the-counter on the Pink Sheets under the symbol "VZIL."

The former company renamed itself and commenced its merger with the latter in July 2007, spending the past 12 months developing and adding content to its virtual internet environment. The VZillion platform is described as a "Web 4.0 VirtuReal environment" that creates 3D experiences out of traditional 2D sites.

VZillion is currently speaking with several music, entertainment, and professional networking companies that it hopes to announce collaborations with in the near future. The platform's public launch is scheduled for October 2008.

Said VZillion president Antonio Collier: "With the reverse merger completed and access to the U.S. capital markets, we are poised for a period of exceptional growth. We can now focus our efforts towards expanding the market reach of our advanced technology designed to allow customers to interact in a virtual world that is both safe and user-friendly."

GoWeb3D launched a line of pre-built and custom 3D virtual spaces for companies, educators, and others to purchase and integrate into their web sites.

The spaces, which are built with Altadyn's 3Dxplorer toolset, do not require any downloads or plug-ins They allow users to see and interact with each other, shop, work, and play together in various 3D environments, such as offices, conference rooms, classrooms, exhibit halls, and retail spaces.

GoWeb3D is a joint venture founded by VRWorkplace (Boulder, Colorado) CEO Dave Elchoness and Trimensions Metaverse Development (Gurgaon, India) CEO Rahul Dutta. The company's services also include consulting, advising, and developing content related to virtual worlds and web3D.

Said Elchoness: "From headquarters in the U.S. and India, GoWeb3D is committed to offering transformative internet experiences at all price points. Not only will we design and integrate custom web3D interactive experiences into large retailers' existing websites, but we will open new markets to small businesses now able to reach out globally with realistic storefronts and offices."

Developer Forterra Systems updated OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment), its virtual world and enterprise collaboration platform, with media sharing and SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) content integration features.

OLIVE is an open, distributed client-server platform for building private virtual worlds. The platform's architecture is designed to scale from single user applications up to thousands of concurrent users.

Version 2.1 of the software, which was released in July, includes drag-and-drop display of Microsoft PowerPoint and streaming video to distributed audiences in 3D meeting environments. Organizations with SCORM-compliant and web-based e-learning content can now integrate this content into multi-user 3D training scenarios.

Olive 2.2, which will be available in late October, will enable displaying of software applications onto 3D screens, collaborative whiteboards, and enterprise-level scheduling capabilities to enable participants to meet in a designated 3D room.

Said Forterra Systems CEO Dave Rolston: "The vast majority of corporate knowledge is developed through collaboration-style learning among colleagues in informal discussions and short meetings. Global companies with a high percentage of remote, home-based or mobile workers are struggling to offer enterprise platforms that address these collaboration needs with on-demand access to the company’s learning assets."

He continued: "The collaboration and training features we are releasing help our customers mix and match both formal learning content and informal peer to peer knowledge sharing through a common engaging 3D environment. Our customers are excited their employees will be able to build stronger inter-personal relationships through OLIVE that will yield more effective virtual teams and communities."

Ed Stark and Dave Williams are veterans of the tabletop gaming industry. Between the two they’ve had a hand in publishing major revamps of pen and paper roleplaying systems, popular trading card games, and a number of board games.

Between the two they've had a hand in the revamp of Dungeons and Dragons to the 3.0 rule set, the Legend of the Five Rings RPG, the West End Star Wars Roleplaying game, and numerous card and board games.

Last year, they joined the still-running-silent, VC-backed MMO developer Red 5, based out of Orange County, California - the World Of Warcraft veteran-founded company has been in existence since 2005, has $18.5 million in backing from Benchmark Capital and Sierra Ventures, and most recently announced former Oracle exec Michael Weingartner joining the firm as VP of engineering.

Since they signed up for the team, Stark and Williams have had the chance to realize some pretty far-out development dreams -- like bringing a sense of the tabletop gaming world to the grinding, sometimes-soulless world of MMOs.

With the Red 5 title still very much under wraps, they still wanted the opportunity to speak on the subject of developer vision. Specifically, they wanted to address the two concepts of persistence and community, two of the core ideas around which MMOs have coalesced in the past. The level of persistence the Red 5 developers are talking about, though, seems entirely different from the average massively multiplayer game.

Dizzywood-developer Rocket Paper Scissors has picked up $1 million in Series A funding, according to a regulatory finding reported by private equity news outlet PEHub.

Though the only listed shareholder is European Founders Fund, earlier reports point to Charles River Ventures as an investor.

The San Francisco-based studio was founded in November 2007. Its educational virtual world Dizzywood is targeted at kids aged 8-12 and allows players to create, customize, and name a character to explore an enchanted wood.

Players can chat with each other, cooperate with others to solve the wood's mysteries, and earn rewards, such as items, achievement badges, e-motes, and powers for successful completion of events.

Developer Turbine has announced that it has officially licensed Havok Physics, Havok Animation, and Havok Behavior 6 for use in the creation of its upcoming MMO titles for PC and console.

The Havok 6.0 suite is a collection of cross-platform software tools available to programmers and artists working with multiple gaming platforms, including the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PC.

Havok says its Behavior, one of the key components of Havok 6.0, is designed specifically for the creative members of development teams, and can be used to build "interactive character performances" that respond to their physical environment in the game.

Based in Westwood, Massachusetts, Turbine has already released several PC MMORPGs, including the Asheron's Call series, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.

Says Havok managing director David O'Meara, "We are pleased that Turbine has chosen Havok’s solutions-driven software to effectively and economically manage creative and technical goals in their upcoming titles. The Havok team is committed to providing market-leading development tools for our customers based on their evolving needs and we look forward to working with the teams at Turbine."

MMO distributor and middleware developer BigWorld opened an European office, seeking to establish a "direct local presence" in the market.

Though the Australia-based company did not reveal where the office is based, BigWorld named Mike Allenson, its newly appointed business development manager for Europe and Russia, as the new office's head.

Previously, Allenson served as a business development director at Moscow publisher NIval Interactive, where he worked on releasing titles such as Heroes of Might and Magic V for Ubisoft.

BigWorld recently announced in July that it expanded its presence to the Japanese and South Korean markets, bringing in a new business development director and a new account executive for the areas.

Says Allenson: “BigWorld Technology’s growth as a best-of-class MMO middleware has been astounding. I’m both glad and honored to be joining a company that is building the best possible MMO tech coupled with an intense focus on customer support. I’m looking forward to translating and extending our successes in Asia and the U.S. here to the European and Russian markets.”

BigWorld also announced a new deal with Russian-based developer Cybertime System for upcoming virtual world Cyber Town. The studio specializes in creating virtual cities in real-time environments.

Free-to-play MMO developer Artix Entertainment announced an Asian marketing partnership with Cherry Credits, an alternative payment solutions provider, to offer prepaid game cards in Southeast Asia.

The cards will be available in a variety of locations, including internet cafes, bookstores, PC shops, and convenience stores throughout Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Players can use the prepaid game cards to upgrade characters, purchase items and equipment, and unlock exclusive areas inside Artix's free-to-play browser-based MMORPGs.

Founded in 2002 and based in Land O' Lakes, Florida, Artix has so far released three games for PC and Mac -- MechQuest, DragonFable, and AdventureQuest.

Says Artix's business development manager Daniel Vasile: "Content within the games is updated on a weekly basis creating a compelling experience which keeps users coming back frequently for new content and story lines. Over 60 million registered accounts have been created for our games during the past five years."

Dimension5 Labs, a new development studio based in Cerrillos, NM, announced its launch and its virtual world platform.

The company says that its platform combines elements of commerce, trading, live chat, interactive games, private messaging, friends lists, and the graphic rendering of rooms, furniture, and avatars as well as other features new to virtual worlds.

The platform is coded entirely in ActionScript 3, enabling users to jump into virtual worlds through their browsers without having to download and install additional software or plug-ins. The system is also XMPP compliant and features a back-end moderation system to ensure COPPA compliance for worlds targeting children under 13.

Dimension5 has been working on Virtual Family Kingdom, a prototype system that received some 100,000 users during its private beta phase. A public beta for VFK is planned to launch within the next few weeks.

The studio also offer services in web design and programming, software design and programming, printed media, virtual world advertising, and virtual world commerce.

Says marketing VP Justin Handley: "We wanted to make sure that we could safely approach any company looking to build a virtual environment and tell them on no uncertain terms that we could build what they needed. The only way we could see to do that was to create one of our own that demonstrated a rich feature set, highly detailed graphic design, and scalable stability into the hundreds of thousands."

With the recent launch of our new Worlds In Motion Job Board as a standalone board complete, complete with its own RSS feed and unique URL, every week, we will be highlighting the latest posted jobs relevant to our readership of professionals creating online worlds.

The listings cover a wide range of companies and open positions, so everyone seeking jobs in the MMO/online/virtual world industry should find the board useful.

- ArenaNet (Bellevue, WA)
Digital Painter/Illustrator, Technical Artist - Outsourcing, Motion Graphics Artist
("ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, WA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation and is the creator of the block-buster RPG, Guild Wars. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players. ArenaNet's first title, Guild Wars, is a global online role-playing game that allows gamers to play with anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world.")

- Conduit Labs (Cambridge, MA)
Animator ninja with robot assassins
("Conduit Labs is a venture backed start-up out to mix MMOs with music and the web to create a new kind of social gaming network. Past successes of our team members include Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Lord of the Rings Online, H-Lounge and the Ambient Orb. We are raising the bar on the rapidly growing social gaming market and if you are looking to get in on ground floor of a whole new era in online gaming drop us a line to get yourself cherry-picked.")

As economists struggle to come up with answers to the mortgage meltdown and credit crisis, developer CCP's lead economist Dr. Eyjolfur Gudmundsson oversees a very different, yet surprisingly complex, kind of financial market: the persistent, single-server online world of spacefaring MMO EVE Online.

"By 2008, the market has become completely player-driven, and that's where I came in," says Guðmundsson during an Edinburgh International Festival session. "The whole economic structure has become so complex, the data so vast, that a specialist was needed."

He has 15 years of non-virtual experience in his field, and holds a PhD from the University of Rhode Island. When hired last year, he described himself as "a sort of Alan Greenspan for...EVE Online," referring to the United States' former chairman of the Federal Reserve. Players, designers, and CCP executives alike benefit from real economic analysis of the in-game world, he argues.

After all, Gudmundsson says, EVE is a "pure capitalist" market -- its economy is emergent, not constrained to a fixed state like those of most MMO games. It was not always that way.

The organizers of 2008 Austin Game Developers Conference (Austin GDC) are reminding possible attendees that the final early registration deadline for the September 15th-17th event - which includes keynotes from Bruce Sterling and Club Penguin co-creator Lane Merrifield - ends tomorrow, August 27th - full rundown inside.

Austin GDC 2008 is presented by Think Services, organizers of the industry-leading Game Developers Conference (GDC) and the parent of Gamasutra.com.

The event is a three-day, multi-track game conference taking place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas September 15-17, 2008, and continues a multi-year tradition of an Austin-based game event appealing to a nationwide and worldwide game community.

The Austin GDC this year consists of the following elements:

- Austin GDC Online Summit - Austin's signature summit, with four parallel tracks on business and marketing, technology and services, design, and social networking and community for online games. Major speakers from Bioware, Cartoon Network, Disney, EA, NCSoft, and Sony Online Entertainment are participating, with Club Penguin's Lane Merrifield keynoting.

- Worlds In Motion Summit - specifically concentrating on virtual worlds, and expanding from the successful GDC Summit, this business-focused two-day event includes sessions on Facebook gaming, user-created virtual world content and the future of the metaverse - with speakers from IBM, NBC.com, IAC, and more.

- Austin GDC Writing Summit, featuring a keynote from futurist and science fiction writer Bruce Sterling on 'Computer Entertainment 35 Years From Today', plus notable lectures from leading writers from id Software, Carbine Studios, Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft.

- Austin GDC Audio Summit, with a keynote from Sony's Jason Page on next-gen audio, and other speakers including Austin Wintory, composer of fl0w, Slipgate Ironworks' Kurt Larson on adaptive music for MMOs, and a special 'Iron Composer Texas' to be fought out on site.

- Game Career Seminar, including notable lectures and panels for those wanting to get into the game biz, such as 'The Game Job Interview RPG', the ever-popular 'Pitch Your Game Idea' panel, and 'You're Hired! How to Get HR to Notice You' - featuring speakers from Vicarious Visions, Nexon, Ghostfire Games, and more.

In addition to an Expo show floor with many game technology companies in attendance, Austin GDC will also showcase the recently announced winners of the 2008 IGF Showcase for Austin GDC, picking the very best examples of 'local flavor' in terms of indie games from Austin and the Southern U.S.

Those interested in registering for the event can visit the official Austin GDC website to purchase their pass - final early registration ends on August 27th, although passes will still be available following that date and on site.

Developer Bitstudio Games launched the first two of twenty-four "habitats" for a virtual world based on the My Animal Family children's book series

The books, which are produced by Smart Kids Publishing, will be available online and at brick and mortar retailers such as Toys R Us and Barnes and Noble this fall. Each book will come with a DVD and an access code that can be used to unlock a correlating virtual habitat with interactive games at MAFkidsclub.com.

Once they've registered at the site, children can customize an avatar, play games to earn points, and spend those points on gear for further adventures in the related habitats. They can also pool their points together and choose a charity that will help children in underdeveloped nations.

An online paint program with coloring and activity pages is also featured at the site. Bitstudio intends to eventually include premium habitats with kid-safe chat and co-operative games.

The books, DVD, and virtual world are being translated into several languages for the European and Asian market. The first book in the My Animal Family series, Ella the Baby Elephant, is available now through the My Animal Family site and select retailers.

Said Bitstudio Games founder and creative director Wes Gray: "MAFkidsclub.com is a true collaborative effort between Bitstudio Games and Smart Kids Publishing. The My Animal Family book and DVD series will be a fun and educational experience for kids. The website we've developed increases the fun factor while maintaining a common theme with the book and DVD."

Media conglomerate InterActiveCorp will launch Zwinky Cuties, a subscription-based virtual world using its Zwinky avatars and targeting girls aged 6-12, on September 16th, according to a report from the New York Post.

The company's Zwinky site, which claims over 16 million registered users and six million unique visitors per month, targets girls aged 13-and-older. Having noticed that thousands of users were turned away from registering with Zwinky due to the site's age requirement of 13 year olds, IAC decided to launch a younger brand to capture those users.

Zwinky Cuties members will be able to create and customize avatars, socialize with others, shop, play casual games, and adopt virtual pets.

The new virtual world's subscription-based service will charge users $5.95 per month for virtual currency that can be used to purchase accessories, fashions, furniture and pets for their avatars.

According to Mike Primiani, IAC's senior VP of strategic partnership and product operations, the company is trying to create a more parent friendly payment model with the service, as opposed to models with which users buy virtual currency on an a la carte basis.

"In the real world girls always love to play with dolls and dress them up and have play sets," said Primiani. "We're trying to bring that experience in the online world.

Simulations firm Engineering & Computer Simulations Inc. received a $1.4 million contract from the U.S. Army to adapt Emergency Management Nexus to meet the Army's medical training requirements, according to a report from the Orlando Business Journal.

EM Nexus is a National Guard-sponsored Joint State Response Training System program providing a secure persistent virtual world for training and collaboration.

The new Medical Nexus will offer instructional content combining elements of of 3D virtual worlds, immersive learning environments, virtual classrooms and simulation-based training.

The company previously received a $3.7 million contract from the National Guard Bureau Joint Training Directorate in May 2008 to add new capabilities and functionalities, such as module navigational aides and additional virtual classroom capabilities, to the "Massive Multi-User Online Environment."

Multimedia services provider Digitell launched Virtual Convention Center, a platform providing technology for running virtual meeting and conferences.

Meeting planners can host varying levels of events, from small board meetings to large general sessions, where communication can be verbal using VoIP technology or can be written via text either privately or publicly. Both recorded or live presentations can run anytime or be set to run at a certain time.

Virtual Convention Center includes features for meeting invitations, online registration, avatar creation, a virtual calendar to post events, and e-commerce solutions for selling products online. Statistics on who visits, how often they visit, and what booths they visit are also tracked.

Companies can also recreate an exhibit hall through the Virtual Convention Center. Users will be able to watch videos, download brochures, send e-mails, or visit the company's web site from the hall.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Following last week's look at Ikariam, we look at another non-traditional browser-based MMO -- Urban Dead. Strongly based upon classic play-by-mail games, this online world is inhabited solely by players -- with not one single NPC -- as both humans and zombies in a city-wide battle for the streets.

Name: Urban Dead

Developer: Kevan Davis

Established: July 2005

How it Works: Urban Dead is browser based and runs in HTML. Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: In Urban Dead, players create a character, either a zombie or a survivor (and if a survivor, from a number of classes, including consumers, firemen and army privates) and is dropped into the city of Malton either to cause as much destruction as possible (as a zombie) or to survive by an means possible -- most usually by banding together with other players in barricaded buildings (if a player.) Players have a limited number of action points each day, but are forewarned that even if they have run out of action points, the rest of the world goes on around them, while they "sleep".

Payment Method: Urban Dead is free to play, and earns revenue via banner advertising on the site.

Key Features:
- Massively multiplayer “always on” virtual world where every single inhabitant of the world is played by a real person
- Heavily based around player vs. player (or more accurately, survivor vs. zombie) combat
- Survivors who die becomes zombies
- Players can talk, use radios and join groups to “socialize”.

Useful Links:
Game Statistics
The Urban Dead Wiki - Official Wiki
UDToolbar – Firefox Extension

Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong (SCEH) announced that it will bring Home, its upcoming online 3D avatar-based community for the PlayStation 3, to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan in fall 2008.

The PlayStation Home official website for Asia is already available, and closed beta testing for the service will start from mid-September 2008. SCEH invites Hong Kong and Singapore users to participate in the closed beta phase.

According to SCEH, Home's open beta phase for the region will begin later this fall. Sony began its North American private beta for Home in April 2007, with a similar closed beta launching in Europe in May 2007. A public release date for the title has not yet been confirmed in any territory.

The company also recently announced an expansion of the beta for both the U.S. and European markets, inviting users who downloaded a new Home theme or users who've been active with the PlayStation Network/Store to participate in the test community.

Interactive and creative production studio Animax Entertainment launched Kid Koncepts, a new division focusing on bringing established and emerging kids brands into virtual worlds.

The company is seeking to help clients develop their business case, investment, and launch plans for entertainment, toy, confection, publishing and other kid-focused brands interested in developing a presence in virtual worlds.

Animax's consulting services will include creative scoping, positioning, core functionality, site differentiation, business model development and financial modeling. Currently, Animax has several Kid Koncepts clients with virtual worlds scheduled to launch in the second and third quarters of 2009.

Based in Van Nuys, Animax's previous MMO experience includes TyGirlz.com, a virtual world targeted and girls at launched to accompany Ty Inc.'s line of Ty Girlz plush dolls.

Said Animax CEO Michael Bellavia: "We understand how complex and dynamic the kids virtual world market can be. Brands are looking for experts who can help them find their place in the market. Kids brands are increasingly focusing on the ROI -- in addition to creating a story-driven, branded experience. Kid Koncepts helps brands build a sustainable business case and implementation roadmap for success."

Online game developer and publisher Webcarrz secured $4 million in Series A equity financing led by VC firm Meakem Becker Venture Capital.

The funds will go towards supporting the studio's development, deployment, and marketing of its upcoming multiplayer online game. Though little has been revealed about the casual title, other than it offers a social play area without requiring fixed play patterns, the company will announce further details in the coming months.

Based in California and founded in 2007, Webcarzz has partnered with development studio MCS Games, whose client list includes Disney Interactive, Sun Microsystems, Hasbro, and Sony Online Entertainment.

Said Webcarzz CEO Chris Bergstresser: "With over 300 million online gamers today, the time is ripe for virtual worlds and multiplayer online games. Competitive play, multiplayer activity, and exploration make up the foundation for Webcarzz."

He continued: "Together with MCS Games, we are creating a very unique and highly engaging online destination aimed at a very specific and underserved market segment. With MBVC and MCS Games as our partners, we will be able to execute on our vision and deliver a truly innovative consumer experience."

Virtual meeting solutions provider ProtoMedia launched a "Go Green, Go Virtual" initiative and non-profit foundation with the goal of promoting energy conservation through the use of virtual technology for meetings, training, and work-group collaboration.

The initiative seeks to promote virtual events over live and physical sessions, reduce the need for business travel, reduce individual energy through the advocacy of telecommuting, and encourage companies to adopt a model of networked, collaborative work groups.

The company's ProtoSphere software is an enterprise virtual world platform supporting telecommuting and the replacement of live events. The platform's integrated tools allow for application sharing, video telepresence, and social networking.

ProtonMedia will also fund a "Go Green, Go Virtual" non-profit foundation, which will donate a percentage of its profits from ProtoSphere licensing. The foundation will utilize these funds to support organizations that it feels are dedicated to promoting environmental responsibility through energy conservation and alternative energy use.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Following last week's look at Ikariam, we look at another non-traditional browser-based MMO -- Urban Dead. Strongly based upon classic play-by-mail games, this online world is inhabited solely by players -- with not one single NPC -- as both humans and zombies in a city-wide battle for the streets.

Nottingham-based online games developer Monumental Games has nearly doubled its staff, growing from 35 employees to over 60, with its new hires including game director Ron Harris and project lead Ewan Lamont.

The studio is currently ramping up development on Football Superstars, its flagship MMO scheduled to be published by CyberSports in late 2008. Monumental also develops Monumental Technology Suite, an MMO middleware set of tools, and has two as-yet-undisclosed projects underway.

Designed as an virtual world for football fans seeking to live a "top footballer's lifestyle," Football SuperStars enables players to recreate themselves as persistent footballer avatars and play matches in 3, 5, 7, and 11-man teams. All players on the pitch, with the exception of goalkeepers, are controlled by humans, giving both teams freedom to develop their own strategies and play styles.

Prior to Monumental, Harris held senior management roles for companies such as Sony, Electronic Arts, and Codemasters. Lamont has previously serves as production manager for pen-and-paper RPG Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

Said CEO Rik Alexander: "Growth comes with its own challenges, and ensuring we get the right people in the right places is a key component. We also have to make sure we retain our excellent staff and that’s about more than just offering a highly competitive package."

Internet traffic analyst Hitwise posted its findings from a case study documenting Stardoll's recent promotion with department store chain Kohl's.

Kohl's launched a line of virtual apparel in Stardoll, a teen and 'tween social networking site and doll dress-up community, which users were able to purchase for their online characters. The virtual line featured pieces from a clothing collection designed by singer Avril Lavigne.

The study found that users who visited shopping or classifieds sites after visiting Stardoll most likely visited Kohls.com, presumably due to the promotion.

During the peak week of the promotion (week ending August 16), Stardoll accounted for .26% of visits to Kohls.com, just behind Ask.com.

Hitwise advised that retailers seeking to implement similar promotions need to research any potential partnerships first before expecting similar gains, as the Kohl's Stardoll benefited from their users sharing a common interest in fashion.

Said Hitwise: "Firms looking to establish such partnerships can analyze clickstream data to understand relationships and to find appropriate promotions, thereby reducing the risk of a flop."

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Following last week's look at Ikariam, we look at another non-traditional browser-based MMO -- Urban Dead. Strongly based upon classic play-by-mail games, this online world is inhabited solely by players -- with not one single NPC -- as both humans and zombies in a city-wide battle for the streets.