Areae is the just-launched multiplayer world startup from Raph Koster, the famed creator of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxy, and author of the classic "A Theory of Fun" (the "Understanding Comics" of gaming).
There's not much public about the game yet, though one of the investors has published this comment: "Areae sits at the intersection between Web 2.0 and MMOGs. If you think about it, the Web 2.0 and the Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming communities have largely been pretty siloed – gamer developers go to game industry conferences and Web 2.0 folks go to Web 2.0 conferences, and there has not been enough intermingling between the two communities."
I actually know all about it, because I'm lucky enough to be on Areae's advisory board. I can't say any more than what's above, but I can note that Raph has hit on a really smart idea that combines fun, community, and user-creativity to make an entirely new kind of online world experience.
See also:
Koster's keynote from Game Developers Conference
Koster's amazing "What are the lessons of MMORPGs today?"
Theory of Fun PDF
Destiny of Games: what will become of fun?
Theory of Fun: Understanding Comics for games
Civil liberties in gamespace
Star Wars Galaxies economy laid bare
Lifecycle of a gamer
