TWILIGHT GROVE,World of Warcraft — As the CEO finished his remarks at the news conference, he had one rule for what came next.

"You can ask a question, but then you have to duel me," he said, pulling from his armored back a monstrous sword with a glowing gem on the hilt.

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Special Feature: Have Sword and Notepad, Will Travel: A Reporter's First Virtual News Conference By David Ho When I told my editor about an upcoming press conference inside the online sword and sorcery game World of Warcraft and he suggested I attend, my first thought was: How do I explain this one on my expense form? The event held last week by the software firm Socialtext Inc. parodied the increasing number of corporate news events held in Second Life, a virtual Internet world. Some technology reporters and bloggers have criticized that trend, noting the hassle and technical learning curve needed to participate. As no stranger to computers and video games, I wasn't scared off. But as the parent of a toddler, my game consoles have more dust than high scores these days. My best training for this assignment predated the Internet's coming out party, when "high-speed connection" meant a plodding modem that makes today's dial-up seem cheetah-like. There was no Web, just text-only bulletin board systems where a couple dozen people could call in to a computer at someone's house. In that world, fantasy gaming's cutting edge was BladeMaster, a gladiator game where two players fought with swords and creative weapons such as the "Trident of Agony." Graphics were the real fantasy -- the square arena was sketched with zeros while letters and dashes represented clashing players. Today, Warcraft's vast 3-D animated mayhem enthralls millions of players around the world. Click for more...

A question about collaborative Web sites led to a clash of blades and a frantic fight in front of a luminous green portal that some said had a dragon on the other side.

While press conferences can turn combative at times, typically sword fights between audience members and executives are frowned upon. Not here in the World of Warcraft, the popular online game set in a fantasy realm peopled by battling elves, orcs, gnomes — and now journalists.

Software company Socialtext Inc. held what it called the first Warcraft in-game news conference Friday. It playfully followed the example set by Second Life, an Internet virtual world that companies including Dell, IBM, and Toyota see as the latest promotional frontier.

In these computer-generated realities, participants create and control 3-D animated characters that interact with other players and the virtual environment. Basic or introductory use is often free, while people wanting more pay fees.

Second Life, created by Linden Lab in San Francisco, mirrors reality in many ways. The 1.7 million "residents" use characters called "avatars" to experience clothing stores, dance clubs, movie theaters and even an economy with currency convertible to real dollars.

That virtual world can also defy the familiar — and the laws of physics. Modes of transportation include walking, flying (without an aircraft) and teleportation. Avatars may resemble real people or be fantastically different.

This strange new world has recently received a surge of attention from big businesses.

In November, Dell Inc. unveiled a new model desktop computer at a Second Life event held at its virtual Dell Island factory, where visitors can customize and purchase PCs for use inside the game and for delivery in the real world.

Sun Microsystems Inc., which also has an island, announced a gaming strategy in October at what it called the first Second Life news conference by a Fortune 500 company.

While companies tout these publicity events as a technological leap beyond teleconferencing, attendees have had mixed results. Some say the hassle of participating outweighs the novelty.

When reporters attended a Second Life town hall meeting with former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner in August, many newcomers had trouble making their avatars sit. At the Sun event, audience members flew onto the stage.

But some media have embraced the virtual worlds.

Technology news Web sites have set up shop in Second Life, and the Reuters news service runs a virtual bureau there to write for and about the alternate reality.

The whole trend is "definitely deserving of some satire," said Ross Mayfield, chief executive of Socialtext, a California firm that makes business software based on the same collaborative "wiki" concept used in the user-edited online reference Wikipedia.

His company looked to a different news conference venue: the World of Warcraft, a vast sword and sorcery game from Blizzard Entertainment Inc. with more than 7.5 million players.

Unlike Second Life, "Warcraft is definitely not meant to allow real world events to happen that are outside the game design," Mayfield said before his news conference. There he arrived as a powerful paladin named Master Sergeant Kalevipoeg.

Socialtext did announce a company software design competition, but Mayfield said the event was mainly "experimental theater that says a statement about the way people are marketing themselves."

Blizzard Entertainment did not immediately return messages asking what the company thought of the new use for its game.

The news conference's invitation laid out rules including "no ninjas," and "do not dance unless you are an orc."

A handful of reporters and bloggers planned to attend, but it was unclear how many showed in the crowd of warriors, druids, warlocks and others.

Attendees communicated in a fashion similar to instant messaging. Before the event, many spent time dueling, dancing, summoning bizarre beasts and transforming into sheep.

Participants did quickly learn that here the sword is mightier than the pen.

Before escorting one reporter in the guise of a novice Night Elf hunter to safety through a dangerous forest, Mayfield's paladin said the news conference was almost a complete success.

His only regret: "I was really hoping the dragon would come out of this portal and kill us all."

On the Web:

Warcraft community site: www.worldofwarcraft.com

Second Life: www.secondlife.com

Socialtext: www.socialtext.com