Although we are starting to realize the dimension and implications of computer and video games in our society, many still resist to approach computer and video games as "powerful learning devices" and the notion that "the power of video games (…) resides in the ways in which they meld learning and identity" (Gee, 2004:199). Research in the field suggests that "massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) function as one novel form of a new "third place" for informal sociability" and that these social spaces have the "capacity (…) to profoundly shape the cognition and culture of the net-generation of kids" (Steinkuehler, 2005:29). According to Gee (2003), computer games can be seen as meaningful contexts for problem solving and to situate thinking and we can identify learning principles embedded in computer game playing. Consistent with this view, we adopted a "learning to play" approach, regarding learning "as an integrated part of mastering an activity, in this case, gameplay" (Arnseth, 2006). Analysing a guild and its members as an online community in the context of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game (MMORPG), might help us to gain some insight not only on how to organize online communities for learning but also on how and what people learn when they are engaged in such activities. Better understanding of these learning contexts that exist outside current formal educational system might help us to rethink the pedagogical potentialities of these technologies and transform school practices.The paper describes the basic results from an exploratory study for a doctoral research project. The study aims to construct a deep and detailed description of an online community naturally emerged from a MMORPG gameplay context (i.e. a guild) from its members perspective, aiming at questions like: How do the guild members make sense of the processes of knowledge construction and social practices embedded in the gameplay and in the guild membership? How does this type of online community works? Who are its members? How do they learn to play the game and to participate in the community? By identifying the members motivations, mapping their in-game social network, describing their gameplay activity and participation in the community and the knowledge construction processes embedded in these activities, we intend to construct a detailed picture of the individual trajectories within the guild, "the process by which newcomers become part of a community of practice" (Lave and Wenger, 1991:29), and of the guild members' perspectives on the community. Data were gathered by several methods: 20 small interviews to guild members, produced for the internal guild newsletter; a questionnaire targeted to all guild members; and observation notes taken by the researcher during his participation in the guild life. The data analysis is starting and we are currently using a combined approach of qualitative software, for the content analysis of the interviews and observation notes, and statistical software, for the questionnaire data. In the presentation, we will describe the first results of this analysis, currently underway. Arnseth, H. C. (2006). Learning to Play or Playing to Learn - A Critical Account of the Models of Communication Informing Educational Research on Computer Gameplay. Game Studies, 6 (1). Retrieved January 17, 2007, from http://gamestudies.org/0601 Gee, J. P. (2004). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. Steinkuehler, C. A. (2005). The new third place: Massively multiplayer online gaming in American youth culture. Tidskrift Journal of Research in Teacher Education, 3, 17-32.National journal