[In this analysis piece, Gamasutra columnist James Bishop looks at the meaning of persistence in games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars Galaxies -- plus the ever-changing nature of MMO games] Somewhere between teleporting back to an area that was unfamiliar and wandering around until something looked right, I'd become completely turned around. Nobody I knew was on, but I had a map, so it wasn't like I was going to get stuck somewhere ...