Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft ReaderHilde Corneliussen, Jill Walker Rettberg "This book examines the complexity of World of Warcraft from a variety of perspectives, exploring the cultural and social implications of the proliferation of ever more complex digital gameworlds.The contributors have immersed themselves in the World of Warcraft universe, spending hundreds of hours as players (leading guilds and raids, exploring moneymaking possibilities in the in-game auction house, playing different factions, races, and classes), conducting interviews, and studying the game design - as created by Blizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, and as modified by player-created user interfaces. The analyses they offer are based on both the firsthand experience of being a resident of Azeroth and the data they have gathered and interpreted.The contributors examine the ways that gameworlds reflect the real world - exploring such topics as World of Warcraft as a "capitalist fairytale" and the game's construction of gender; the cohesiveness of the gameworld in terms of geography, mythology, narrative, and the treatment of death as a temporary state; aspects of play, including "deviant strategies" perhaps not in line with the intentions of the designers; and character - both players' identification with their characters and the game's culture of naming characters." -- BOOK JACKET. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 Corporate Ideology in World of Warcraft | 19 |
2 Never Such Innocence Again | 39 |
3 World of Warcraft as a Playground for Feminism | 63 |
4 The Familiar and the Foreign | 87 |
5 A Hollow World | 111 |
6 World Creation and Lore | 123 |
7 What Makes World of Warcraft a World? | 143 |
9 Does World of Warcraft Change Everything? | 187 |
10 Humans Playing World of Warcraft | 203 |
11 Roleplay vs Gameplay | 225 |
12 Character Identification in World of Warcraft | 249 |
13 Playing with Names | 265 |
Contributors | 287 |
Glossary | 291 |
| 295 | |
Other editions - View all
Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader Hilde G. Corneliussen,Jill Walker Rettberg No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
action activities actually aesthetic Alliance appearance areas argue aspects Available avatar Azeroth become Blizzard body called chapter character choices choose complete computer games considered constructed context created culture death described developed discussion effect elves engagement example experience explore fact fantasy feel female find first function gameplay gameworld gender give given guild Horde human identity important instance interesting involves kill kind leader less live look male means MMORPGs names narrative nature night NPCs objects orcs particular performance play players points positions possible present Press quests races raid real-world references rewards role role-playing rules seems seen sense server side social society specific stereotypes stories strategies structure tion understand University virtual women World of Warcraft