Bainbridge Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual

1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-1-84882-825-4
Verlag: Springer
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 318 Seiten

Reihe: Human-Computer Interaction Series

William Sims Bainbridge Virtual worlds are persistent online computer-generated environments where people can interact, whether for work or play, in a manner comparable to the real world. The most prominent current example is World of Warcraft (Corneliussen and Rettberg 2008), a massively multiplayer online game with 11 million s- scribers. Some other virtual worlds, notably Second Life (Rymaszewski et al. 2007), are not games at all, but Internet-based collaboration contexts in which people can create virtual objects, simulated architecture, and working groups. Although interest in virtual worlds has been growing for at least a dozen years, only today it is possible to bring together an international team of highly acc- plished authors to examine them with both care and excitement, employing a range of theories and methodologies to discover the principles that are making virtual worlds increasingly popular and may in future establish them as a major sector of human-centered computing.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bainbridge, William Sims

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;6
2;Introduction;9
2.1;World Jaunting;10
2.2;Plan of the Book;13
2.3;References;14
3;New World View;15
3.1;Organizing a Horde of Scientists;15
3.2;Session 1: Research and World of Warcraft;20
3.3;Session 2: Relationships Between WoW and the “Real World”;22
3.4;Expeditions;24
3.5;Conclusion;26
3.6;References;27
4;Culture and Creativity: World of Warcraft Modding in China and the US;28
4.1;Modding;29
4.2;The US Modding Community;32
4.3;The Chinese Modding Community;36
4.4;Discussion;44
4.5;References;47
5;The Diasporic Game Community: Trans-Ludic Cultures and Latitudinal Research Across Multiple Games and Virtual Worlds;49
5.1;The Emergence of Game Refugees and Trans-Ludic Diasporas;50
5.2;Trans-Ludic Identities;57
5.3;Methodological Challenges and Opportunities: A Call for “ Latitudinal” Research;58
5.4;References;61
6;Science, Technology, and Reality in The Matrix Online and Tabula Rasa;63
6.1;Intellectual Background of the Two Worlds;63
6.2;Creating Virtual Objects and Abilities;67
6.3;Protean Avatars in MxO and TR;71
6.4;Conclusion;75
6.5;References;75
7;Spore: Assessment of the Science in an Evolution- Oriented Game;77
7.1;The Spore World;78
7.2;Biological Evolution;79
7.3;Cultural Evolution;85
7.4;Conclusion;89
7.5;References;90
8;Medulla: A Cyberinfrastructure-Enabled Framework for Research, Teaching, and Learning with Virtual Worlds;92
8.1;A Landscape of Trinkets;93
8.2;An Alternative;93
8.3;Medulla and a New Public Media Infrastructure;98
8.4;The Use Cases;100
8.5;Medulla Prototypes;103
8.6;Conclusion;104
8.7;References;105
9;A Virtual Mars;106
9.1;A Personal Journey;106
9.2;A New Mars;109
9.3;Sharing the Idea;110
9.4;Conclusion;113
9.5;References;113
10;Opening the Metaverse;115
10.1;Today’s Virtual Worlds;116
10.2;Tomorrow’s Global Metamedium;117
10.3;Present Limitations;119
10.4;Learning from the Web;119
10.5;Defining the Technical Challenges;122
10.6;Defining the Technical Solutions;124
10.7;Conclusion;125
10.8;References;125
11;A Typology of Ethnographic Scales for Virtual Worlds;127
11.1;The Setup: From Positivism to Ethnographic Scale;127
11.2;The Background: From Indonesia to Second Life;129
11.3;The Four Confusions: Defining What a Virtual World Is Not;130
11.4;The Typology: Research Questions and Ethnographic Scale;132
11.5;The Road Ahead: Concluding Thoughts;135
11.6;References;136
12;Massively Multiplayer Online Games as Living Laboratories: Opportunities and Pitfalls;138
12.1;A Game Is a Game by Any Other Name;140
12.2;Life on the Screen: Who Is Really Playing?;143
12.3;Ill-Defined Spaces: Taking an Ecological View of the (Virtual) World;145
12.4;Conclusion;146
12.5;References;147
13;Examining Player Anger in World of Warcraft;149
13.1;Methodology and Development of the World of Warcraft Questionnaire ( WoWQ);149
13.2;Potential In-Game Anger-Causing Scenarios;153
13.3;Conclusion;159
13.4;Appendix;160
13.5;References;161
14;Dude Looks like a Lady: Gender Swapping in an Online Game;163
14.1;Gender and Identity, Offline and On;164
14.2;Identity in the Context of MMOs;166
14.3;Motivations for Swapping;168
14.4;Methods and Measures;169
14.5;Results;170
14.6;Conclusion;172
14.7;References;174
15;Virtual Doppelgangers: Psychological Effects of Avatars Who Ignore Their Owners;177
15.1;Doppelgangers;178
15.2;Theoretical Underpinnings;179
15.3;Experimenting with Doppelgangers;182
15.4;Implications and Future Directions;185
15.5;References;186
16;Speaking in Character: Voice Communication in Virtual Worlds;189
16.1;Comparing Media and Contexts;190
16.2;Voice in Virtual Worlds;192
16.3;Managing Multiple Conversations;195
16.4;Technical Difficulties;197
16.5;Uniqueness of the Virtual Environment;198
16.6;Conclusion;200
16.7;References;201
17;What People Talk About in Virtual Worlds;203
17.1;Methodology: Protocol Analysis;204
17.2;Virtual Worlds as a Place for Learning;204
17.3;Communication Analysis;206
17.4;DesignWorld: A Virtual World for Design Collaboration;208
17.5;Discussion and Conclusions;212
17.6;References;214
18;Changing the Rules: Social Architectures in Virtual Worlds;215
18.1;Surface Layer Architectures;216
18.2;Information Access;218
18.3;Hidden Layer Architectures;221
18.4;Ending Thoughts;223
18.5;References;224
19;Game-Based Virtual Worlds as Decentralized Virtual Activity Systems;226
19.1;Case 1: Science Learning Games for Informal Life Science Education;227
19.2;Case 2: Game Mod for Semiconductor Fabrication Operations and Service Training;230
19.3;Discussion;233
19.4;Conclusions;235
19.5;References;235
20;When Virtual Worlds Expand;237
20.1;Saltation;237
20.2;Prelude and Lore;239
20.3;New Character Features;243
20.4;Population Stratification and Class;248
20.5;Conclusion;250
20.6;References;250
21;Cooperation, Coordination, and Trust in Virtual Teams: Insights from Virtual Games;252
21.1;Effective Teams;252
21.2;Virtual Teams;254
21.3;ICT: Social Presence, Media Richness, and Synchronicity;257
21.4;Using MMOGS to Understand Team Effectiveness;258
21.5;References;260
22;Virtual Worlds for Virtual Organizing;264
22.1;The Socio-technical History of Virtual Worlds for Virtual Organizing;265
22.2;Current Trends in Virtual Worlds for Virtual Organizing;268
22.3;The Future of Virtual Worlds for Virtual Organizing;272
22.4;References;275
23;Future Evolution of Virtual Worlds as Communication Environments;278
23.1;Metaverses;278
23.2;Immersionists Versus Augmentationists;281
23.3;Moving Beyond Second Life;283
23.4;Moving Beyond First Life;285
23.5;References;287
24;The Future of Virtual Worlds;288
24.1;Technical Innovations;288
24.2;The Economic Basis for Virtual Worlds;291
24.3;Cultural Transformation;295
24.4;Conclusion;300
24.5;References;301
25;The Authors;302
26;Index;312