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Author: William Sims Bainbridge
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262288370
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 255
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Book Description
An exploration of the popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft as a virtual prototype of the real human future. World of Warcraft is more than a game. There is no ultimate goal, no winning hand, no princess to be rescued. WoW is an immersive virtual world in which characters must cope in a dangerous environment, assume identities, struggle to understand and communicate, learn to use technology, and compete for dwindling resources. Beyond the fantasy and science fiction details, as many have noted, it’s not entirely unlike today’s world. In The Warcraft Civilization, sociologist William Sims Bainbridge goes further, arguing that WoW can be seen not only as an allegory of today but also as a virtual prototype of tomorrow, of a real human future in which tribe-like groups will engage in combat over declining natural resources, build temporary alliances on the basis of mutual self-interest, and seek a set of values that transcend the need for war. What makes WoW an especially good place to look for insights about Western civilization, Bainbridge says, is that it bridges past and future. It is founded on Western cultural tradition, yet aimed toward the virtual worlds we could create in times to come.
Author: William Sims Bainbridge
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262288370
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 255
Get Book Here
Book Description
An exploration of the popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft as a virtual prototype of the real human future. World of Warcraft is more than a game. There is no ultimate goal, no winning hand, no princess to be rescued. WoW is an immersive virtual world in which characters must cope in a dangerous environment, assume identities, struggle to understand and communicate, learn to use technology, and compete for dwindling resources. Beyond the fantasy and science fiction details, as many have noted, it’s not entirely unlike today’s world. In The Warcraft Civilization, sociologist William Sims Bainbridge goes further, arguing that WoW can be seen not only as an allegory of today but also as a virtual prototype of tomorrow, of a real human future in which tribe-like groups will engage in combat over declining natural resources, build temporary alliances on the basis of mutual self-interest, and seek a set of values that transcend the need for war. What makes WoW an especially good place to look for insights about Western civilization, Bainbridge says, is that it bridges past and future. It is founded on Western cultural tradition, yet aimed toward the virtual worlds we could create in times to come.
Author: Bonnie Nardi
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472026712
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250
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Book Description
"Ever since the creators of the animated television show South Park turned their lovingly sardonic gaze on the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft for an entire episode, WoW's status as an icon of digital culture has been secure. My Life as a Night Elf Priest digs deep beneath the surface of that icon to explore the rich particulars of the World of Warcraft player's experience." —Julian Dibbell, Wired "World of Warcraft is the best representative of a significant new technology, art form, and sector of society: the theme-oriented virtual world. Bonnie Nardi's pioneering transnational ethnography explores this game both sensitively and systematically using the methods of cultural anthropology and aesthetics with intensive personal experience as a guild member, media teacher, and magical quest Elf." —William Sims Bainbridge, author of The Warcraft Civilization and editor of Online Worlds “Nardi skillfully covers all of the hot button issues that come to mind when people think of video games like World of Warcraft such as game addiction, sexism, and violence. What gives this book its value are its unexpected gems of rare and beautifully detailed research on less sensationalized topics of interest such as the World of Warcraft player community in China, game modding, the increasingly blurred line between play and work, and the rich and fascinating lives of players and player cultures. Nardi brings World of Warcraft down to earth for non-players and ties it to social and cultural theory for scholars. . . . the best ethnography of a single virtual world produced so far.” —Lisa Nakamura, University of Illinois World of Warcraft rapidly became one of the most popular online world games on the planet, amassing 11.5 million subscribers—officially making it an online community of gamers that had more inhabitants than the state of Ohio and was almost twice as populous as Scotland. It's a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO in gamer jargon, where each person controls a single character inside a virtual world, interacting with other people's characters and computer-controlled monsters, quest-givers, and merchants. In My Life as a Night Elf Priest, Bonnie Nardi, a well-known ethnographer who has published extensively on how theories of what we do intersect with how we adopt and use technology, compiles more than three years of participatory research in Warcraft play and culture in the United States and China into this field study of player behavior and activity. She introduces us to her research strategy and the history, structure, and culture of Warcraft; argues for applying activity theory and theories of aesthetic experience to the study of gaming and play; and educates us on issues of gender, culture, and addiction as part of the play experience. Nardi paints a compelling portrait of what drives online gamers both in this country and in China, where she spent a month studying players in Internet cafes. Bonnie Nardi has given us a fresh look not only at World of Warcraft but at the field of game studies as a whole. One of the first in-depth studies of a game that has become an icon of digital culture, My Life as a Night Elf Priest will capture the interest of both the gamer and the ethnographer. Bonnie A. Nardi is an anthropologist by training and a professor in the Department of Informatics in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focus is the social implications of digital technologies. She is the author of A Small Matter of Programming: Perspectives on End User Computing and the coauthor of Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart and Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction Design. Cover art by Jessica Damsky
Author: Hilde Corneliussen
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262033704
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 313
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Book Description
"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.
Author: Gregory David Weisman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781338160970
Category : JUVENILE FICTION
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
An epic action-adventure series set in Blizzard's popular World of Warcraft game franchise. Features a young cast of characters discovering the mysteries and majesty of the world around them. It's been years since twelve-year-old Aramar Thorne, a clever boy who is never without his precious sketch book, has seen his father. So when Captain Greydon Thorne comes ashore and asks his son to join him at sea, it feels as if someone has redrawn Aram's entire world. At sea, Aram struggles to get along with the Wavestider's crew -- especially second mate Makasa, a tough teenaged girl who has been reluctantly placed in charge of him. Just as Aram starts to get his head above water, a band of vicious pirates attack the Wavestrider, turning his world upside down once again. As Aram and Makasa try to find their way home, they encounter creatures both terrible and wondrous, and Aram will seek to understand Azeroth's denizens as he draws them in his sketchbook, forming unlikely friendships along the way. But the journey is hindered by Greydon's compass, which never points north. If the compass isn't leading Aram and Makasa home -- to safety -- to what destiny is it leading?
Author: Valentin Matcas
Publisher: Valentin Leonard Matcas
ISBN:
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 60
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Book Description
Were there advanced civilizations on Earth, older than what it is currently believed and accepted? Because we keep noticing their traces everywhere, while authorities deny their presence. Are there other civilizations out there among planets and stars? Because we keep seeing their people around here, pursuing their obscure interests, with authorities ignoring everything. Are there nonhuman civilizations on Earth, in parallel with the human civilization? Because they interact from the shadow of the underground with the human civilization, while again, authorities deny systematically their presence. And when authorities are constrained in any way to give an answer, they state vaguely that it is a matter of human survival. And how can humans defend themselves of anyone and anything as they are held in ignorance and denial? Is there life after death? Because countless of people had died and came back to tell their story, and it is always consistent. This implies the existence of higher, extraordinary civilizations in parallel with the human civilization, from above. These higher civilizations could be possible, since their niches of life and existence are accurate and already present within other realities. Science and academia ignore this topic entirely, ridiculing all seekers of higher truth, and forcing them in this manner to stop their research. What can there be more important to know in this world than the meaning of life itself, the meaning of this entire human civilization, along with the meaning of the lives and existence of all humans here in this world and in all higher worlds? Why postponing disclosure if it is imperative for people’s wider existence? Who profits and who loses through this entire coverup? Who exactly controls the current human authority? Why is humanity kept ignorant in what it concerns the most important subject of all, life everywhere, and life eternally, intelligent and civilized life? Because if there are other civilizations on Earth and elsewhere, human or not, if there are other realities up there besides this one, populated and civilized, then people’s ignorance renders them vulnerable when they die and have to go elsewhere. In this manner, once you ignore the kind of realities that may be out there, you might be tricked to go and live in treacherous, dubious, unholy worlds, claiming that they are in fact the holly lands promised to you by your own religion. And so you disappear. Because it is stated in religious records to be careful not to follow false deities. Yet how can you know anything in this domain, if you are kept ignorant the entire time, and probably lied to, misled, and many times tempted with irrelevant material compensations throughout life? This book helps you understand civilizations from a rigorous, comprehensive perspective, including the meaning, interests, agreements, and intentions that civilizations have in the wider world, why individuals form civilizations as an end product of their cumulative lifetime efforts, and furthermore, what meanings these civilizations have in the wider world.
Author: Richard A. Knaak
Publisher: Pocket Star
ISBN: 9780743471190
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Many months have passed since the cataclysmic Battle of Mount Hyjal, where the demonic Burning Legion was banished from Azeroth forever. But now, a mysterious energy rift within the mountains of Kalimdor propels three former warriors into the distant past -- a time long before orcs, humans or even high elves roamed the land. A time when the Dark Titan Sargeras, and his demon pawns persuaded Queen Azshara and her Highborne to cleanse Azeroth of its lesser races. A time when the Dragon Aspects were at the height of their power -- unaware that one of their own would soon usher in an age of darkness that would engulf the world of...War Craft®. In the first chapter of this epic trilogy, the outcome of the historic War of the Ancients is forever altered by the arrival of three time-lost heroes: Krasus, the dragon mage whose great power and memories of the ancient conflict have inexplicably diminished; the human wizard Rhonin, whose thoughts are divided between his family and the seductive source of his now-growing power; and Broxigar, a weathered orc veteran who seeks a glorious death in combat. But unless these unlikely allies can convince the demigod, Cenarius, and the untrusting night elves of their queen's treachery, the burning Legion's gateway into Azeroth will open anew. And this time -- the struggles of the past may well spill over into the future...
Author: Sid Meier
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324005882
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
The life and career of the legendary developer celebrated as the “godfather of computer gaming” and creator of Civilization, featuring his rules of good game design. "Sid Meier is a foundation of what gaming is for me today." — Phil Spencer, head of Xbox Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world’s most popular video games, including Sid Meier’s Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier’s Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humor, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond. Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be “a series of interesting decisions,” Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers, and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his rules of good game design.
Author: Daniel Wallace
Publisher: Harper Design
ISBN: 9780062466792
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
A stunning behind-the-scenes look at the making of Legendary Pictures’ and Universal Pictures’ Warcraft: Behind the Dark Portal, and based on Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, the highest grossing role-playing video game series of all time. The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home. So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces and everyone fights for something. World of Warcraft holds the Guinness World Record for most popular MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) ever and has grossed more than 11.5 billion dollars since it was released. Warcraft: Behind the Dark Portal tells the full story of the incredible creative journey that brought Blizzard Entertainment’s beloved epic adventure of world-colliding conflict to the big screen. Filled with stunning concept art, unit photography, and visual effects breakdowns, this book also features insightful interviews with the incredible cast and crew, as they share the secrets behind bringing war-torn Azeroth to life. Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and written by Charles Leavitt and Jones, the film—starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky, and Daniel Wu—is a Legendary Pictures, Blizzard Entertainment, and Atlas Entertainment production. The movie premieres June 10, 2016.
Author: John Sharp
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262029073
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 157
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Book Description
An exploration of the relationship between games and art that examines the ways that both gamemakers and artists create game-based artworks. Games and art have intersected at least since the early twentieth century, as can be seen in the Surrealists' use of Exquisite Corpse and other games, Duchamp's obsession with Chess, and Fluxus event scores and boxes—to name just a few examples. Over the past fifteen years, the synthesis of art and games has clouded for both artists and gamemakers. Contemporary art has drawn on the tool set of videogames, but has not considered them a cultural form with its own conceptual, formal, and experiential affordances. For their part, game developers and players focus on the innate properties of games and the experiences they provide, giving little attention to what it means to create and evaluate fine art. In Works of Game, John Sharp bridges this gap, offering a formal aesthetics of games that encompasses the commonalities and the differences between games and art. Sharp describes three communities of practice and offers case studies for each. “Game Art,” which includes such artists as Julian Oliver, Cory Arcangel, and JODI (Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans) treats videogames as a form of popular culture from which can be borrowed subject matter, tools, and processes. “Artgames,” created by gamemakers including Jason Rohrer, Brenda Romero, and Jonathan Blow, explore territory usually occupied by poetry, painting, literature, or film. Finally, “Artists' Games”—with artists including Blast Theory, Mary Flanagan, and the collaboration of Nathalie Pozzi and Eric Zimmerman—represents a more synthetic conception of games as an artistic medium. The work of these gamemakers, Sharp suggests, shows that it is possible to create game-based artworks that satisfy the aesthetic and critical values of both the contemporary art and game communities.
Author: William Sims Bainbridge
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472053280
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 307
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Book Description
A ground-breaking look at the paradox of technology to both liberate and enslave our current culture by noted scholar William Sims Bainbridge
