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Virtual identity as practice : exploring the relationship between role-players and their characters in the massively multiplayer online game 'Star Wars Galaxies'
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Sveinsdottir, Thordis |
| Copyright Year | 2008 |
| Abstract | The objective of this research is firstly, to evaluate claims that cyberspace, due to its inherent qualities, has had an unprecedented effect on how we construct, present and think about our collective and individual identities online and offline. Secondly, it will highlight how people use shared understandings of popular culture products in order to maintain social formations in cyberspace. The research was carried out within the Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) which allows players to play around in the surroundings that have been made familiar by the popular Star Wars films that have gained an iconic status in Western popular culture. The chosen research method was ethnography, which was conducted in the role-playing community of Freetown, which included participant observation, interviews with players and textual analysis of web-forum posts and other material, such as character biographies and storylines, written by the Freetown players. This thesis explores the relationship MMOG players have with their characters and how they use resources, such as the game worlds and the content they provide, to craft and develop their characters. As MMOGs are designed for cooperative play, I explore the above relationship not only as formed through dialogue between a player and her character, but as practiced and negotiated between players within the socially dynamic settings of in-game communities. I will focus specifically on how players create their characters and how they maintain them through game play and communication with other players. To interpret my ethnographic experience I rely on practice theory, which presents people as active agents operating within multiple social arenas, constantly recreating themselves as well as their surroundings through practice. Practice theory thus allows me to take into consideration the impact of other players, ideas of game play and the game environment on the characters. The thesis highlights how cyberspace can no longer be conceived of as one unitary space where users, through unlimited agency and freedom, create and |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/2112/1/492978.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
