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The Warcraft Civilization
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Book Synopsis The Warcraft Civilization by : William Sims Bainbridge
Download or read book The Warcraft Civilization written by William Sims Bainbridge and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2012-09-21 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis My Life as a Night Elf Priest by : Bonnie Nardi
Download or read book My Life as a Night Elf Priest written by Bonnie Nardi and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2010-06-02 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "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
Download or read book Warcraft written by Daniel Wallace and published by Harper Design. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games by : Sid Meier
Download or read book Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games written by Sid Meier and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis The Year’s Work in Medievalism, 2011 by : Edward L. Risden
Download or read book The Year’s Work in Medievalism, 2011 written by Edward L. Risden and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-12-20 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Year's Work in Medievalism includes vetted essays from the Studies in Medievalism--now International Society for the Study of Medievalism--annual conference and from submissions to the editor throughout the year. The current volume includes a range of topics from medievalism in literature and art to the neomedievalism of movies and games. It includes these scholarly contributions: E. L. Risden, Introductory Letter from the Editor Gwendolyn Morgan, Recollections of Medievalism Richard Utz, Them Philologists: Philological Practices and Their Discontents from Nietzsche to Cerquiglini Clare Simmons, Really Ancient Druids in British Medievalist Drama Karl Fugelso, Neomedievalisms in Tom Phillips' Commedia Illustrations Jason Fisher, Some Contributions to Middle-earth Lexicography: Hapax Legomena in The Lord of the Rings Simon Roffey, The World of Warcraft: A Medievalist Perspective William Hodapp, Arthur, Beowulf, Robin Hood, and Hollywood's Desire for Origins M. J. Toswell, The Arthurian Landscapes of Guy Gavriel Kay
Book Synopsis Managing Screen Time in an Online Society by : Oliveira, Lídia
Download or read book Managing Screen Time in an Online Society written by Oliveira, Lídia and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-02-22 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The number of hours individuals spend in front of screens, such as smartphones, televisions, computers, and tablets, is enormous in today’s society because screen time plays a very important role in work contexts and an even more significant role in social interaction and cultural consumption. This almost compulsive relationship with screens is more evident in children and young people and can have a lasting impact on how a society approaches screen time. Managing Screen Time in an Online Society is a collection of innovative research on how screen time seduces the person to stay in the online interaction leaving her/him in a state of alienation from her/his face-to-face context. While highlighting the methods and applications of time management in the context of screen time, especially during leisure, social interaction, and cultural consumption, this book covers topics including media consumption, psychology, and social networks. This book is ideal for researchers, students, and professionals seeking emerging information on the relationship between online interaction and personal relationships.
Book Synopsis The Human Civilization by : Valentin Matcas
Download or read book The Human Civilization written by Valentin Matcas and published by Valentin Leonard Matcas. This book was released on with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis Science and the World's Religions by : Patrick McNamara Ph.D.
Download or read book Science and the World's Religions written by Patrick McNamara Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 1039 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This trio of volumes contains essays that explore vital existential, moral, or metaphysical issues surrounding the relationship between the sciences and the world's religions. In Science and the World's Religions, experts with scientific and religious backgrounds explore vital existential or practical issues, drawing on whatever sciences are relevant and engaging at least two religious traditions. The multidisciplinary essays exhibit rigorous intellectual, scholarly thinking but are written to clearly communicate to educated adult lay readers. The first volume addresses questions about the origins and purpose of the cosmos and the human project. The second volume investigates the roles of religion and spirituality in human existence, considering issues ranging from the brain and religious experience to the human life cycle. The third volume tackles controversies in which both religion and science are stakeholders, showing how both can deepen understanding and enrich human experience. Together, these three books present readers with powerful tools that enable them to think through the challenge of integrating science with their religious beliefs and spiritual practices.
Book Synopsis Warcraft: War of the Ancients #1: The Well of Eternity by : Richard A. Knaak
Download or read book Warcraft: War of the Ancients #1: The Well of Eternity written by Richard A. Knaak and published by Pocket Star. This book was released on 2004-04-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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...
Book Synopsis The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, 3 Volume Set by : Charles Steinfield
Download or read book The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, 3 Volume Set written by Charles Steinfield and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-02-17 with total page 1023 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society offers critical assessments of theoretical and applied research on digitally-mediated communication, a central area of study in the 21st century. Unique for its emphasis on digital media and communication and for its use of business and management perspectives, in addition to cultural, developmental, political and sociological perspectives Entries are written by scholars and some practitioners from around the world, with exceptional depth and international scope of coverage in five themes: Social Media, Commercial Applications, Online Gaming, Law and Policy, and Information and Communicative Technology for Development Features leading research in the fields of Media and Communication Studies, Internet Studies, Journalism Studies, Law and Policy Studies, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, and many more Organized in an accessible A-Z format with over 150 entries on key topics ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 words Part of The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series, published in conjunction with the International Communication Association. Online version available at Wiley Online Library
Book Synopsis Virtually Sacred by : Robert M. Geraci
Download or read book Virtually Sacred written by Robert M. Geraci and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of users have taken up residence in virtual worlds, and in those worlds they find opportunities to revisit and rewrite their religious lives. Robert M. Geraci argues that virtual worlds and video games have become a locus for the satisfaction of religious needs, providing many users with devoted communities, opportunities for ethical reflection, a meaningful experience of history and human activity, and a sense of transcendence. Using interviews, surveys, and his own first-hand experience within the virtual worlds, Geraci shows how World of Warcraft and Second Life provide participants with the opportunity to rethink what it means to be religious in the contemporary world. Not all participants use virtual worlds for religious purposes, but many online residents use them to rearrange or replace religious practice as designers and users collaborate in the production of a new spiritual marketplace. Using World of Warcraft and Second Life as case studies, this book shows that many residents now use virtual worlds to re-imagine their traditions and work to restore them to "authentic" sanctity, or else replace religious institutions with virtual communities that provide meaning and purpose to human life. For some online residents, virtual worlds are even keys to a post-human future where technology can help us transcend mortal life. Geraci argues that World of Warcraft and Second Life are "virtually sacred" because they do religious work. They often do such work without regard for-and frequently in conflict with-traditional religious institutions and practices; ultimately they participate in our sacred landscape as outsiders, competitors, and collaborators.
Book Synopsis Reality Is Broken by : Jane McGonigal
Download or read book Reality Is Broken written by Jane McGonigal and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-01-20 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “McGonigal is a clear, methodical writer, and her ideas are well argued. Assertions are backed by countless psychological studies.” —The Boston Globe “Powerful and provocative . . . McGonigal makes a persuasive case that games have a lot to teach us about how to make our lives, and the world, better.” —San Jose Mercury News “Jane McGonigal's insights have the elegant, compact, deadly simplicity of plutonium, and the same explosive force.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother A visionary game designer reveals how we can harness the power of games to boost global happiness. With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Jane McGonigal asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking book, she shows how we can leverage the power of games to fix what is wrong with the real world-from social problems like depression and obesity to global issues like poverty and climate change-and introduces us to cutting-edge games that are already changing the business, education, and nonprofit worlds. Written for gamers and non-gamers alike, Reality Is Broken shows that the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games. Jane McGonigal is also the author of SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient.
Book Synopsis 50 Battles That Changed the World by : William Weir
Download or read book 50 Battles That Changed the World written by William Weir and published by Permuted Press+ORM. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An informative look at the military conflicts that most altered the course of history and civilization, from ancient times to the modern world. Rather than celebrating warfare, 50 Battles That Changed the World looks at the clashes the author believes have had the most profound impact on world history. Ranked in order of their relevance to the modern world, these struggles range from the ancient past to the present day and span the globe many times over. Some of the battles in this book are familiar to us all—Bunker Hill, which prevented the American Revolution from being stillborn, and Marathon, which kept the world’s first democracy alive. Others may be less familiar—the naval battle at Diu (on the Indian Coast), which led to the ascendancy of Western Civilization and the discovery of America, and Yarmuk, which made possible the spread of Islam from Morocco to the Philippines. With remarkable accounts of both famous and lesser-known clashes, 50 Battles That Changed the World provides impressive insight into the battles that shaped civilization as we know it.
Download or read book eGods written by William Sims Bainbridge and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the relationship between religion and multi-player online roleplaying games? Are such games simply a secular distraction from traditional religious practices, or do they in fact offer a different route to the sacred? In eGods, a leading scholar in the study of virtual gameworlds takes an in-depth look at the fantasy religions of 41 games and arrives at some surprising conclusions. William Sims Bainbridge investigates all aspects of the gameworlds' religious dimensions: the focus on sacred spaces; the prevalence of magic; the fostering of a tribal morality by both religion and rules programmed into the game; the rise of cults and belief systems within the gameworlds (and how this relates to cults in the real world); the predominance of polytheism; and, of course, how gameworld religions depict death. As avatars are multiple and immortal, death is merely a minor setback in most games. Nevertheless, much of the action in some gameworlds centers on the issue of mortality and the problematic nature of resurrection. Examining EverQuest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Rift, World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and many others, Bainbridge contends that gameworlds offer a new perspective on the human quest, one that combines the arts, simulates many aspects of real life, and provides meaningful narratives about achieving goals by overcoming obstacles. Indeed, Bainbridge suggests that such games take us back to those ancient nights around the fire, when shadows flickered and it was easy to imagine the monsters conjured by the storyteller lurking in the forest. Arguing that gameworlds reintroduce a curvilinear model of early religion, where today as in ancient times faith is inseparable from fantasy, eGods shows how the newest secular technology returns us to the very origins of religion so that we might "arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
Book Synopsis Corporate Medievalism by : Karl Fugelso
Download or read book Corporate Medievalism written by Karl Fugelso and published by DS Brewer. This book was released on 2012 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays on the post-modern reception and interpretation of the middle ages, with a particular focus on its relationship with business and finance. Academia has never been immune to corporate culture, and despite the persistent association of medievalism with escapism, perhaps never has that been more obvious than at the present moment. The six essays that open the volume explore precisely how financial institutions have promoted, distorted, appropriated, resisted, and repudiated post-medieval interpretations of the middle ages. In the second part of the book, contributors explore medievalism in a variety of areas, juxtaposing specific case studies with broader investigations of the discipline's motives and methods; they include Charles Kingsley's racial Anglo-Saxonism, Jessie L. Weston's Sir Gawain and the treatment of womenin medievalist film. The book also includes a spirited response to previous Studies in Medievalism volumes on the topic neomedievalism. Contributors: Harry Brown, Henrik Aubert, Helen Brookman, Pamela Clements, KellyAnnFitzpatrick, Jil Hanifan, Michael R. Kightley, Felice Lifshitz, Lauren S. Mayer, Brent Moberley, Kevin Moberley, E. L. Risden, Carol L. Robinson, M. J. Toswell, J. Rubén Valdés Miyares
Download or read book Works of Game written by John Sharp and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2015-03-06 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
