This thesis is a creative work of fiction in the form of one novella and four short stories. The collection is a work of humour and entertainment. “The Coin Collective” delves into the cut-throat world of cosplay, “The Dead of Waynesboro” follows Declan Mortel as her tries to create the ultimate zombie movie in true gothic fashion, “220 Torren Mill Road” is an epistolary horror story about a whack-job mother and her game-addicted son, “Dragon’s Lair Comics & Collectables” is set during a Magic the Gathering tournament and questions ‘what makes a monster?,’ and Chemical Connection explores drug and raver culture through an eclectic variety of characters. I hope the collection will speak to an entire generation of self-described and closet geeks. For those without intimate knowledge of the material, I endeavoured to exhibit, even expose, aspects of specific subcultures, shedding light on the basement dwellers who inhabit them.

This study investigates the effects that commercial computer games have on young individuals social comfort and learning progress. As a systematic study of literature, scholarly articles have been analysed in order to illuminate the positive as well as negative effects on social comfort and learning progress that may come with playing computer games. The social effects have mainly been discussed with role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft, as starting point, while the learning effects have been coupled with strategy games, such as Civilization IV. The study does not simply declare how these games can be good for these factors, but also in what respect computer games may prevent the development of young individuals socials skills and learning progress. The study showed that in spite of perpetual prejudices against computer games in the technological age, computer games might actually be good to use as a tool in order to authorize the development of young individuals regarding learning and social aspects. However, computer games may as well become the source of problems regarding time, family and school results.

<p>Fler timmar och större intresse läggs idag ner på onlinerollspel vilka under de senaste åren blivit omåttligt populära. Våra sociala beteenden har idag förändrats och vi behöver inte längre fysiskt beträda det rum vi vanligen kommunicerade i. Vi öppnar istället upp dörrarna till en ny dimension där du “är” en virtuell identitet, och där du kanske har väldigt många fler möjligheter än i ditt fysiska liv. World of Warcraft är just ett sådant spel vilket underhåller tusentals av spelare och som kommer ligga till grund för denna uppsats.</p><p>Syftet är att skapa en dokumentation av och ge en insyn i dessa nya sociala miljöer som vi finner i World of Warcraft. Vad har tillexempel en online identitet för betydelse för jaget (spelaren) och kan det som händer i ett community på internet påverka våra fysiska sociala liv? Samma sak händer om man vänder på frågan, vad händer med spelvärldens sociala liv om man inte spelar tillräckligt mycket, hur påverkar det spelandet i sig? Är en spelare tvungen att välja bara en social arena, eller finns det en god möjlighet till en balans mellan miljöerna? Frågor om interagerbarhet, interaktivitet och kommunikation i spelet kommer också att vara centrala i uppsatsen, eftersom dessa i någon form påverkar oss som individer och sociala varelser.</p><p>Alltså vad är det som lockar och varför kan vi som individer bli påverkade av detta?</p><p>De komponenter jag finner mest bidragande till delaktighet i World of Warcraft diskuteras och analyseras sedan utifrån utvalda teoretiska utgångspunkter. Syftet är också att utifrån videoinspelade intervjuer med spelarna ge en slags bild av hur fenomenet kan se ut. I Själva dokumentärfilmen ( som tillhör uppsatsen och som finns på separat DVD) läggs Fokus på intervjuerna, (där de intervjuade får en chans att säga sin mening) och de spelmiljöer man kan stöta på i World of Warcraft . Vi följer spelaren in i världen .Med dessa rörliga bilder kan vi också få större förståelse för vad World of Warcraft är och vad det betyder för miljontals människor.</p><p>I intervjuerna med dessa respondenter försöker jag att gå in i samtal som är mer djupgående och kvalitativa. Denna form av undersökning, där så få personer medverkar kan inte kvantitativt framlägga ett övergripande mönster av hur majoritetens spelvanor ser ut.</p><p> </p>

The virtual and digital world develops and changes frequently, within recent technology and the ways of using it. A complex phenomenon online with variables which isn’t fully defined in how they should be used or their strengths. One such thing is the use of the virtual and it´s tools in social movements. But there exists a stigmatization about the concept of the virtual. And within it how effective or useful cyberactivism is compared to the physical protest. This essay will cover and present a certain case of digital activism where it’s specific quality lies in the almost exclusively presence in the virtual world. Where the main goal of the essay is to shed some light on this certain case and bring forth it’s qualities in terms of the virtual, virtual communities and digital activism. To try to explain, provide and create aspects for further research and new theories. The case in question is Nostalrius, a World of Warcraft private server. And their digital protest against the gaming company Blizzard. Where the main goal of their manifesto was to convince Blizzard that there is a big community hankering for a reinstallation of a certain earlier stage of the game World of Warcraft; vanilla. In which Nostalrius community in the end succeeded with their goal. As it is an already completed case the data was collected through archives from Nostalrius own website and forum as well as their Twitter feed in the form of print screens as well as links. And since the case have taken place online the essay has used and taken the shape of a netnography case study. Where the data was later analyzed in the light of the virtual, virtual communitys and digital activism; to understand its qualities and shape. Nostalrius activism took the shape of a versatile virtual demonstration which used several different digital and virtual tools to promote their manifesto. And from the data a framework was developed of different qualities which emerged from the case in study. Namely different forms concerning the importance of a well-defined activism structure in the dimensions of: leadership, opponent(s), goal(s), community and context. Where it´s believed that virtual activism will become an even more frequent used method in social movements if carried out in good fashion. And that the integration between the virtual world and the physical will be furthered and hopefully breach the conception where the virtual is viewed as something fake or unreliable.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:23:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3354.pdf: 8744839 bytes, checksum: 1aa94fca55f3f6a70efe5c4ac4fdde2c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-03 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Historically, quests where frequently used by players, which empirically analyzed and systematized them with the intention of revealing the inner structure of games. After that, there was a need to address them as the primary object of study, observed by the academy. Therefore, the narratives through quests in MMORPGs was choosen as the object of study, specifically how the stories are told using quests in World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004), identifying both the main structural and functional characteristics of storytelling, which allows a differentiation between various types of quests. The aim is to demonstrate that the narrative through quests in World of Warcraft is different from other structures and that the fragmented structure of quests is presented as a form of serial narrative, which allows the construction of a fictional world that is broad and deep at the same time. The analysis of narrative structure within complex systems such as virtual worlds of MMORPGs allows not only to review the way we understand the relationship of the narrative with videogames, but also can expand the way we understand the very act of storytelling. / Historicamente, as quests foram abordadas pelos jogadores, que de forma empírica as analisaram e sistematizaram a fim de desvendar o funcionamento da estrutura interna dos jogos. Posteriormente, na Academia, o tema foi abordado de forma tangencial e observou-se a necessidade de abordá-las como objeto primário de estudo. Assim, assume-se como objeto de estudo a narrativa por meio de quests nos MMORPGs, em específico a forma como as histórias são contadas usando quests dentro de World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment, 2004), identificando as principais características tanto estruturais como funcionais deste ato de contar histórias, o que permite uma diferenciação entre diversos tipos de quests. Pretende-se assim demonstrar que a narrativa por meio de quests em World of Warcraft é diferente de outras estruturas de quests e que a estrutura fragmentária das quests se apresenta como uma forma de narrativa seriada, o que permite a construção de um mundo ficcional amplo e profundo ao mesmo tempo. A análise desta estrutura narrativa dentro de sistemas complexos como os mundos virtuais dos MMORPGs permite não apenas que se reveja a forma como entendemos a relação da narrativa com os videogames, mas também que se possa expandir a forma como compreendemos o próprio ato de contar histórias.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Factors like globalization have unleashed changes in the human being way of life, bringing new practices into the quotidian (BAUMAN, 2001; LÉVY, 1996). In this work, it is relevant to focus in one of these present day practices; the act of play (electronic games). Disseminated mainly because of its function as an entertainment product and socially recognized as such, the electronic games pass through a filter which depreciates activities that are inherent to its process and need in today‟s classroom practice, as agreed in the OCEM (BRASIL, 2006). When acknowledged beyond entertainment, electronic games compose a cultural artifact and stir one of the world‟s greatest industries, besides being even more constant in the academy. Studies related to electronic games are being developed in several areas, rendering the practice of play problematic and demystifying it as a good or bad practice in its totality. In this context, this research aims at analyze questions of identity and power in the electronic game World of Warcraft from Blizzard Entertainment (2004-2016). For this purpose, besides a bibliographical study, the researcher‟s participation is employed in an ethnographical investigation as well as an interview with players from Brazilian realms. Therefore, the “moveable feast” taken as the late-modernity man‟s identity is discussed (HALL, 2011), the proposition of the identity construction as a process observed in real, virtual and projective instances is also taken into account (GEE, 2003). The relations of power scattered in the virtual space are brought into the light of Foucault‟s argumentation (2003; 2004) considering to what extent and in what manner the mechanisms of power act in the game and how they can be understood. / Fatores como a globalização têm desencadeado mudanças no modo de vida do ser humano, trazendo novas práticas ao cotidiano (BAUMAN, 2001; LÉVY, 1996). Neste trabalho, faz-se relevante o foco em uma dessas práticas atuais: o jogar (jogos eletrônicos). Disseminados principalmente devido a sua função como entretenimento e socialmente reconhecidos como tal, os jogos eletrônicos passam por um filtro que desmerece atividades inerentes ao seu processo e que são necessárias na sala de aula de hoje, de acordo com as OCEM (BRASIL, 2006). Visto além do entretenimento, os jogos eletrônicos compõem um artefato cultural e movimentam um dos maiores mercados mundiais, além de estarem cada vez mais presentes na academia. Estudos em relação aos jogos eletrônicos, desenvolvidos em diversas áreas, problematizam e desmistificam a prática de jogar como sendo totalmente benéfica ou maléfica. Nesse contexto, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar questões sobre identidade e poder no jogo World of Warcraft, produzido pela Blizzard Entertainment (2004-2016). Para tanto, além do estudo bibliográfico, emprega-se a participação do pesquisador em investigação etnográfica e entrevista junto a jogadores dos reinos brasileiros. Assim, discute-se a “celebração móvel” que é a identidade do sujeito pós-moderno (HALL, 2011), tomando também como orientação a proposta de que o processo de construção de identidade pode ser observado no âmbito do real, do virtual e daquilo que é projetado no jogo (GEE, 2003). Observam-se também as relações de poder que são difundidas neste espaço virtual à luz das argumentações de Foucault (2003; 2004), considerando até que ponto e de que maneira os mecanismos de poder atuam no jogo e como estes podem ser entendidos.

We have chosen to focus this paper on the importance of game-components in the MMORPG-game World of Warcraft, in order to discover which of them who are the most important and create the biggest motivation to play the game for the players of World of Warcraft. We made this  investigation because we wanted to find out more about the specific reasons about what people think is especially great with World of Warcraft and makes them want to play it for hour after hour. By doing this we wanted to find out what it is that is so appreciated with this game. But this is a big area and it has therefore been difficult to find a way to satisfy and make those who have answered on our survey to feel that the game-component they enjoy most has been a part of our questions. To solve this problem we did a survey that included 200 persons and two interviews. When both the survey and the interviews had been completed, the result was being compared against each other and together to see if there was any difference between them or if they had any similarity to the attraction and motivation. This comparison was done with two theories and one model there was made for game designing. After going through the result we managed to find out that there isn’t a big difference between what attracts and what motivates a player. Our methods showed that most of the players in World of Warcraft play the game to maintain their social network that they have built up for some time. This reason was both the strongest attraction and the most important motivation to play the game. The konwledge we gained from our studie could be used by the game-creators to see which components that is of certain interest of the player. By this the creators (in this case Blizzard) could focus on making these components even better and making the player appreciate the game more.

This dissertation examines how gender is expressed and performed in the virtual gaming community of World of Warcraft. Players were approached through the medium of the game and through various on-line bulletin boards to answer surveys and open-ended interview questions about their experiences as a female player or with female players in this virtual society. In addition to answering questions, this project involved participant observations within several different types of realms or servers in World of Warcraft in order to gain a better understanding of community dynamics. The premise for this research is working through an idealistic notion that virtual communities might break down gender lines through allowing members to pick their gender or doing away with biological differences in gender altogether. This research hopes to dissect this idea and, furthermore, fill an important gap in existing sociological studies about virtual societies and games by making the argument that gender stereotypes carry over from the physical world into virtual spaces and, consequently, affect the vabried interactions of players within this virtual community as well as the gender performance of female players, in particular. Observations and game design suggests that many of the aesthetic principles of the female avatars available in World of Warcraft cater to attracting heterosexual male players. Clothing and armor is revealing and female avatars are highly sexualized not just through appearance, but through programmed behaviors in the game. This research examines the effects of such pre-conditioned parameters on the population of this top ranked game.

Onlinespel fortsätter att växa för varje år och har på ett decennium gått ifrån att vara en trevlig sidosyssla till att tas som arbete. Nutida studier visar att den stereotypiske gamern inte längre existerar. Gruppen gamers är en diversifierad grupp människor ifrån alla världens länder, båda könen inräknade. Trots detta är dock sexism fortfarande väldigt vanligt förekommande inom gamingkulturen. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur könsroller upplevs för de som definierar sig som kvinnor. Frågeställningarna som ligger till grund för studien är hur könsroller reproduceras online samt hur de upplevs påverka den enskilde, vilka förväntningar som könsrollerna medför på individen i en grupp online, och hur maktstrukturer samt rådande hegemoni upplevs styra online och påverka individen i sitt vardagliga liv. Resultaten visar att målgruppen generellt upplever sig marginaliserade på den virtuella arenan. Detta främst genom orealistiska förväntningar, annorlunda förutsättningar, sexistiska strukturer och orimliga skillnader i bemötande efter att deras kön offentliggjorts. / Online games continue to grow for each year and in a decade, it has gone from being a nice side activity to for some, classified as work. Contemporary studies show that the stereotypic gamer no longer exists. The gamer group is a diverse group of people from all the world's countries, including both sexes. Nevertheless, sexism is still very common in gaming culture. This study aims at investigating perceived gender roles in regard to people who define themselves as women. The questions underlying the study are how gender roles are reproduced online and how these perceive to influence the individual, what expectations gender roles bring to an individual in a group online and how power structures and current hegemony are perceived to govern online and affect the individual in their daily life. The results show that the target audience generally feels marginalized on the virtual arena. This mainly through unrealistic expectations, different conditions, sexist structures and unreasonable differences in treatment after disclosing their gender.

This thesis examines the concept of different rules within large multiplayer games, how we play thegames and what leads to different rules within a game. It establishes that rules can be explicit andimplicit, as well as based on digital hard rules, softer rules, such as community or social rules and thatplayers will design and build their own games out of these rules.The thesis performs a case study on World of Warcraft: Classics game mechanic, “World Buffs”.Extremely strong buffs that players set-up logistics and organizational tools to have access to during playsessions. As the game progressed through its 6 phases, it became more and more apparent that to raid, orparticipate in “End-Game” content, players had to collect these world buffs, which was costly, either ingold or time.In this thesis, a set of semi-structured interviews were conducted on a couple of “end-game” raidingguilds, to determine why they used world buffs in this content, what drove them to spent the resources tocollect these world buffs, even with the fragility of them, as well as if they enjoyed this practice or not.Interviewed players were both allowed to answer in public and private forms, to examine if there was asocial pressure to oblige, either way.The thesis found that there were three large themes of players, players who enjoyed world buffs, but hadproblems with implementation, players who used world buffs to save in-game resources in some wayshape or form, and players who felt they had a social obligation to bring world buffs to be allowed toparticipate. There were no players who did not take world buffs that were interviewed and only playerswho felt that they did have a social obligation answered in private.The thesis then discusses these results and what implications this can have for multiplayer design andtries to identify further studies on how we can think when designing multiplayer games in the future. Thethesis concludes that yes, players are bound not only to game rules, but also to social rules while they play these games, sometimes even at the cost of their own enjoyment.