En el marc ampli de les teories audiovisuals, aquesta tesi doctoral aborda les relacions entre identitat, narració i videojocs des de la perspectiva de l'antropologia cultural, de les teories narratològiques en cinema i literatura i de la ludologia. Es proposa la figura teòrica del jugador implicat per explicar el tipus de relació entre el jugador i el seu personatge, en relació amb la construcció d'un relat identitari. En aquest sentit, es relaciona la idea de marcs d'experiència amb la de nivells narratius i narradors. El model teòric i metodològic resultant s'aplica a l'estudi de cas de dos videojocs: Silent Hill 2, un survival horror monousuari, i Espai8, un joc de rol en línia massiu i multiusuari. / En el marco amplio de las teorias audiovisuales, esta tesis doctoral aborda las relaciones entre identidad, narración y videojuego desde la perspectiva de la antropología cultural, de las teorías narratológicas en cine y literatura y de la ludología. Se propone la figura teórica del jugador implicado para explicar el tipo de relación entre el jugador y su personaje, en relación con la construcción de un relato identitario. En este sentido, se relaciona la idea de marcos de experiencia con la de niveles narrativos y narradores. El modelo teórico y metodológico resultante se aplica al estudio de caso de dos videojuegos: Silent Hill 2, un survival horror monousuario y Espai8, un juego de rol en línea masivo y multijugador. / In the wide framework of audiovisual theories, this PhD. thesis undertakes the relation between identity, narrative and videogames from the point of view of cultural anthropology, of narratological theories in cinema and literature and of ludology. We propound the theoretical figure of the implied player connected with the construction of a discourse of the self-identity. In this sense, we connect the idea of frames of experience with the idea of narrative levels and narrators. The resulting theoretical and methodological model it’s applied to the study case of two video games: Silent Hill 2, a singleplayer survival horror, and Espai8, a massively multiplayer online rol-playing game.

This thesis explores economic aspects of virtual worlds by focusing on a specific massively multiplayer online role-playing game, RuneScape. In particular, it examines the similarities and differences between the virtual economics and real world economics, the economic understanding of RuneScape players and the possibility of using virtual worlds as a laboratory for testing economic behavior and theory. This thesis uses a versatile methodology that includes texts, direct observation, self-reports, and other reports to investigate the research questions. Virtual economics in general and RuneScape in specific are understudied so far and this study fills a gap in the literature. The unique contributions of this thesis are: a comprehensive survey that reveals player perceptions of economics, a new equation useful for modeling money supply, and a new use of faucet-drain economy in massively multiplayer online games. The results indicate that virtual economics of RuneScape partially reflects real world economics, player perceptions of virtual and real world economy are surprisingly complex, and virtual worlds can be used to study real world economics. Game developers, players, economists, educators, researchers, and individuals who are interested in massively multiplayer online games and economy in general can benefit from this study.