This study examined fairness in the online society of World of Warcraft(WoW), a society under constraint by game developers but dynamically affected by users. Because the society is voluntary, people have the ability to both effect
major change on, and leave, that society at any time. Thus, fairness in this virtual world is an important area for anthropological research. In-game fairness pointed
to the organization, distribution, and acquisition of wealth. In particular, I examined player perceptions of real-money trading (RMT) in the context of individual and collective motivations in the endgame. In addition, I considered loot distribution systems as a mode of promoting player-initiated definitions of fairness. I discovered an overall economy of fun in which players act to maximize
fun for the majority. Real-money trading was justified by casual players because players require progression as individuals in order to better serve the fun of the
collective.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:AEU.10048/1093 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Hibbert, Alicia |
| Contributors | Lowrey, Kathleen (Anthropology), Gouglas, Sean (Humanities Computing and History and Classics), Ruecker, Stan (Humanities Computing and English and Film Studies) |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 18411759 bytes, application/pdf |
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