Collaborative Play in World of Warcraft

Abstract

Summary form only given. The author discusses play in World of Warcraft, a popular massively multiplayer online game. World of Warcraft enables self-organizing groups of strangers and friends to collaborate on short-term objectives. Such collaborations may reflect coming changes in globalized work in which we increasingly work with remote others we know little about. In game play, the glue that keeps groups together is the shared objective of completing a "quest" or mission, as well as the shared culture of the game. The game is rich in meaning with a strong narrative, a material culture of weapons, armor, potions, recipes, jewelry, and many other goods, as well as a vibrant economy. Players' backgrounds are diverse but discourse emphasizes understandings about the game rather than players' personal lives. Players learn to be at ease with strangers, to get things done with others they don't know and may never interact with again. The game diminishes some of the impact of things that divide us such as ethnicity, gender, and age, through sharing the game