Downloaded Directly to the Computer and Some Are Even F2P [Free to Play]) and Begin My Entry in the Virtual World

FANTASTIC REALITIES: SOLID AND VIRTUAL RESONANCE IN MMORPGS by ZEK CYPRESS VALKYRIE B.A., University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2004 M.A., University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 2005 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology 2011 This thesis entitled: Fantastic Realities: Solid and Virtual Resonance in MMORPGs Written by Zek Cypress Valkyrie has been approved for the Department of Sociology ____________________________________________ Joanne Belknap, Ph.D. Chair, Dissertation Committee ____________________________________________ Jane Menken, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee ________________________________________________ Heather Albanesi, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee _________________________________________________ Matthew C. Brown, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee ____________________________________________ Scott Bruce, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee _________________________________________________ Stefanie Mollborn, Ph.D. Member, Dissertation Committee Date: __________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. HRC Protocol # 1007.4 Valkyrie, Zek Cypress (Ph.D., Sociology) Fantastic Realities: Solid and Virtual Resonance in MMORPGs Thesis directed by Professor Joanne Belknap This dissertation is a qualitative study that examines how game worlds and positive game experiences are neither equally accessible nor equally enjoyable to many who wish to participate in them. Newer research on games argues that those who master them are fulfilled socially, are highly productive, are motivated, and are invigorated by participation in grand narratives. Using a mixed methods approach, I drew on seventy in-depth interviews with gamers coupled with observational data from my membership role in several virtual worlds. Through these data I examined the social barriers deployed to fracture game world communities and arguably disperse the positive benefits of play. Specifically, my participants and my observational data indicate that rigid social categories of gender, sexuality, and race, as well as the assumptions bound to their maintenance and reinforcement, disrupted the possibility for a more inclusive collective identity. I use an interactionist theoretical framework to understand how the rigidity of social categories and identity politics are recreated and enforced through virtual conversation and relationships. This dissertation explains how the labeling and exclusion of various "others" in game worlds, including women, gender-bending men, non-hardcore geeks, fluid sexuality players, and cyberworkers, entrenches the stereotypes of who gamers are and who they can be. The consequences of these practices erode the possibilities for how the solid world and reality itself might benefit from becoming similar to a game. iii This dissertation is dedicated to my grandmother, Valeria Joan Muse. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my greatest appreciation to the gamers who participated and inhabited the many virtual worlds I spent five years studying. Their insight and passion continued to embolden me throughout the difficulties of this dissertation. I thank them for the healing, the damage mitigation, the adventures, the triumphs, and the heartbreaks. I thank them for their willingness to participate, their reflective responses, and their excitement and interest in this work. May their journeys never end. This project would not have been completed without the ardent support of my dissertation chair, Dr. Joanne Belknap. Dr. Belknap has been an aegis for this work, stoic in her efforts to ensure its completion, and an ally in my eleventh hour. Her leadership and perseverance have inspired me to move forward and continue to develop my career no matter the obstacle. I wish to thank Dr. Matthew C. Brown, for whom I have the greatest of affection. Dr. Brown, through his passion and wit, gave this project and my interests direction for the future. Dr. Brown provided me with the enthusiasm and insight to craft my earliest work as well as a sanctuary to discuss my darkest fears. In no small way is he responsible for where my path goes from here, and for that I am grateful. I wish to thank Dr. Heather Albanesi for watching me develop for almost a decade. Dr. Albanesi was a pillar during my undergraduate career, as well as my graduate career. She served on my master's thesis committee, and continued to support me throughout this dissertation project. She has provided me with a constant presence, an honest voice, and humorous demeanor. I am also indebted to Dr. Scott Bruce for providing the perspective required to negotiate and filter the gaming world for the world of academia, to Dr. Jane Menken for her critical zeal and supportive tone, and to Dr. Stefanie Mollborn for her v honesty, thoughtful guidance, and critical feedback. I would like to blame my high school sociology and psychology teacher, Abraham Eisenstein, a.k.a. Mr. X, for his arcane will and (dis)enchanting (dis)ease. There have been many times I have fought with myself over the change caused by Mr. X and whether I should despise him or thank him. He is a testament to the significance a teacher can wield and the importance of knowledge and understanding in life choices. This one teacher made my life more difficult than it would have ever been, and for that, I will always remember and respect him. Wherever he is, I hope he knows that the heart of the spring full moon continues to dream well. Finally, I would like to thank my grandmother, Valeria Joan Muse. Grandma has been nothing less than a saint my entire life, from buying groceries when my family had no money, to bailing my parents out of jail, to providing me with clothing and school supplies, to just simply alleviating every crisis life could throw our way. As I grew older, she would help me buy video games and consoles. She would drive me to the mall when they were released, or pick them up herself, even at midnight. She quietly supported this hobby-turned-lifelong pursuit without criticism, throughout many years. She made a space for me in her home, paid for school, and pushed me far beyond where I would have stopped without her unconditional love. Although she would never ask for anything, I owe her the world. This is for her. vi FANTASTIC REALITIES: SOLID AND VIRTUAL RESONANCE IN MMORPGS TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: Statement of the Problem ..............................................................................1 The Reality Problem............................................................................................................3 Technopoly..........................................................................................................................8 Techoptimism....................................................................................................................11 Overview............................................................................................................................16 CHAPTER TWO: Temporal and Theoretical Framework .....................................................20 Portrait of the Moment.......................................................................................................21 Theoretical Focus...............................................................................................................27 World Resonance...............................................................................................................30 CHAPTER THREE: Research Methods ...................................................................................34 Immersion and Setting.......................................................................................................35 Observation Date and Fieldnotes.......................................................................................40 Empirical Files.......................................................................................................44 Analytical Files......................................................................................................46 Epistemological File..............................................................................................47 Reflections.............................................................................................................50 Interviews...........................................................................................................................52 Coding and Analysis..........................................................................................................55 vii CHAPTER FOUR: The Manthra Tales: Cautionary Play in Fantasy Worlds .....................58 Seeking Women Gamers....................................................................................................61 Assuming Men...................................................................................................................62 Only Men Play.......................................................................................................62 Women Don't Play Men.........................................................................................63 Claiming Solid Woman......................................................................................................64

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