The Warcraft Civilization Social Science in a Virtual World William Sims Bainbridge The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please e-mail
[email protected]. World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. The opinions expressed by the authors and those providing comments are their alone, and do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Images printed with permission. This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bainbridge, William Sims. The warcraft civilization : social science in a virtual world / William Sims Bainbridge. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-01370-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Computer games—Social aspects. 2. World of Warcraft. 3. Shared virtual environments. 4. Virtual reality—Social aspects. 5. Online identities—Social aspects. I. Title. GV1469.27.B32 2010 794.8—dc22 2009021236 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 Entrance I am Incognita, one of the Undead. I entered World of Warcraft, also called Azeroth, in the Shadow Grave crypt, deep beneath the ground near Deathknell. I understood that the time was midnight on the sixth of March 2007, but I knew little of my previous existence.