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Construction of Everyday Reality in a Virtual World: the Case of 'World of Warcraft' a Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Scho

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Construction of Everyday Reality in a Virtual World: the Case of 'World of Warcraft' a Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Scho CONSTRUCTION OF EVERYDAY REALITY IN A VIRTUAL WORLD: THE CASE OF ‘WORLD OF WARCRAFT’ A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY CEYDA YOLGÖRMEZ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY JULY 2016 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. Çağatay Topal Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Erdoğan Yıldırım (METU,SOC) Assist. Prof. Çağatay Topal (METU,SOC) Assist. Prof. Emek Barış Kepenek(Başkent Uni, SOC) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Signature : iii ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY IN A VIRTUAL WORLD: THE CASE OF ‘WORLD OF WARCRAFT’ Yolgörmez, Ceyda M.S., Department of Sociology Supervisor : Assist. Prof. Çağatay Topal June 2016, 155 pages While video games came to incite large attention in the Western world, scholarly examinations of these techno-cultural artifacts have also dramatically increased. Motivated by the sociological studies undertaken in the Game Studies body, the aim of this thesis is to explore the manner in which mechanisms of everyday reality are constructed and constituted in the virtual world of a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, ‘World of Warcraft’. The notion of ‘everyday reality’ was studied based on Berger and Luckmann’s work ‘The Social Construction of Reality’. In order to observe the virtual world dynamics that constitute everyday reality, the researcher conducted a 13-month ethnographic study in the ‘World of Warcraft’. In line with the research problematic and insights provided by Berger and Luckmann’s work, this thesis ultimately examined the common-sense knowledge produced and maintained in this particular virtual world. Keywords: MMORPG, everyday reality, virtual world, common-sense, World of Warcraft iv ÖZ SANAL DÜNYADA GÜNDELİK GERÇEKLİK KURULUMU: ‘WORLD OF WARCRAFT’ VAKASI Yolgörmez, Ceyda Yüksek Lisans, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Doç. Dr. Çağatay Topal Haziran 2016, 155 sayfa Batı dünyasında video oyunları büyük ilgi çekerken, bu tekno-kültürel eserlere olan bilimsel ilgi de dramatik bir şekilde artmıştır. Oyun Çalışmaları alanında yapılan sosyolojik çalışmalardan hareketle, bu tezin amacı gündelik gerçeklik işleyişinin bir sanal dünya olan Devasa Çok Oyunculu Çevrim İçi Oyun, ‘World of Warcraft’ta nasıl kurulduğu ve oluşturulduğunu araştırmaktır. ‘Gündelik gerçeklik nosyonu Berger ve Luckmann’ın ‘Gerçekliğin Sosyal İnşası’ isimli eserine dayanmaktadır. Gündelik gerçekliği oluşturan sanal dünya dinamiklerini gözlemlemek adına, araştırmacı ‘World of Warcraft’ta 13 aylık bir etnografi çalışması yürütmüştür. Araştırma sorunsalı doğrultusunda ve Berger ve Luckman’ın çalışmasının sunduğu kavrayış ile bu tez sonunda özellikle bu sanal dünyada genel kanı (common-sense) bilgisinin nasıl üretildiği ve sürdürülüğünü incelemiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Devasa Çok Oyunculu Çevrim İçi Oyun, gündelik gerçeklik, sanal dünya, genel kanı, World of Warcraft v To my father, who incited the possibility vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the product of a collective effort that is comprised of non-human and human actors. This is an acknolwedgement of the fact that I am the crystal form of the combination of these elements. Therefore I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those that have made this thesis possible. First of all I would like to thank Brain.fm for providing me the tools to focus my concentration on the thesis. Also I want to thank METU Library for both giving me the possibility to study in an undisturbed environment, and for granting access to many academic databases through which I was able to pursue my research. I would like to thank sincerely to my advisor Assist. Prof. Çağatay Topal, for being the disciplined person that he is. It was through his patience, practical approach to problems, scholarly vision, and determined support that I was able to write this thesis in an orderly manner. Besides my advisor, I want to thank the members of the thesis committee, Assoc. Prof. Erdoğan Yıldırım, and Assist. Prof. Emek Barış Kepenek for extending their insights into the thesis problematic. Also I want to thank Ecem Ece for her endless belief in me, for her attitude towards life, and for being whoever she is to me. Thanks to our ‘Thesis Talks’, I was able to employ a more critical approach towards my work. In this regard I also would like to thank Demet Gülçiçek, who, even in her absence, had a large influence in my intellectual life. I also would like to thank Yunus Emre Gürzsoy for his patience and understanding especially at those moments where I would feel like I was made up of the thesis and nothing more. Lastly I want to express my sincere gratitute to my mother and my sister, who have encouraged me in every part of the journey. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................... v DEDICATION ...........................................................................................................vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1 Research Focus...........................................................................................3 Outline of the Thesis...................................................................................5 Literature Review........................................................................................8 World of Warcraft – The Context of Emergence....................................8 Fantasy Genre.....................................................................................9 A Role Playing Game........................................................................10 A Virtual World.................................................................................12 ‘Being There’ in the Virtual World.......................................................18 (Video) Game and MMORPG..............................................................20 But What is Real, Really?.....................................................................23 2 RESEARCHING THE EVERYDAY REALITY OF A VIRTUAL WORLD........................................................................................................26 Theoretical Framework.............................................................................27 Conceptual Framework.............................................................................30 Formulating the Research Question..........................................................35 viii Methods.....................................................................................................38 Researching with Pinkybubble..................................................................40 Researching Through Play........................................................................43 3 ‘WORLD OF WARCRAFT’ AS A VIRTUAL WORLD............................47 Synchronicity............................................................................................49 Persistency................................................................................................64 Network of Computers..............................................................................70 Network of People....................................................................................82 Avatar........................................................................................................89 4 CONSTRUCTION OF EVERYDAY REALITY.......................................100 Here and Now Zone................................................................................103 Intersubjectivity......................................................................................109 Taken-for-grantedness............................................................................117 5 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................125 REFERENCES........................................................................................................135 APPENDICES A. TURKISH SUMMARY..............................................................................144 B. TEZ FOTOKOPİSİ İZİN FORMU……………………………………….155 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – Research is conducted through this avatar……………………….....….42 Figure 2 - Zangarmarsh
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