The Warcraft Civilization
Social Science in a Virtual World
William Sims Bainbridge
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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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
Index
Adalgisa, 17, 66–67, 79, 83–87, 182, 190
Add-on programs, 12
Aggro distance, 95
Alberich, 17, 119, 139–143, 145–147,
167–168, 190, 200, 218
Alea Iacta Est, 107, 128, 137, 152–155, 164,
179, 186, 191–195, 227
Algorithm, 58
Alienation, 117–121
Allegory, 5
Amoral familialism, 210
Annihila, 17, 101, 106–108, 190
Archaeology, 41
Aristotle, 17, 20, 101–104, 137–138, 147, 190
Arthas, 27, 37, 108
Artificial intelligence, 19, 43, 58
ASCII, 40
Auctioneer, 147
Auction house, 141, 145–148, 152
Avatars, 187
Axelrod, Robert, 122
Backstory, 31
Blumer, Herbert, 175
Bohannon, John, 16, 218, 225–226
Bugs, 215–216
Burroughs, Edgar Rice, 32, 104, 188–189,
205
Castronova, Edward, 11, 21, 207–208,
221
Cathedral of Light, 22, 26, 53, 73–74, 99–100
Catullus, 16, 33, 44, 49–51, 75, 86, 94, 112–
117, 120–121, 128, 132–135, 145, 151–152,
156, 158, 172, 187–188, 191–192, 195–197,
199–201, 203–204, 213, 217, 219–221, 223,
225–227
CensusPlus, 184
Chatlogging, 221
Clash of civilizations, 35
Cognitive science, 60
Computabull (Minotaurus), 220, 222
Conference, 16–17, 61, 94, 150–151, 190,
195–197, 218–225
Conrad, Joseph, 30, 32
Cooley, Charles Horton, 173–174
Cooperation, 121–127
Crime, 158–162
Cultural relativism, 68
Culture, 11
Dalaran, 38
Damage Per Second (DPS), 125
Darnassus, 53, 55, 62–63, 65, 89, 146
Death, 1–2
DeCandido, Keith R. A., 22, 177, 216
Deeprun Tram, 140, 213
Defias Brotherhood, 27, 108–109, 159
Deforestation, 33
Druidism, 65–67, 85
Dungeons, 130
Dungeons and Dragons, 7, 12, 205
246
Index
Economics, 143
Elune, 53–54, 62–65, 188
Embedded instruction, 89
Enchanting, 154, 156
Engineering, 151
Entropy, 46
Environmental degradation, 33
Episodic memories, 44
Etacarinae, 17, 20, 40, 62–63, 67, 71–72,
97–98, 108, 119, 136, 139, 142–143, 146,
188, 213
Ethical code, 92–94
EverQuest, 4
Exodar, 146
Healer, 125
Health, 7
Hollerith, Herman, 40
Holy Light, 53, 72–75, 125
Homans, George C., 122–123
Huizinga, Johan, 222
Huntington, Samuel P., 35
Factions, 15, 119, 135–136
Family, 143
Flying, 150, 214
Folwell, 17, 134, 190
Fordring, Tirion, 44, 63, 201–204, 210
Fraud, 164
Free will, 20
Functionalism, 57, 63
Furbolgs, 19, 21, 71, 215
Key loggers, 164
Knaak, Richard A., 50–51, 63, 66, 177
Koiter, Michel, 61, 223
Kurzen, 29–32
Game, 5, 9–10, 143, 204
Ganking, 134–135
Gender, 176–182, 187–188, 190
General Semantics, 42
Geography, 96
Gestures, 136
Glitches, 215–217
Gnomeregan, 39–40
Goblins, 19, 141, 160–162
Goffman, Erving, 174–175
Golden, Christie, 23, 35, 70
Gold farming, 162–167
Graham, Paul, 144
Grinding, 142
Group quests, 126
Grubb, Jeff, 77
Guilds, 127–133, 221. See also Alea Iacta Est
Incognita, 1–4, 17, 27, 101, 105, 113, 120,
136, 190
Indiana Jones, 41–42
Insight, 96, 98
Ironforge, 62, 99, 137–138, 142, 146,
160
Languages, 3, 56, 112, 119–120
Levels, 9
Lich, 1
Lich King, 2, 15, 28, 37, 47, 107, 147, 152,
157, 166–167, 214, 227
Lincoln, Abraham, 34
Llana, 17, 134, 147, 190
Lordaeron, 4, 26, 31, 37
Lore, 18, 39
Lucea, 17, 108–109, 139, 143, 190
Lunette, 16, 39, 53–56, 63–64, 68, 89–90,
97–98, 113–117, 121, 126–127, 131, 134,
151, 187–188, 199–200, 227
Machine learning, 88
Magic, 59, 75–79
Magic circle, 222
Mana, 78–79, 139, 147
Marcya, 17, 190
Mario, 7–8, 187–188
Markets, 144–145, 155
Matheson, Richard, 13, 175, 198
Index
Maxrohn, 16, 19, 25–31, 33, 48–49, 73–74,
78–79, 95–96, 98–102, 113, 117, 120, 125,
127, 129–130, 134–136, 139, 141–143, 145,
147, 149–150, 163, 165, 187–188, 191,
199–201, 213–214, 227
Metzen, Chris, 201, 226
Minion, 139
Minotaurus (Computabull), 16, 67–70,
81–87, 113, 150–151, 157, 171, 176, 188,
214–215
Modeling, 96
Moonwells, 54, 112, 114
Morality, 209–210
Multiagent systems, 11
Multiboxing, 218
Names, 182–187
Nardi, Bonnie, 90
Nesingwary, Hemet (Ernest Hemingway),
28, 32
Nether, 2, 71, 199
Newbies, 17, 63, 98–99, 124
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 46, 69
Nonlinearity, 8
Nonplayer characters (NPCs), 18–23, 118,
217
Nonverbal learning, 95–99
Orgrimmar, 82, 86, 124, 136–137, 146, 151–
152, 160, 170–171, 185, 219, 222–223
Ozma, 17, 137–138, 147–148, 190
Paleontology, 40
Papadoc, 17, 113, 169–173, 190
Pervasive LARPs, 206
Pet, 139
Philosopher’s stone, 79
Player-versus-player (PvP), 15, 117, 133–134
Polanyi, Karl, 144
Price, 17, 190, 197–198
Price, Vincent, 175–176, 190, 197
Prisoner’s dilemma, 122
247
Professions, 16, 152–158
Psychedelics, 69
Psychoanalysis, 172–173
Puppet-show dramas, 21
Races, 16, 169, 176–182, 185
Realm, 6, 9
Reciprocity, 144, 155
Redistribution, 144
Religion, 56–63
Reputation system, 122
Research methods, 15–18
Respect, 73
Resurrection, 19
Role distance, 191
Role playing, 6–7, 16, 190–192
Roman Empire, 34–35
Rosenberg, Aaron, 36, 72, 125, 177
Scarlet Crusade, 2–3, 16, 37, 106, 120, 204
Schütz, Alfred, 43
Science fiction, 40, 45
Sciencemag, 17, 190, 218
Scourge, 2, 28, 37–38, 47
Screen shots, 18
Second Life, 9
Shamanism, 67–72, 81–82
Shards, 15
Shattrath, 77, 90, 215
Silvermoon, 22, 75, 115, 137, 146, 172
Simmel, Georg, 14
Sims, The, 5
Simulation, 10–11
Social networks, 221
Social science, 10–15
Social self, 174
Sorokin, Pitirim A., 34–36
Soulbound, 149
Sound effects, 96, 179
Spengler, Oswald, 34, 36
Stephie, 17, 139–143, 146, 167–168, 190, 200,
215–216, 218
248
Stormwind, 21–22, 25–26, 31, 37, 47, 53, 62,
73, 79, 90, 99, 102, 104, 136–137, 139–141,
146–147, 200–201, 213
Sylvanas, 2, 19, 26, 38, 224
Symbolic interactionism, 173–174
Tank, 125
Tarkas, 17, 23–24, 188
Technical problems, 214–218
Telepathy, 76, 112
Tenacity, 73, 99
Theft, 158–162, 164
Theory, 12, 56–57
Thrall, 22–24, 36, 38, 47, 49–50, 170, 177,
218
Thunder Bluff, 67, 79, 82, 84, 146, 171, 223
Time, 41–48
Time travel, 48–51
Tolkien, J. R. R., 13, 183
Total work of art, 14
Travel, 149–150
Treason, 136
Tutorials, 89
Twinks, 200–201
Undercity, 4, 115, 146, 160, 172, 224
Unknown Worlds, 76
Vadvaro, 17, 91–92, 94, 101, 104–105,
155–156, 159, 189
Voodoo, 67, 179
Wagner, Richard, 13–14
Wands, 147–148
War, 208–209
Warcraft games, 36–39, 204–205
Zodia, 17, 20, 101, 105–106, 190
Index