Living in Guild Wars (by Cristin Etheredge)

[:1]Has anybody read this book? Just came out last year, I think.

I blundered upon this for sale in Amazon while searching for Guild Wars stuff:

Living in Guild Wars: A Cultural Analysis of the Discourse, Dance and Evolution of an MMOG Phenomenon

copypasta (bit of cleanup too) of product description from Amazon:


Quote:




Massive multiplayer online gaming (MMOG) is a concept that has been around for about 25 years. As technology has evolved, so has the capability to create a realistic, immersive and social gaming environment that has a mass appeal. In spite of this technological evolution, there has been little naturalistic inquiry of what virtual gaming environments are like.

This is a qualitative cultural study of the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Guild Wars�. Using ethnographic methods, participant observation for a period of 130 hours, and discourse analysis of external game forum chat we explore what this world is truly like.

As a result, we gain a better understanding of how people can become immersed, even obsessed with MMOGs. Several communication concepts are explored in the virtual environment including: Baudrillard's simulacra, Bourdieu's concept of capital, and the notion of gender based hegemonic relationships.

Designed to be read by MMOG novices and experts alike, Living in Guild Wars� offers support that virtual reality has become actual Reality for many MMOG players. This study presents ground breaking work in the study of emerging social communities online.




Am intrigued what the author (using her study tools) makes of GW in just 130 hours, with (seems like) All Chat too...|||9 new from �52.19

4 used from �80.57...

why is the book so expensive to start with? :/|||Wanted to write something serious about it.

I was reading that brief overview. Now I see the prices. Then I visited web site of the author, and... now I have feeling that it's ridiculous...

That being said, I love Baudrillard.

P. S.

But, maybe I'm wrong.

add number 2

I doubt that I'm wrong though...|||I think the publisher says it best.

-Art|||Quote:








Living in Guild Wars: A Cultural Analysis of the Discourse, Dance and Evolution of an MMOG Phenomenon




They say to never judge a book by its cover. So instead, I'll judge it by its title.|||Prices tend to be higher for textbooks and lower for mass-production.

130 hours of all chat + forum can yield quite a bit of data... I wonder what the analysis is and what conclusions are derived from it.|||I just ordered my copy of this book and so should all of you.

No, my name isn't Cristin Etheredge|||I`ll wait for the reviews.

I just ordered a few books, and currently reading Super Freakonomics. Highly recommended, very humoristic look at data.|||Looking forward to read it (... and figure out what the deal with the prize is, golden pages anyone? ).|||Quote:








I just ordered my copy of this book and so should all of you.

No, my name isn't Cristin Etheredge




You have way too much money at your disposal... I'll stick with reading Baudrillard and making my own conclusion...

3000 hours experience

hah

I'm gonna sell it for 500� after I write a book...