Where Does the Real End and the Virtual Begin?



Norrath Gateway It is a town whose citizens strive to build impressive homes in high-end neighborhoods. It is a tropical island where friends gather for drinks in the glow of a tropical sunset. It is an out-of-the-way, but dangerous nation, where a man must work long and hard to afford the weapons that will protect him against evil.

The town is Blazing Falls. The tropical gateway is There. The dangerous country is Norrath. None of them are real. It is a Virtual World.

Source: Knowledge@Wharton (2003)


Star Wars Battlefront 2
WOW Battleground
SIMS 2 Nightlife
Matrix Path of Neo
EQ Desert of Flames
Asherons Call II Legions
Asherons Call III Legions
Virtual Worlds are worlds within a set of online games known as MMORPGs (Massively Multimedia Online RolePlaying Games). Basically these are games played on the computer simultaneously with thousands of other players worldwide. Players create identities (or avatars) within the virtual worlds of each game and undertake quests, journeys etc. all in a graphical 3D format. For those wanting more information, you might like to check out Wikipedia for a good definition and some background history. To give the reader some idea of the scope of MMORPGs, most recent data indicates that there are over 10 million subscribers (MMOGChart.com).

Individual players often invest much emotion into the creation and play of their characters. Players invest time and money (often both in significant quantities) in their 'virtual' selves - the lives they create within the gameworlds of MMORPGs such as EverQuest, the SIMS online, SecondLife, World of Warcraft and many others. Players buy accessories and weapons for their characters, spend considerable time in building up skill levels and develop relationships with other gamers. No longer happy with the 'standard issue', players are looking to external markets for the purchase of 'add-ons' or higher level characters. What has resulted is the creation of a new realm or society with its own economy, political and social structure - a simulacra if you like of the 'real'.

Recently one Australian gamer, David Storey bought a virtual island in Project Entropia for US$26,500 (Becker 2005, February 8th). Some games such as Second Life or Project Entropia even allow players to convert real-world $$ to an in-game currency. Truly, the distinction between 'virtual' and 'real' has become blurred with the emergence of these networked technologies! Castells terms this world - the world of 'real virtuality', a world made possible by the new communication technologies where 'make-believe is in the making' (Castells 2000, p.13) - an electronic simulacra of existence. Virtual worlds are based on narratives; have pervasive effects; are reliant on networked logic; are flexible; and demonstrate the concept of technological convergance. The Web Traveller's Guide to Virtual Worlds will give the reader an insight into a number of key legal, social and economic issues relevant to Castells' concepts of the networked society.

References
Becker, D. (2005, February 8th). Real cash for virtual goods. Retrieved March 14th 2005 from news.com.

Castells, M. (2000) Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society. British Journal of Sociology 51(1). (January-March 2000). pp.5-24. London School of Economics.

"MMORPG: Definition and Much More" from Answers.com

Knowledge@Wharton (Sept. 24th 2003) "In Norrath, Tattoine and Rubi-ka, Just What Are Your Legal Rights?". Research at Penn. University of Pennsylvania. Accessed June 26th 2005.

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