Overview

The odyssey of a group of “refugees” from a closed-down online game and an exploration of emergent fan cultures in virtual worlds. Play communities existed long before massively multiplayer online games; they have ranged from bridge clubs to sports leagues, from tabletop role-playing games to Civil War reenactments. With the emergence of digital networks, however, new varieties of adult play communities have appeared, most notably within online games and virtual worlds. Players in these networked worlds sometimes develop a sense of community that transcends the game itself. In Communities of Play, game researcher and designer Celia Pearce explores emergent fan cultures in networked digital worlds—actions by players that do not coincide with the intentions of the game's designers. Pearce looks in particular at the Uru Diaspora—a group of players whose game, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, closed. These players (primarily baby boomers) immigrated into other worlds, self-identifying as “refugees”; relocated in There.com, they created a hybrid culture integrating aspects of their old world. Ostracized at first, they became community leaders. Pearce analyzes the properties of virtual worlds and looks at the ways design affects emergent behavior. She discusses the methodologies for studying online games, including a personal account of the sometimes messy process of ethnography. Pearce considers the “play turn” in culture and the advent of a participatory global playground enabled by networked digital games every bit as communal as the global village Marshall McLuhan saw united by television. Countering the ludological definition of play as unproductive and pointing to the long history of pre-digital play practices, Pearce argues that play can be a prelude to creativity.

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Reviews

[Celia Pearce's] background as a games designer is evident in the way she respectfully engages readers in clear, vivid prose structured in an original and--can we say it?--entertaining way. From its thoughtful analyses of play and community to its authoritative contextualization of games and virtual worlds, this book repays study on many levels. Enjoy! from the foreword by Bonnie Nardi

""[Celia Pearce's] background as a games designer is evident in the way she respectfully engages readers in clear, vivid prose structured in an original and--can we say it?--entertaining way. From its thoughtful analyses of play and community to its authoritative contextualization of games and virtual worlds, this book repays study on many levels. Enjoy!"" from the foreword by Bonnie Nardi

Celia Pearce takes us beyond the novelty and spectacle of online virtual environments by combining penetrating ethnographic observation with the discerning eye of a richly creative designer. Communities of Play is a compelling guide to the lived experience of virtual worlds and to the design strategies that can support or thwart community by affording or restricting expressive play. --Janet H. Murray, Dean's Recognition Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, author of Hamlet on the Holodeck Communities of Play is a rich and thoughtful study that gives us a rare peek into something seldom discussed in online spaces--what happens when the site you love closes down. Celia Pearce provides fascinating insights as she traces these virtual communities, making a journey across a variety of software platforms, collaborating to rebuild play spaces, and keeping groups together. This is a unique and valuable contribution to not only the study of multiplayer worlds, but network life in general. --T.L. Taylor, Associate Professor, IT University of Copenhagen

Author Information

Celia Pearce is Associate Professor of Game Design and Head of the Game Design Program at Northeastern University. She is the author of The Interactive Book: A Guide to the Interactive Revolution. Artemesia is her coauthor and avatar. Bonnie A. Nardi is Professor of Informatics in the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, and Cofounder of Center for Research in Sustainability, Collapse-preparedness, and Information Technology there. She is the coauthor of Acting with Technology (MIT Press).

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