Virtual Nature: Environmentalism in Two Multi-player Online Games
First author: BainbridgeYear: 2010
Abstract
The newest genre of popular culture, computer supported online game-worlds like World ofWarcraft (WoW) and Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO), offers fictional environments where people may explore real-world ethical issues. WoW assumes that people are inevitably locked in competition over scarce resources, and therefore cannot come to a consensus to preserve nature. LOTRO, in contrast, suggests that a religious consensus is possible, but it may never be able to triumph completely over evils like pollution. Both of these gameworlds offer environments where people may enjoy social life and achieve social status at lower resource use than in the so-called 'real world'.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: United States
Published in: Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
Publication type: Journal article
Source: https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v4i3.135
Games
No Results
Franchises
No Results
Studies
Description: Played game to record observations of environmental content
Research type: Non-experimental
Data type: Qualitative
Comparator: none
Control group: no
Pilot study: no
Pre/post measures used: no
Follow-up: no
Sample type: Game(s)
Sample size: 2
Power analysis: no
Sample countries: null
Games studied: World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online
Franchises studied: Warcraft (F)
Study outcomes: Reflecting ecological issues