Synthetic Worlds The Business and Culture of Online Games

Name: Synthetic Worlds The Business and Culture of Online Games
Price: 4.65 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780226096261

ISBN-10: 0226096262

ISBN-13: 9780226096261

Edition: 2006

Authors: Edward Castronova

List price: $31.00

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Description:

From "EverQuest" to "World of Warcraft," online games have evolved from the exclusive domain of computer geeks into an extraordinarily lucrative staple of the entertainment industry. People of all ages and from all walks of life now spend thousands of hours--and dollars--partaking in this popular new brand of escapism. But the line between fantasy and reality is starting to blur. Players have created virtual societies with governments and economies of their own whose currencies now trade against the dollar on eBay at rates higher than the yen. And the players who inhabit these synthetic worlds are starting to spend more time online than at their day jobs. In "Synthetic Worlds," Edward… Castronova offers the first comprehensive look at the online game industry, exploring its implications for business and culture alike. He starts with the players, giving us a revealing look into the everyday lives of the gamers--outlining what they do in their synthetic worlds and why. He then describes the economies inside these worlds to show how they might dramatically affect real world financial systems, from potential disruptions of markets to new business horizons. Ultimately, he explores the long-term social consequences of online games: If players can inhabit worlds that are more alluring and gratifying than reality, then how can the real world ever compete? Will a day ever come when we spend more time in these synthetic worlds than in our own? Or even more startling, will a day ever come when such questions no longer sound alarmist but instead seem obsolete? With more than ten million active players worldwide--and with Microsoft and Sony pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into videogame development--online games have become too big to ignore. "Synthetic Worlds" spearheads our efforts to come to terms with this virtual reality and its concrete effects. "Illuminating. . . . Castronova's analysis of the economics of fun is intriguing. Virtual-world economies are designed to make the resulting game interesting and enjoyable for their inhabitants. Many games follow a rags-to-riches storyline, for example. But how can all the players end up in the top 10%? Simple: the upwardly mobile human players need only be a subset of the world's population. An underclass of computer-controlled 'bot' citizens, meanwhile, stays poor forever. Mr. Castronova explains all this with clarity, wit, and a merciful lack of academic jargon."--"The Economist" " " ""Synthetic Worlds" is a surprisingly profound book about the social, political, and economic issues arising from the emergence of vast multiplayer games on the Internet. What Castronova has realized is that these games, where players contribute considerable labor in exchange for things they value, are not merely like real economies, they "are" real economies, displaying inflation, fraud, Chinese sweatshops, and some surprising in-game innovations."--Tim Harford, "Chronicle of Higher Education "

Book details

List price: $31.00
Copyright year: 2006
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication date: 11/13/2005
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 344
Size: 6.00" wide x 9.00" long x 2.70" tall
Weight: 1.342
Language: English



Acknowledgments


Introduction: The Changing Meaning of Play



The Synthetic World: A Tour



Daily Life on a Synthetic Earth



The User



The Mechanics of World-Making



Emergent Culture: Institutions within Synthetic Reality



The Business of World-Making



When Boundaries Fade



The Almost-Magic Circle



Free Commerce



The Economics of Fun: Behavior and Design



Governance



Topographies of Terror



Toxic Immersion and Internal Security



Threats and Opportunities



Implications and Policies



Into the Age of Wonder


Appendix: A Digression on Virtual Reality


Notes


References


Index