Document Type
Article
Abstract
The virtual body is already here. Though not as “seamless” as the virtual body envisioned in cyberpunk literature and made popular in films like The Lawnmower Man (1992), hundreds of thousands of people in over 114 countries (“Visitor Center”) daily log into massively multiplayer online role-playing games like Everquest, Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, and Earth and Beyond. These massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs or MMOs for short) [1] combine the extensive rule systems of traditional role-playing games (or RPGs) such as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons with computer graphic technology and online chat. In these computer generated worlds, players interact with both textual messages and virtual bodies (called the “avatar”). [2]
Repository Citation
Smith, C. J.. "Body Matters in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 6, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1–17. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol6/iss1/8
Included in
Game Design Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Graphic Design Commons, Leisure Studies Commons