At least it's not another piece about another person writing a book or paper using WoW as a ecological, social, or economic strawman.

I have a Ph.D., I play WoW, and I'm tired of seeing lackluster research used as an excuse to play WoW. Granted, some people have legitimate interests in the community of WoW players, and others have a genuine passion for the community that informs their research - both of these are good reasons for a research program and should inform their work and provide valuable insight to outsiders. But most are just using WoW as a sample on convenience, and don't understand much about the social dynamics, about in-game versus out-game attitudes and norms, on and on.

I've been tempted to integrate my love of WoW into my research program, but I just don't think WoW is that great a metaphor for anything. People I know in and out of the game perform different within it. Social pressures are different, social costs are different, the value of leadership, everything is different. I hope Dr. Amalea can find some valuable fruit in this pursuit, but I prefer keeping my pastime and my profession apart.

Reply