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Journal: Special Issue of Game Studies -> Special Issue: EQ – 10 years Later (Volume 9, Issue 1, April 2009)
2009-05-04 20:31 | Posted by jpzagal | Permanent Link | GeneralGame Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research has just published its latest issue.
Special Issue: EQ – 10 years Later (Volume 9, Issue 1, April 2009).
All articles are available at http://gamestudies.org/0901
Contents
Introduction: EQ – 10 Years Later
by Eric Hayot, Edward Wesp
http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/hayot_wesp
Reviews the place of EverQuest in the history of virtual world studies; lays out some of the critical issues that emerge from the study of MMORPGs; and introduces the essays in this issue.
Befriending Ogres and Wood-Elves: Relationship Formation and The Social Architecture of Norrath
by Nick yee
http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/yee
This paper explores how the social architectures in virtual worlds can lead to behavioral changes at the community level by shaping norms and expectations.
Planes of Power: EverQuest as Text, Game and Community
by Greg Lastowka
http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/lastowka
This article describes EverQuest as a fictive text, a computer game, and an online community and explains how these three distinct frameworks lead to different legal regulatory modalities. It concludes that the optimal legal regulation for virtual worlds like Norrath is a question that must be addressed by the political process..
Norrath: New Forms, Old Institutions
by Sal Humphreys
http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/humphreys
Explores issues of ownership, governance, labour, rights and obligations in MMOGs, using research conducted in EQ. The clash between product and service, between proprietary space and public space and between amateur and professional raise questions for policy makers and lawyers considering the rights and obligations of different stakeholders.
The Worldness of EverQuest: Exploring a 21st Century Fiction
by Lisbeth Klastrup
http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/klastrup
This articles discusses online gameworlds as a new form of engaging fictional universes, and how to analytically approach and describe the player’s experience of “worldness” with EverQuest as an illustrative example. It argues that such an analysis should incorporate the study of design, aesthetics, means of expression and sociality.
Two Players: Biography and “Played Sociality” in EverQuest
By Bart Simon, Kelly Boudreau, Mark Silverman
http://gamestudies.org/0901/articles/simon_boudreau_silverman
This article experiments with a biographical method for exploring memories and play experiences of EverQuest in the lives of two player/researchers. We posit a notion of 'played sociality' modeled on biographical understandings of lifecourse and attempt to show how different forms of commitment to the game reverberate through the lives of players.
Towards a Critical Aesthetic of Virtual-World Geographies
By Eric Hayot and Edward Wesp
http://gamestudies.org/0901/articles/hayot_wesp_space
This article addresses the interaction of players and designers in the creation of Norrathian geography. In the context of contemporary geographic theory, the authors examine the ways in which EverQuest players have worked both with and against the game’s delineation of meaningful places within the virtual world, arguing that the game’s virtual geography is best understood in the context of the real world geographies within which it is situated.
Interview with Chris Lena
By Eric Hayot
http://gamestudies.org/0901/articles/interview_lena
Chris Lena worked as a Producer of EverQuest at Sony Online Entertainment where he was involved in the creation of the 6 most recent expansions. He has been Assistant Producer and Designer on EverQuest Online Adventures as well as a coordinator of game localization efforts for the company. He worked on EQ 2003-2006.
Interview with Brad McQuaid and Kevin McPherson
By Eric Hayot and Edward Wesp
http://gamestudies.org/0901/articles/interview_mcquaid_mcpherson
Brad McQuaid worked as co-designer of EverQuest and development manager from the project's inception until its launch. Kevin McPherson was one of the first EverQuest team members who primarily worked on the EverQuest client and writing the original background and setting for the Ruins of Kunark expansion.