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International Handbook of Internet Research pp 309–323Cite as

Understanding Online (Game)worlds

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Abstract

With gameworlds as the prime example, this article discusses online worlds as new forms of cultural entertainment systems and presents a framework with which to analyse them. The framework takes its point of departure in a discussion of what online gameworlds are, which genres of worlds exist and how they can be understood as a new form of engaging experience similar to the type of experience we have when we are captivated by the fictional universes of novels, films and tabletop roleplaying games. The proposed framework is grounded in an aesthetic, communicative and sociological approach to online worlds as digital phenomena, with the primary objective of describing how online gameworlds are systems that create meaning through the production of the experience of “worldness”.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also Bartle’s article elsewhere in this volume.

  2. 2.

    The quote is taken from Chapter XIV of the English poet Samuel Coleridge’s manifestlike autobiography, Biographia Literaria from 1817 and in context reads: “In this idea originated the plan of the “Lyrical Ballads”; in which it was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic; yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.” (my italics)

  3. 3.

    I here refer to the concept of ellipsis as defined by Gerald Genette (p. 43 and following) in his book Narrative Discourse – An Essay in Method.

  4. 4.

    It should be noted that the care for one’s character is much more developed in game genres that focus on continuous character advancement, such as role-playing games (where information about character level and character stats are saved in between gaming sessions). “Character” does, for instance, not really matter in games of the first-person shooter genre, where characters are largely iconic and have no personal characteristics.

  5. 5.

    Mackey refers to satellite texts as all forms of “texts” that support the “same fictional domain” (Mackey, 2003, p. 9, webprint).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Innovative Communication Research Group, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen S, Denmark

    Lisbeth Klastrup

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  1. Lisbeth Klastrup
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Correspondence to Lisbeth Klastrup .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Political Science, Virginia Tech, Major Williams Hall 531, Blacksburg, 24061, USA

    Jeremy Hunsinger

  2. Peachtree St. NE., 620, Atlanta, 30308, USA

    Lisbeth Klastrup

  3. Fac. Media, Society & Culture, Curtin University, Kent St., Bentley, 6102, Australia

    Matthew Allen

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Klastrup, L. (2009). Understanding Online (Game)worlds. In: Hunsinger, J., Klastrup, L., Allen, M. (eds) International Handbook of Internet Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9789-8_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9789-8_19

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9789-8

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