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Gaming and Virtual Worlds

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Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining

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Synonyms

Avatar; Massively multiplayer online game; Online community; Role-playing

Glossary

Alt :

A second avatar, distinguished from the main avatar of a person.

Avatar :

A virtual representation of a person.

Character :

An avatar that has some of its own distinctive virtual personality.

Instance :

A virtual environment or portion of a database separate from others.

Leaderboard :

An online ranking of MMO avatars.

MMO :

Massively multiplayer online game.

PvE :

Player-versus-environment exploration, a mission-oriented form of gameplay.

PvP :

Player-versus-player combat, a competitive form of online gameplay.

Definition

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) are often described as virtual worlds, because they simulate many of the features of real life, albeit with qualities of adventure fiction and ludic competition. Most significant MMOs emphasize role-playing and offer multiple modalities through which participants having different goals may cooperate, including economies, enduring...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cyber-Human Systems Program, Division of Information and Intelligent Systems, National Science Foundation, Human-Centered Computing, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA, 22230, USA

    William Sims Bainbridge

Authors
  1. William Sims Bainbridge
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Sims Bainbridge .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Reda Alhajj

  2. University of Calgary Computer Science, Calgary, Canada

    Jon Rokne

Section Editor information

  1. telecom-paristech, Paris, France

    Talel Abdessalem

  2. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), Gatineau, QC, Canada

    Rokia Missaoui

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Bainbridge, W.S. (2016). Gaming and Virtual Worlds. In: Alhajj, R., Rokne, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7163-9_65-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7163-9_65-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7163-9

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