JVWR Newsletter

JVWR updates and newsletter.

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JVWR Previous Issues

Vol. 1, Issue 1 - Virtual Worlds Research: Past, Present & Future

   Editor:

  • Jeremiah Spence, University of Texas at Austin, USA

 

Vol. 1, Issue 2 - Consumer Behavior in Virtual Worlds

   Guest Editors:

  • Natalie Wood, Saint Joseph′s University, USA
  • Caja Thimm, University of Bonn, Germany

 

Vol. 1, Issue 3 - Cultures of Virtual Worlds

   Guest Editors:

  • Mia Consalvo, Ohio University, USA
  • Mark Bell, Indiana University, USA

 

Vol. 2, Issue 1 - Pedagogy, Education and Innovation in Virtual Worlds

   Guest Editors:

  • Leslie Jarmon, University of Texas at Austin, USA
  • Kenneth Y.T. Lim, Nanyang Technology University, Singapore
  • B. Stephen Carpenter, II, Texas A&M University, USA

 

Vol. 2, Issue 2 - 3D Virtual Worlds for Health and Healthcare

   Guest Editors:

  • Maged M. Kamel Boulos, University of Plymoth, UK
  • Susan Toth-Cohen, Thomas Jefferson University, USA
  • Simon Bignell, University of Derby, UK

 

Vol. 2, Issue 3 - Technology, Economy and Standards in Virtual Worlds

  Guest Editors:

  • Yesha Y. Sivan, Shenkar College & Metaverse Labs, Israel
  • Jean H.A. Gellissen, Philips Research, Netherlands
  • Robert Bloomfield, Cornell University, USA

 

Vol. 2, Issue 4 - Virtual Economies, Virtual Goods and Service Delivery in Virtual Worlds

  Guest Editors:

  • Mandy Salomon, Smart Services CRC, Australia
  • Serge Soudoplatoff, ESCP-EAP / Hetic, France

 

Creative Commons License

CrossRef Member

The Constitution of Collective Memory in Virtual Game Worlds

Anthony Papargyris, Angeliki Poulymenakou

 

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the constitution of collective memory in virtual game worlds. Based on ethnographic data gathered during a three year participatory observation in two Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), we study the collective practices, histories, memories, and identities that the members of two large guilds engaged and practice. Research findings indicate that the constitution of collective memory and identity of a virtual community drastically differentiates form regular communities in the physical reality. This is due to the issues of cultural heterogeneity, the interpretation of the virtual world’s reality, the envisioning of other members ‘true’ identity, and the apprehension of circumstanced actions and events (i.e., historical context) taking place inside a virtual game world. In order to overcome such obstacles, members of a MMOG virtual community make extensive use of peripheral discussions using metaphors and analogical reasoning, while in order to preserve their collective memory and identity, they instrumentally rely on war stories (historical narratives), cases of personality checks (member and individual roles), and other communicative practices for manipulating and reshaping collective memories (i.e. misinformation though propaganda).

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