Description
The four "star worlds" explored in this book illustrate the dilemmasconcerning the role of technology as liberator or oppressor in ourpost-industrial society, and represent computer simulations of futurepossibilities of human experience. Bainbridge considers the relationshipbetween a real person and the role that person plays, the relationshipof an individual to society, and the relationship of human beings tocomputing technology. In addition to collecting ethnographic andquantitative data about the social behavior of other players, he hasimmersed himself in each of these worlds, role-playing 14 avatars withdifferent skills and goals to gain new insights into the variety of playerexperience from a personal perspective.
About the Author
William Sims Bainbridge is the author of books about the real spaceprogram (The Spaceflight Revolution, Goals in Space, and The Meaningand Value of Spaceflight), and fictional representations of it (Dimensionsof Science Fiction and The Virtual Future), as well as books aboutmassively multiplayer online games (The Warcraft Civilization: SocialScience in a Virtual World and eGods: Faith Versus Fantasy in ComputerGaming). He is an experienced computer programmer, anthropologicalfield researcher, and historical sociologist, with more than 200 articlesand book chapters to his credit.
Book Information
ISBN 9780472073283
Author William Sims Bainbridge
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint The University of Michigan Press
Publisher The University of Michigan Press
Weight(grams) 640g