Individual copycats : memetics, identity and collaboration in the "World of Warcraft"
This dissertation uses the Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) World of Warcraft as a location for inquiry into how players learn to collaborate, forge identities, and achieve both personal and group goals. [The author focuses] specifically on a memetics based framework, looking at how memes operate within WoW while paying careful attention to what gamers do to develop individual and group identities in light of so many things in the game being memetic. The study focuses around two guiding principles: there's a lot of modeling and copying/replicating happening in WoW , but gamers still work to build individual and group identities that represent something unique.--Abstract.
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- In Collections
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Electronic Theses & Dissertations
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Material Type
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Theses
- Authors
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Alexander, Phillip Michael
- Thesis Advisors
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DeVoss, Danielle N.
- Committee Members
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Hart-Davidson, Bill
Grabill, Jeff
Powell, Malea
- Date Published
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2012
- Subjects
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World of Warcraft (Game)
Virtual reality--Social aspects
Online social networks
Online identities
Memes
Fantasy gamers
Scheduled tribes in India--Psychology
Psychology
- Program of Study
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Rhetoric and Writing
- Degree Level
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Doctoral
- Language
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English
- Pages
- vii, 215 pages
- ISBN
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9781267489852
1267489855
- Permalink
- https://doi.org/doi:10.25335/a6y3-8222