eGods

eGods
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 337
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780199323715
ISBN-13 : 0199323712
Rating : 4/5 (712 Downloads)

Book Synopsis eGods by : William Sims Bainbridge

Download or read book eGods written by William Sims Bainbridge and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the relationship between religion and multi-player online roleplaying games? Are such games simply a secular distraction from traditional religious practices, or do they in fact offer a different route to the sacred? In eGods, a leading scholar in the study of virtual gameworlds takes an in-depth look at the fantasy religions of 41 games and arrives at some surprising conclusions. William Sims Bainbridge investigates all aspects of the gameworlds' religious dimensions: the focus on sacred spaces; the prevalence of magic; the fostering of a tribal morality by both religion and rules programmed into the game; the rise of cults and belief systems within the gameworlds (and how this relates to cults in the real world); the predominance of polytheism; and, of course, how gameworld religions depict death. As avatars are multiple and immortal, death is merely a minor setback in most games. Nevertheless, much of the action in some gameworlds centers on the issue of mortality and the problematic nature of resurrection. Examining EverQuest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Rift, World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and many others, Bainbridge contends that gameworlds offer a new perspective on the human quest, one that combines the arts, simulates many aspects of real life, and provides meaningful narratives about achieving goals by overcoming obstacles. Indeed, Bainbridge suggests that such games take us back to those ancient nights around the fire, when shadows flickered and it was easy to imagine the monsters conjured by the storyteller lurking in the forest. Arguing that gameworlds reintroduce a curvilinear model of early religion, where today as in ancient times faith is inseparable from fantasy, eGods shows how the newest secular technology returns us to the very origins of religion so that we might "arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."


eGods Related Books

eGods
Language: en
Pages: 337
Authors: William Sims Bainbridge
Categories: Religion
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-04-01 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What is the relationship between religion and multi-player online roleplaying games? Are such games simply a secular distraction from traditional religious prac
Svensk-engelsk ordbok
Language: en
Pages: 1388
Authors: Carl Gustaf Björkman
Categories: English language
Type: BOOK - Published: 1889 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Diamond in the Rough
Language: en
Pages: 390
Authors: Suzanne Simmons
Categories: Fiction
Type: BOOK - Published: 1994 - Publisher: Topaz

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Lawrence, Duke of Deakin, is on a mission to get a rich wife. Miss Juliet Jones will do nicely, Lawrence decides. But there's just one hitch: Juliet is a romant
Who Owns Whom
Language: en
Pages: 2482
Authors:
Categories: Corporations
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Lloyd's Maritime Directory
Language: en
Pages: 442
Authors:
Categories: Shipbuilding
Type: BOOK - Published: 1997 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK