Learning Real-Life Lessons From Online Games

Games have received increased scholarly attention due to the economic value they generate. Yet, some studies still conceptualize games as "virtual" realms that are theoretically distinct from "real world" experiences. Based on an ethnographic investigation of two online, text-based gaming environments, this study analyzes dynamics such as technical acculturation, access to technical knowledge, and opportunities for self-expression by studying social interaction that occurred in non-revenue-generating games. Frameworks that focus on dynamics such as in-game conversation in broader game-centric domains or ecologies should be considered to accommodate a wider variety of gaming forms and related interdisciplinary research questions. Different games have different consequences, and it is important to understand the varying consequential contexts that games afford. Whether or not the consequences may be measured economically, it is nevertheless important to consider how social interactions may complicate forms of self-expression in ways that impact the human spirit.