I propose that we begin to refer to MMORPG players as VARPers — Virtual Action Role Players. That way their escapism is more directly presented.<\/p>\n
Nardi is an ethnographer. This is<\/em> an ethnography. And it’s an interesting one, which is relieving. My Life as a Night Elf Priest<\/em> has more in common with Go Nation<\/em> than Millenial Monsters<\/em>. As a first-hand source, Nardi provides valuable insight into Azeroth and its inhabitants — from those addicted to the universe to those who log in once every few days. Nardi addresses the linguistic and the cultural aspects of her time spent in-game, on learning the various different forms of chatspeak and slang and wrangling with the game’s interface. That is to say that Nardi dives in headfirst, but her commentary is, fundamentally, introductory.<\/p>\n I found myself enjoying the chat-log segments the most, as a Linguist, an internet denizen, and ex-VARPer (though my games of choice were Final Fantasy XI and XIV, not<\/em> WoW). The snippets of dialogue and chat reminded me of similar interactions I have had in the past in similar formats; I ended up researching the linguistic evolution of slang and language-communities on Tumblr during my sophomore year, and as a result this field is particularly interesting to me. Nardi’s somewhat wide-eyed wonder at some of the (to me, at least) mundane aspects of internet speech reminded me of why the internet and its subcultures like WoW<\/em> are so daunting and indecipherable to those uninitiated. For Nardi, I thank this perspective.<\/p>\n Though not much work has been done on the digital world by ethnographers, I feel these communities are wells of vast linguistic and sociocultural importance. I hope in our discussion that some of this gets brought up and discussed, as it is something I find myself personally invested in.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n I’ve decided that I’d like to write about representation in games as previously planned — specifically focusing around the Atlus titles Catherine and the Persona series. As a result my primary sources will be Persona 4 Golden, <\/em>the Persona 2 Duology<\/em>, and Catherine<\/em>, released on the PS3. I’ll be drawing from various outside sources as well, such as Midboss’s 2014 Documentary Gaming in Color<\/em>. Various other texts, such as Lacan’s Mirror Stage<\/em> and the compiled Sources of Japanese Tradition<\/em> will be utilized to examine Japanese outlooks towards Minorities and Women in the contexts of Japanese blockbuster, Triple-A game development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I propose that we begin to refer to MMORPG players as VARPers — Virtual Action Role Players. That way their escapism is more directly presented.<\/p>\n