National Repository of Grey Literature 1 records found  Search took 0.02 seconds. 
Representational Roleplay in a Virtual World: Applying Dramaturgical Analysis to World of Warcraft
Špán, Adam ; Hájek, Martin (advisor) ; Kabele, Jiří (referee)
This thesis explores the possibilities of applying dramaturgical analysis to the virtual world of the computer game World of Warcraft. In this virtual world, some players engage in so-called representational roleplay. This is a complex social activity that entails a number of specific rules and practices. The aim of this thesis was to test the applicability of four different dramaturgical concepts (character, regions, scene, and exhibition) to actors' performances in the virtual world. The findings of this thesis are based on several months of ethnographic research and 16 semi-structured interviews. Analysis of these data revealed a number of similarities and a high degree of applicability of dramaturgical sociology to representational roleplay in the virtual world of World of Warcraft. The various dramaturgical metaphors were further extended to include new concepts in the context of the virtual world. These include the "character flaw" which consists of rejecting the consequences of fateful moments, "always IC" roleplayers who ignore the existence of a back region, the "immersive march" which describes the dramatic transitions between scenes, and the "exhibition with a passive curator" which reflects the distinctiveness of the curator in the virtual world.

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