Every Luke Skywalker needs his Yoda. And now aspiring MUD players have their own cyber-mentor with this behind-the-scenes guide to successfully stalking the dark, haunted corridors of today's most popular online game worlds. This ultimate MUD companion reveals the lore as well as the intricate customs and commands, cloaked in the secrecy of these imaginary worlds. (Communications/Networking)

This text provides a comprehensive treatment of virtual world design from one of its pioneers. It covers everything from MUDs to MOOs to MMORPGs, from text-based to graphical VWs.

The authors set out to demystify the Internet and put it into a context that makes it relevant and accessible to as many women as possible. It is for women who are just starting to explore the possibilities of the Internet, as well as seasoned users. Technological explanations have been kept to a minimum as they are rarely necessary in order to use a particular Internet service successfully. The book contains 'how to' advice on using the most common Internet services, as well as information you will need to get Internet access. The book also covers topics not covered in more general books on the Internet: gender issues, pornography, sexual harassment, anonymity, privacy and security. To put the Internet into a more women-centred perspective the authors have included a chapter that introduces our computing foremothers and describes how some women have already begun to make the Internet an integral part of their lives.

Multiplayer Online Games (MOGs) have become a new genre of "play culture," integrating communication and entertainment in a playful, computer-mediated environment that evolves through user interaction. This book comprehensively reviews the origins, players, and social dynamics of MOGs, as well as six major empirical research methods used in previous works to study MOGs (i.e., observation/ethnography, survey/interviews, content and discourse analysis, experiments, network analysis, and case studies). It concludes that MOGs represent a highly sophisticated, networked, multimedia and multimodal Internet technology, which can construct entertaining, simultaneous, persistent social virtual worlds for gamers. Overall, the book shows that what we can learn from MOGs is how games and gaming, as ubiquitous activities, fit into ordinary life in today’s information society, in the moments where the increased use of media as entertainment, the widespread application of networked information technologies, and participation in new social experiences intersect. Key Features: Contains pertinent knowledge about online gaming: its history, technical features, player characteristics, social dynamics, and research methods Sheds light on the potential future of online gaming, and how this would impact every aspect of our everyday lives – socially, culturally, technologically, and economically Asks promising questions based on cutting-edge research in the field of online game design and development

This comprehensive guide explains in simple terms how to access and maneuver through the Internet with ease.

As we begin a new century, the astonishing spread of nationally and internationally accessible computer-based communication networks has touched the imagination of people everywhere. Suddenly, the Internet is in everyday parlance, featured in talk shows, in special business "technology" sections of major newspapers, and on the covers of national magazines. If the Internet is a new world of social behavior it is also a new world for those who study social behavior. This volume is a compendium of essays and research reports representing how researchers are thinking about the social processes of electronic communication and its effects in society. Taken together, the chapters comprise a first gathering of social psychological research on electronic communication and the Internet. The authors of these chapters work in different disciplines and have different goals, research methods, and styles. For some, the emergence and use of new technologies represent a new perspective on social and behavioral processes of longstanding interest in their disciplines. Others want to draw on social science theories to understand technology. A third group holds to a more activist program, seeking guidance through research to improve social interventions using technology in domains such as education, mental health, and work productivity. Each of these goals has influenced the research questions, methods, and inferences of the authors and the "look and feel" of the chapters in this book. Intended primarily for researchers who seek exposure to diverse approaches to studying the human side of electronic communication and the Internet, this volume has three purposes: * to illustrate how scientists are thinking about the social processes and effects of electronic communication; * to encourage research-based contributions to current debates on electronic communication design, applications, and policies; and * to suggest, by example, how studies of electronic communication can contribute to social science itself.

“Both burgeoning game designers and devoted gamers should consider [Game Design: Theory & Practice] an essential read.” — Computer Gaming World “Ultimately, in both theory and practice, Rouse’s Game Design bible gets the job done. Let us pray.” - Next Generation magazine In the second edition to the acclaimed Game Design: Theory & Practice, designer Richard Rouse III balances a discussion of the essential concepts behind game design with an explanation of how you can implement them in your current project. Detailed analysis of successful games is interwoven with concrete examples from Rouse’s own experience. This second edition thoroughly updates the popular original with new chapters and fully revised text.

This book is about using the Internet as a teaching tool. It starts with the psychology of the learner and looks at how best to fit technology to the student, rather than the other way around. The authors include leading authorities in many areas of psychology, and the book takes a broad look at learners as people. Thus, it includes a wide range of materials from how the eye "reads" moving graphs on a Web page to how people who have never met face-to-face can interact on the Internet and create "communities" of learners. The book considers many Internet technologies, but focuses on the World Wide Web and new "hybrid" technologies that integrate the Web with other communications technologies. This book is essential to researchers is psychology and education who are interested in learning. It is also used in college and graduate courses in departments of psychology and educational psychology. Teachers and trainers at any level who are using technology in their teaching (or thinking about it) find this book very useful.Key Features* Distinguished authors with considerable expertise in their fields* Broad "intra-disciplinary" perspective on learning and teaching on the Web* Focus on the Web and emerging Web-based technologies* Special attention to conducting educational research on-line* Emphasis on the Social and Psychological Context* Analyses of effective Web-based learning resources* Firmly grounded in contemporary psychological research and theory

Thirteen newly published articles on case studies performed by sociologists demonstrating the everyday interactions that reinforce dominance and resistance in modern society.

Learn How to Create Immersive Virtual EnvironmentsWritten by an award-winning designer with 20 years of experience designing virtual environments for television and online communities, Virtual World Design explores the intertwining disciplines of 2D graphics, 3D models, lighting, sound, and storytelling. It illustrates how these disciplines come to