Gaming in the World of Warcraft and functions of religion. (original) (raw)
Gaming in the World of Warcraft and functions of religion looks at the ways in which the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing game World of Warcraft has the potential to provide the functions of religion in respect to community, self-identity and understanding. The Mythological foundation of World of Warcraft creates a cohesive narrative which connects players through designated historical understandings that give dimension to in-game self reality. Legitimacy for the appeal of these narratives is established with the delineation between fiction and reality being reduced when human reality began to be seen as human creation characteristic in the global world. In face of Tillich and Geering’s concept of meaninglessness, World of Warcraft gaming allows for continually evolving goals that provide a religion through purpose. What World of Warcraft does is create a shared world in which common and coherent histories give individual players a shared understanding of their own identity as well as that of others reinforcing notions of community that are often less easy to tease out in a globalised society. The establishment of the World of Warcraft community sets up a forum in and against which individuals are able to interact. It is this interaction that results in the religious function of Luckmann’s social transcendence. While World of Warcraft is just a game for many, it is through functional aspects of community and selfhood, fulfilling transcendent and existential needs for its players and therefore in a very real way it can be considered to be fulfilling the role of religion
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