The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World

World of Warcraft is more than a game. There is no ultimate goal,no winning hand, no princess to be rescued. WoW is an immersive virtual world inwhich characters must cope in a dangerous environment, assume identities, struggle to understand andcommunicate, learn to use technology, and compete for dwindling resources. Beyond the fantasy andscience fiction details, as many have noted, it's not entirely unlike today's world. In TheWarcraft Civilization, sociologist William Sims Bainbridge goes further, arguing thatWoW can be seen not only as an allegory of today but also as a virtual prototypeof tomorrow, of a real human future in which tribe-like groups will engage in combat over decliningnatural resources, build temporary alliances on the basis of mutual self-interest, and seek a set ofvalues that transcend the need for war. What makes WoW an especially good placeto look for insights about Western civilization, Bainbridge says, is that it bridges past andfuture. It is founded on Western cultural tradition, yet aimed toward the virtual worlds we couldcreate in times to come.

William Sims Bainbridge is a prolific and influential sociologist who has worked in both academia and government, currently as Director of the Human-Centered Computing program at the National Science Foundation. He is the author of many books, including Nanoconvergence, Across the Secular Abyss, and God from the Machine: Artificial Intelligence Models of Religious Cognition.