Thighbrowisacademic.for
his book written the casual social observer and not for the
With that in mind, there are a few basic
assumptions that I am making about the public and the general knowl-
edge of sociology as a discipline, which is to say that sociology is not
really understood by the broader population (no hard feelings), nor does
anyone really think anything of
sociologists.1
For the sake of clarity, I
wanted to use this chapter to highlight some of the aspects of the field
of study, or at least some of my own perspective as it pertains to social
behaviors. This will help draw connections between systems and struc-
tures that we find abound in society and point out how examining them
in the same ways can help us understand how game worlds function.
Additionally, I want to spend a brief moment discussing how far shared
or online “game
worlds”2
have come since their beginnings, as well as
to note how our ideas about digital spaces have changed. Finally, I will
give some attention to a few concepts that are pretty important for the
bulk of this book, and those are the “reality of everyday
life”3
and the
“magic circle of
play”4
and how they are framed within what we call a
“game.” I do want this book to be as enjoyable as possible, though still
descriptive and explanatory in some fashion. Here’s hoping I fare all
right in that task.
Sociology is, to borrow from Allan Johnson, the study of the (social)
systems we participate in, as well as how we participate in
them.5
What
separates sociology from other behavioral sciences (in my estimate) is
that it’s important to pay attention to the people who are participating
(and how they participate), as well as the systems that those people are
CHAPTER 1
Frameworks and Realities
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