Productive Play: Game Culture From the Bottom Up
Pearce, Celia. (2006). "Productive Play: Game Culture From the Bottom Up."
Games and Culture 2006 1: 17-24.
ABSRACT:
In this article, the author argues against the assertion, originating with “canonical” game
studies texts such as Homo Ludens and Man, Play, and Games, that inherent in the definition
of games is that they are “unproductive.” Instead, she makes a case for the notion of
productive play, in which creative production for its own sake (as opposed to production
for hire) is an active and integral part of play activities, particularly those enabled by networks.
Citing from her recent ethnographic research studying intergame immigration
between massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs),the author describes one case in
which players ejected from theMMOGUru: Ages Beyond Myst became highly productive,
creating artifacts from Uru in other virtual worlds like There and Second Life. Over
time, the Uru Diaspora expanded the game’s culture, eventually creating their own original
Uru- and Myst-inspired artifacts, including an entirely new game.
Keywords: play; games; MMOG; massively multiplayer games; game studies
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