Barry Brown
ABSTRACT
Persistent online environments, such as multi-player games, exhibit a complex social organisation. These environments often feature large social groupings and elaborate cooperative behaviours. This paper discusses 'There', one such environment, focusing on how users interact online. Resources such as overlapping chat and emotional gestures create a compelling social experience, although not one without its problems. We draw three lessons from There for the design of games and virtual environments: that text chat can be better integrated into the virtual environment, that gestures are valuable as communication topics as well as resources, and that social interactions can improve the social presence felt in virtual environments.
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Index Terms
- Social interaction in 'there'
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