ABSTRACT
Any virtual world is a co-construction produced by the actions of producers and users negotiating with the media product’s technological, political-economic, and sociocultural structures. Some virtual worlds are structured for gaming, such as Massively Multiplayer Online (MMOs) games and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft or EverQuest, whereas other worlds are primarily designed to facilitate social interaction, such as Second Life, SpotOn3D, and Habbo Hotel. In order to make comparisons across these two kinds of worlds, the study discussed in this chapter involves one gaming world, City of Heroes, and one social world, Second Life.
