ABSTRACT

This chapter explains the possibility that modern Internet-based technologies may allow at least a slight improvement in the possibility for ordinary people to have increased fame, for example through massively multiplayer online games in which they can be living players, or avatars of persons who have already died. It considers various multiplayer online games (MMOs) to explore how the technology might be used for new quasi-religious purposes related to immortality. The chapter explores different cultural and technological developments by running avatars based on three deceased religious innovators in three historically grounded virtual worlds. First, Dark Age of Camelot, based on sixth-century north-western Europe. Second, The Secret World, based on contemporary but historically oriented New England, Egypt, and Transylvania. Third, A Tale in the Desert, which simulates ancient Egypt. These three are marketed as games, but they vary greatly in character as well as popularity.