ABSTRACT
Not unlike other computer games, World of Warcraft has certain technological and contractual thresholds and barriers, often working in conjunction, which must be traversed in order to actually arrive at the playable part. In this chapter, I will discuss three such thresholds – the network, the platform technology (both hardware and software) and the game configuration – each playing its own role in affording and imitating certain forms of play. These technological and configurational thresholds convey the amount of control Blizzard has given itself over World of Warcraft, both enabling and restricting play before it has even started as well as influencing what you can and cannot do with(in) World of Warcraft during play.
