In my paper I will focus on mountains in a massive multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. In the game there is a planet Azeroth which is divided in three main continents: Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor and Northrend. Smaller continents are Pandaria, Broken Isles, Zandalar and Kul Tiras. Each continent is divided into zones, similar to countries, and has distinct landmarks, fauna and flora. There are more continent-like zones but I will focus only on Azeroth. There are fourteen original races, each with their own culture and heritage.

I will try to explore how mountains are perceived in the game versus in real life and if there is any difference. As many other great fictional worlds, World of Warcraft is also based on reference from the real world. The graphics of the world are more than pleasant to look at and rich in detail, which contributes to great gaming experience and easy immersion in the plot. That is why, from my point of view, many players opt for role-playing. They can experience emotions and situations they would not be able to experience in the real world. Some people even go “chill” to their favorite in-game locations to only enjoy the aesthetic of the game and the soundtrack, which changes throughout the zones and their subparts.

With soundtrack there could be link with spirituality and sense of community. I can not explain this yet, but sound changes perception of places and locations drastically, without the music playing in the game the players would not have such strong feeling of attachment to the game or its graphics. The music also serves as (maybe a marketing) tool, which awakes nostalgia in players when they visit some of the oldest zones with their unique music. I believe that only remembering the music and the atmosphere connected to it is one of the reasons why people renew their subscriptions or buy more game time. (Yes, you have to pay for every month you want to play.)

The last area I want to briefly explore is the role of the myth, gods and the sacred. There are some storylines introducing the player to some in-game myths or gods, or to sacred shrines. There are for example achievements where players have to visit scrolls, which are most of the time in more remote locations.


Sources

Vallikatt, Jose. Virtually Religious: Myth, Ritual and Community in World of Warcraft.

Schaap, Julian, and Aupers, Stef. ‘Gods in World of Warcraft exist’: Religious reflexivity and the quest for meaning in online computer games. New media & society. 2017.

Corneliussen, Hilde G., and Jill Walker Rettberg. Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader. The MIT Press, 2008.

Kafai, Yasmin B., and Nick Yee. Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2011, pp. 83–96.

Frissen, Valerie, and Stef Aupers. “Spiritual Play: Encountering the Sacred in World of Warcraft.” Playful Identities: The Ludification of Digital Media Cultures, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands , 2015, pp. 75–92.

Krzywinska, Tanya. “Elune be Praised”: The functions and meanings pf myth in the World of Warcraft