Online Gaming Avatars Offer Individuals the Ability to Alter Self-Presentation and Identity within Virtual Environments and Communities

Abstract The following paper discusses the usage of online gaming avatars within virtual environments and communities and the ability for individuals to alter self-presentation through avatars in an online gaming context. The articles utilised describe online gaming, communities and virtual environments through massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) such as World of Warcraft (WoW) and Second Life as a “third place” (Hendershott & Oldenburg, 1991) for sociability and computer-mediated Read more [...]