In the book; My Life as a Night Elf Priest is an Anthology book written by Bonnie A. Nardi, who is a famous ethnographer is a non-fiction book that talks about how video games like addiction, sexism and violence to influence the people when they watch it. My view concerning Nardi way of presenting a less sensationalised topic of interest like The World of Warcraft is an exemplary work with much potential. Her idea of enabling each person to control a single character or personality and allow them to interact with other peoples character in a virtue world is a sign of intellectual maturity aligned with the quest to explain real life situation in a way not many can fumble.
As much as it looks like it's fiction, I, however, think that Nardi way of highlighting the different approaches on the way people adopt and intersect to using technology and enhance the participation of the culture. The issue of Warcraft educates on the underlying problems that the society, in general, faces like gender inequality, culture degradation and addiction. Nardis work focuses on the social implications and how people react to the digital technology not only in different countries but also in China.
The perspective in which she plays is to open the peoples eyes in the field of game studies. Most people play games for entertainment or a leisure activity, but Nardi exposes us to an entirely different perspective. She sets a compelling approach to merging the history, structure and culture of Warcraft in the application of the activity theories that are experienced in the beauty of game playing. The book highlights and brings out the relationship between the gamer and the ethnographer. The book is an anthropology work, and it looks at the everyday, obvious and ordinary activities that are represented in a form that can exit and educational.
Reading Nardis book made me feel captivated and enhanced. I used to think that for someone to understand how to play WOW, one has to be immersed in the game itself for an extended period. Reading Nardis ethnography on the World of Warcraft (WOW) helped me to understand the game more clearly without spending more time glued to the match. Her comparison of the Northern American players versus the Chinese players was not only to for fun, but I saw it as a mechanism to reveal how the two nations are involved in the culture activities and to solve the demises like gender equality, violence and addiction. I found her way of tackling gender as a considerable thought and a fascinating outlook that make me consider her work as a success in discussing social and cultural issues that are with us every day.
Although her work is enchanting, the issue of World of Warcraft is not updated to the recent era as it focuses so much on the Burning Crusa. The book has got various parts that are thrilling then it narrows down to the theories that are academic. In my point of view, I would say that the author did great in merging entertainment with research as it makes someone do a lot of culture following on different subjects.
In conclusion, I have made much observation and realized that Nardi made the book more igniting than it ought to have been. Particularly in the WOW gaming where she compels to a model of ethnographic facts and the use of theories to bring out the issue of democracy and gender. She provides a great wealth of information concerning the game thus giving knowledge to a person who has never participated in the virtual WOW. Apart from that, the content contains short and actual writings that are easy to read and comprehend. The book is also affordable at low prices. The handbook costs at $28.21 and is available in the digital anthropology for $29.95.
ReferencesNardi, B. A. (2010). My life as a night elf priest: An anthropological account of World of Warcraft. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
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