EVE is Real

Authors

  • Marcus Carter
  • Kelly Bergstrom
  • Nick Webber
  • Oskar Milik

Keywords:

eve online, paratexts, players, community, linguistics, identity, online interaction

Abstract

Used in a wide variety of contexts, a common colloquialism among EVE Online players is the phrase ‘EVE is real’. In this paper, we examine the various ways in which EVE is considered ‘real’ by its players, identifying a nuanced and powerful concept that goes significantly beyond real/virtual distinctions that have already been critiqued in game studies literature. We argue that, as a form of paratext, colloquialisms like this play an enormous role in shaping EVE Online’s informal rules (in particular towards treachery), constructing the identity of EVE Online players, communicating the seriousness of EVE Online play while in other cases, emphasizing the gameness of the MMOG.

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Published

2015-01-01

Bibtex

@Conference{digra734, title ="EVE is Real", year = "2015", author = "Carter, Marcus and Bergstrom, Kelly and Webber, Nick and Milik, Oskar", publisher = "DiGRA", address = "Tampere", howpublished = "\url{https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/view/734}", booktitle = "Proceedings of DiGRA 2015 Conference"}

Proceedings

2015: Proceedings of DiGRA 2015 Conference

Section

Papers

License

© Authors & Digital Games Research Association DiGRA. Personal and educational classroom use of this paper is
allowed, commercial use requires specific permission from the author.