[MUD-Dev] The Root of the Tree (was NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds ...)

[neild-mud at misago.org]

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Original message: http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/2004Q4/msg00313.php

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 22:38:14 -0800
"David Kennerly" <kennerly at finegamedesign.com> wrote:

> I wonder, though, if I've overlooked the discussion of a different
> (yet relevant) term.  Has the list rejected the term
> "computer-mediated community"?

The usage of CMC that I'm accustomed to includes things like IRC and
AIM.  It's a more inclusive term than "MUD" and "virtual world".

> - Such things as "virtual friends" or "virtual currencies" sound
> odd.  If there is a virtual friend, what is a real friend?  Do
> friendships, currencies, or contracts have a material essence?

"Virtual friend" is simple shorthand for "a friend who I communicate
with exclusively through the 'virtual' world of computer networks".
People use the term because it's short, well-understood, and useful.

Words and phrases have meanings which are more than the sum of their
roots.  "Polymorph" does not mean "many shapes".  Sometimes the
meaning of a word is almost completely unrelated to its etymology: a
camera is not a vaulted room.

Occasionally words mean different things in different communities:
The text adventure community uses "mimesis" to describe certain
immersive properties of games, despite this word having a somewhat
different meaning in the literature community.

                    - Damien
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