Post Media Ecologies in Asia

Beijing Conference

13-15 July 2019

Beijing Normal University

Program is now available here: Post Media Ecologies in Asia Booklet

Download a Flyer: Post Media Ecologies in Asia Flyer

Felania Liu

Beijing Normal University

Title

Digital game as ecological medium : World of Warcraft and its ecological concern

“Video games, particularly popular ones, often say little that is explicit about climate change and environmental crisis, but because they often recreate environments (processes, spaces, worlds), they constitute an important site where models of environmental consciousness can be created, allegorized, and played.”[1]P. Saxon Brown provided us with a context for understanding digital games as ecological medium that can bear Eco-criticism that comes alongside with ecomedia and ecocinema. While Aleida Chang pointed out that “even games that are not environment centered can be seen as a set of Environmental Texts”[2].

On the basis of these discussions, this paper will argue that popular games can also be ecological medium, and having ecological concern deeply embedded into the narrative structure through analysis of World of Warcraft. Through analysis on the embedded narrative and emergent narrative, this paper analyzed how environmental concern was conveyed through design and play, and how game environment was used as a narrative component. The paper then moved to discuss how avatar and pet in games interwoven into the whole narrative fabric centered on ecological concern and proved the point that the playing process for World of Warcraftwas indeed creating a “garden in the machine”.

[1]P. Saxton Brown, “The Garden in the Machine:Video Games and Environmental Consciousness,” Philological Quarterly,2014，vol.93,no.3,pp.383-407. [2]Alenda Y. Chang, “Games as Environmental Texts”, Qui Parle Critical Humanities and Social Sciences, 2011,vol.19,no.2：,pp.57–84.

Bio

As the former vice president of last Chinese DiGRA (Digital Game Research Association) board, Dr.Felania Liu is a leading gamification designer and a game scholar from mainland.Dedicated to advocating the positive social impact of gaming for the past 8 years, she published extensively, and delivered various public speeches at TEDx, Barcamp, Global Gamejam, Tencent, and other industry conferences, besides her scholarly involvement with game scholarship and academic seminars. Felania is the president forGames for Society NGO, advisor for Alibaba and Tencent, instructor for the firstmainlandgraduate-level courseon “game studies and gamification practices” that was reported by a number of major newspapers, and was deeply involved with the growth of the Gamification Industry, active in the development of indie games. Felania organized the 2015ChineseDiGRAconference in Tsinghua University with full sponsorship from the industry.She just received doctoral degree from History Department, Tsinghua University, and joined Beijing Normal University to continue her research on the social impact of video games since the 18C century

文章来源：Post-Media Ecologies in Asia, Beijing Conference – Post Media Research Network

原文链接：Post-Media-Ecologies-in-Asia-Booklet.pdf