This follow-up volume to MMOs from the Inside Out is a further collection of bold ideas, information, and instruction from one of the true pioneers of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. Whereas its predecessor looked at how MMOs can change the world, MMOs from the Outside In: How Psychology, Law, Culture and Real Life see Massively-Multiplayer Role-playing Games looks at how the world can change MMOs – and not always for the better. The aim of this book is to inform an up-coming generation of designers, to alert and educate players and designers-to-be, and to caution those already working in the field who might be growing complacent about society’s acceptance of their chosen career.
Playing and creating MMOs does not happen in a bubble. MMOs are so packed with potential that those who don’t understand them can be afraid, and those who do understand them can neglect their wider impact. Today's examples are little more than small, pioneering colonies on the shore of a vast, uncharted continent. What monsters lurk beyond the horizon? What horrors will explorers bring back to torment us? MMOs from the Outside In is for people with a spark of curiosity: it pours gasoline on that spark.
It:
• Explains how MMOs are perceived, how they could – and perhaps should – be perceived, and how the can contribute to wider society.
• Delves into what researchers think about why players play.
• Encourages, enthuses, enrages, engages, enlightens, envisions, and enchants.
• Doesn't tell you what to think, it tells you to think.
What You Will Learn:
• The myriad challenges facing MMOs – and to decide for yourself how to address these challenges.
• What MMOs bring to the world that it didn’t have before.
• How MMOs are regarded, and what this means for how they will be regarded in future.
• That playing and designing MMOs has implications for those who don’t play or design them.
Whom This Book is For:
MMOs from the Outside In is a book for those who wish to know more about the wider influence of game design in general and MMO design in particular. It's for people who play MMOs, for people who design MMOs, and for people who study MMOs. It's for people with a yearning to see beyond the worlds of their imagination and to change the world around them.
這本書是《MMOs from the Inside Out》的後續卷，進一步收集了來自大型多人線上角色扮演遊戲（MMOs）真正先驅之一的勇敢想法、資訊和指導。前作探討了MMOs如何改變世界，而《MMOs from the Outside In: How Psychology, Law, Culture and Real Life see Massively-Multiplayer Role-playing Games》則著眼於世界如何改變MMOs——而且不一定是朝著更好的方向。這本書的目的是為即將到來的設計師一代提供資訊，提醒和教育玩家及未來的設計師，並警告那些已經在這個領域工作的人，讓他們不要對社會對其所選職業的接受度感到自滿。
玩和創造MMOs並不是在一個孤立的環境中進行的。MMOs充滿了潛力，以至於那些不理解它們的人可能會感到害怕，而那些理解它們的人則可能忽視其更廣泛的影響。當今的例子不過是廣大、未被探索的洲岸邊的小型先驅殖民地。地平線之外潛伏著什麼怪物？探險者將帶回什麼可怕的事物來折磨我們？《MMOs from the Outside In》是為那些擁有好奇心的人而寫的：它為那份火花加上了汽油。
它：
• 解釋了MMOs是如何被看待的，它們應該如何被看待，以及它們如何能夠為更廣泛的社會做出貢獻。
• 深入探討研究人員對玩家為何遊玩的看法。
• 鼓勵、激發、激怒、吸引、啟發、展望和迷住讀者。
• 不告訴你該怎麼想，而是告訴你要思考。
你將學到：
• 面對MMOs的無數挑戰——並自行決定如何應對這些挑戰。
• MMOs為世界帶來了什麼是之前所沒有的。
• MMOs是如何被看待的，這對未來的看法意味著什麼。
• 玩和設計MMOs對那些不玩或不設計它們的人有何影響。
這本書適合誰：
《MMOs from the Outside In》是一本希望了解遊戲設計在一般及MMO設計中特殊影響的人所寫的書。它適合玩MMOs的人，設計MMOs的人，以及研究MMOs的人。它適合那些渴望超越想像世界，改變周遭世界的人。
