The Full-Time Guild Master

Authors

  • Sergey Levine Stanford University Department of Computer Science

Keywords:

labor, online gaming, massively multiplayer online games, MMORPGs, MMOs, work, leadership

Abstract

This essay discusses the issue of free labor in massively multiplayer online video games, specifically how organizers and leaders of player collectives – commonly known as "guilds," "corporations," or "clans" – are exploited for their free labor which contributes to the commercial success of the games they "play." It discusses the motivating forces which keep these players in such exploited positions, describes how their activities constitute real unpaid labor rather than simple leisure, and examines the implications of this sort of labor and its meaning in the context of multiplayer video games. Finally, this essay discusses the possible benefits the games industry might stand to gain by ending its reliance on such forms of free labor.

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Published

2008-07-07

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2008)

Section

Comments

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