[SOC 225] - Midterm Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam (15 pages long!)

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC225
• Professor: Jennifer R Whitson

Document Summary

To understand online games, we need to trace how they emerged from the intersection of several historical paths: miniature war gaming, epic fantasy literature, role-playing games, and multiplayer video games. Miniature war-games first became commercially available in 1913, the the game was simplified and sold as toy soldier package as little wars. Miniature gaming branched out into other time periods (ex. medieval era) Chainmail sold in 1972, was unique for 2 reasons: shifted the focus from army squadrons to individuals, the game retained combat realism but moved away from modeling physical reality and historical warfare. Dungeons and dragons was published in 1974: it created a new gaming genre: role-playing games, in rpg games players first create their characters based on predefined templates of different races and abilities in the rule-book. Typical role-playing campaigns are weekly social gatherings that may run weeks, months, or even years.