Виртуальный игровой мир: демократия, авторитаризм и революции

Abstract

In the era of postmodernism, virtual games are no longer fun for young people. Modern games create universes and their members are also people of the middle generation who have a job, family, and children. If for young people the virtual gaming world is a space of momentary entertainment, then what are mature people guided by? The purpose of the article is to study the features of human interaction in the virtual game world. One of the world's most popular action-strategy games, Dawn of Titans, was chosen as the field for exploration. The game was chosen based on the fact that this genre (strategy) forms strong and long-term relationships among the members, and is less exposed to fragmentation and instability of social ties. The study reveals that for users the virtual game world is a space of leisure; place of escape from the problems of real life; means of acquaintance and communication; way for constructing desired personalities. The virtual game world is characterized by an important social stratification of users. It can also be noted that the peculiarities of the «natural» environment of the virtual space determine the predominant spread of democratic principles of managing game clans. The article suggests that in the future the virtual world in general and the virtual game world in particular, would become a place for the search for political subjectivity.