Synthetic worlds: the business and culture of online games

Introduction: the changing meaning of play

Part I: The synthetic world: a tour. Daily life on a synthetic earth

The user

The mechanics of world-making

Emergent culture: institutions within synthetic reality

The business of world-making

Part II: When boundaries fade. The almost-magic circle

Free commerce

The economics of fun: behavior and design

Governance

Topographies of terror

Toxic immersion and internal security

Part III: Threats and opportunities. Implications and policies

Into the age of wonder

Appendix: a digression on virtual reality.