Influences on Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are not a self-contained phenomenon, insulated from the real world. Trivially, the hardware on which they run is part of the real world and therefore they themselves must be considered a part of it. However, there are other ways in which the real world can influence the virtual. From a designer’s point of view, the most important of these are those that also involve the construction of imaginary—if not quite virtual—worlds. In practice, this means books, magazines, movies, television series, and (perhaps most importantly) role-playing games.