Conclusion
This has been a long and difficult chapter. It took me longer to write it than it did the rest of the book put together. However, I hope it has served its purpose, which is to show
Virtual worlds are a meaningful object of study.
Most of those research fields that look at virtual worlds do so with respect.
Virtual world designers can learn much from researchers in other fields and vice versa.
No existing field of research entirely subsumes virtual worlds.
Virtual world design in particular is not covered elsewhere.
The study of virtual worlds is a valid academic objective for its own sake, in the same way that the study of literature, film, theatre, or any other art form is valid. People who look at virtual worlds professionally need feel no shame for doing so; they can hold their heads up high. The stigmatization of virtual worlds as “just games” or “just simulations” or “just services” or “just a medium” is over. Virtual worlds are—virtual worlds! Rejoice in it!
Yes, I did assert back there that virtual world design is an art form. In the next chapter, I explain why I believe this to be so.