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Designing Virtual Worlds
book

Designing Virtual Worlds

by Richard A. Bartle
July 2003
Intermediate to advanced
768 pages
20h 50m
English
New Riders
Content preview from Designing Virtual Worlds

Chapter 7. Towards a Critical Aesthetic

KEY TOPICS

  • A Theory of Virtual Worlds

  • The Story of Story

  • The Critical Aesthetic in Use

Virtual worlds are works of art. I refer to their creators as “designers,” but that's a misnomer; really they're artists[1]. Although there is some debate over the distinction between art and design, it's generally true that “design” has to convey a given package of information or utility whereas “art” is an end in itself. You tell a designer what you want; you ask an artist what they've got. What virtual world designers do is more Art than Design.

It's like the difference between Science and Engineering: Scientists seek truth, whereas engineers seek solutions. If you ask an engineer to change a construct because you don't ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0131018167Purchase book