Thomas Malaby - Making Virtual Worlds. Linden Lab and Second Life

In the course of this project I have relied on the good graces, brilliance, and support of many people. First, I want to express my appreciation to Linden Lab, for being willing to let an anthropologist cross into their domain of synthesis and world creation. In an industry only just now learning what it can learn from researchers, Linden Lab has been a pioneer. Philip Rosedale, Robin Harper, and Cory Ondrejka deserve special thanks for being open to the continued presence of the anthropologist who dropped into their midst. To the many Lindens who sacrificed their precious coffee time to help me understand how they worked and saw the world, I extend my deepest appreciation and thanks.

The research upon which this work is based was conducted with the vital support of the National Science Foundation, through its subprogram on Ethics and Values Studies in the Science and Society Program (grant #0423043), and by a fellowship from the Center for 21st Century Studies at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. A fellowship at the University of WisconsinMadisons Institute for Research in the Humanities provided support during the writing of the book, and the community of scholars there were a regular source of stimulating conversation for the project.

Portions of chapter 1, before extensive modifications, appeared in two articles of mine: Malaby 2006a and Malaby 2007b. I thank the publishers of those original articles for allowing me to extend and develop those texts and my ideas here.

I am deeply indebted to many colleagues and friends for their willingness to comment on this work in its prepublication form, including Julian Dibbell, Tim Burke, Gabriella Coleman, Alex Golub, Dan Hunter, F. Gregory Lastowka, Ren Reynolds, Kalman Applbaum, Ingrid Jordt, Paul Brodwin, Sandra Braman, Gordon Calleja, Bonnie Nardi, and Douglas Thomas. The community at the blog Terra Nova was also an invaluable source of thoughtful commentary on several early forays into this material. James Paul Gee, Kurt Squire, Constance Steinkuehler, and the graduate students of the Games, Learning, and Society Program at the University of WisconsinMadison were incredibly welcoming and gave important feedback following several presentations there of many of these ideas.

Peter Wissoker at Cornell University Press helped shepherd this book from its beginnings as a set of ideas to a manuscript; our extended chats about the book were critical to its rounding into form. Carolyn Pouncy whipped the text into shape with a steady hand, and Susan Specter deftly oversaw the transformation of text into tome. Many thanks to them all.

Throughout this project, I relied heavily on two exceptional havens from research and writing. The first was my adopted home in California during my research, and I will surely never repay the debt of hospitality that Andrew Guzman and Jeannie Sears extended to me time and time again. The second was, and is, my adopted home online, the community of researchers in World of Warcraft that has been a place where everyone knows not only my toon name but also their social theory.

Finally, I am ever grateful for the patience and understanding of my partner in all things, Cristina Hernandez-Malaby, as well as the sustaining presence of Julian and Samuel, gamers all.