New article about religion and gaming

Gamevironments.org recently released a new article about gaming and religion. In the paper it focuses on the method of complete participant observation-style virtual ethnography and how it was used to study sacred objects and rituals in World of Warcraft, the virtual world of Azeroth. The researcher also highlights a few interesting challenges that one must overcome when using an ethnographic study in an MMORPG. It is important that the researcher remains aware of their role as a participant when conducting these studies because there can be issues when they forget about their role and cross boundaries. Some key topics discussed in the article include:
-Ethical considerations and concerns
-Recording observations through the use of video
-Capture and screen shots
-The importance of maintaining the proper balance between being an 'insider' and an 'outsider'
-Spatial and temporal displacement between the virtual and the real.

For more information, please refer to: http://elib.suub.uni-bremen.de/edocs/00104728-1.pdf