The role of the body in the perception and behavior of mmorpg video game players

While there is a growing interest on video games and players in social sciences, in anthropology there is still a significant lack of studies on these subjects. Depending on this observation this study is an attempt to examine the players in a massive multiplayer online role playing game environment, focusing on the particularities of player behaviors and interactions in relation to the role of body and perception. Since a phenomenological approach seems suitable for this purpose, this study mostly depends on a paradigm ofembodiment proposed by Thomas J. Csordas.The key concepts found in this paradigm are intersubjectivity, embodiment, preobjective and habitus. The concepts in question are discussed and evaluated in respect to their usefulness in describing and explaining human experience. The main concern at this point is the principle directness of human experience. Then again the reflexive human activity is also considered. These concepts are employed to analyze the narratives gathered during participant observation among players of World of Warcraft as it is a common and typical example of massive multiplayer online role playing games. As a result it is concluded that a paradigm of embodiment is useful for describing and explaining the experiences of massive multiplayer online role playing game players withina phenomenological anthropology context.