Experiencing the Past

Place is characteristically imbued with a multiplicity of meanings contingent on the specificities of the society, time and space in which place is perceived. It is essentially subjective, relational and differential. Virtual place typically suggests a system of representations that aims to convey through the senses an imagined or illusionary reality. It is mostly associated with places constructed using computational technology; most popular among them are massive multiuser online games (MMOGs). Lately, scholars are increasingly using such MMOGs to virtually construct or reconstruct historic places. The interpretation of such historic places depends on the affordances of the medium through which place is perceived and the ways in which such a medium is socially deployed and interpreted. This book explores (1) the ways in which MMOGs are perceived and (2) the formative effect virtual reconstructions of historic places using gaming technology exercise on the interpretation of such places.