Acknowledgments . . ix

Introduction: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall . . 1
CHAPTER 1: The New World . . 9
CHAPTER 2: Who Plays and Why . . 22
CHAPTER 3: Superstitions . . 39
CHAPTER 4: The Labor of Fun . . 59
CHAPTER 5: Yi-Shan-Guan . . 78
CHAPTER 6: The Locker Room Utopia . . 96
CHAPTER 7: The "Impossible" Romance . . 117
CHAPTER 8: Tools of Persuasion and Control . . 138
CHAPTER 9: Introverted Elves, Conscientious Gnomes, and the Quest for Big Data . . 159
CHAPTER 10: Changing the Rules . . 177
CHAPTER 11: The Hidden Logic of Avatars . . 197
CHAPTER 12: Reflections and the Future of Virtual Worlds . . 209

Notes . . 217
Glossary of Online Gaming Terms . . 235
Index . . 241