Information Technology Surrogate for Religion

de William Sims Bainbridge

"Avatars through which players experience computer games can virtually resurrect deceased members of the player's family. Avatar was originally a religious concept, and can be again, referring to a simulation of the dearly departed, created through partnership between a computer and a survivor. This book demonstrates principles of Ancestor Veneration Avatars (AVAs), by running avatars based on 11 deceased members of one family through 10 highly diverse virtual worlds, from the violent Defiance to the intellectual Uru: myst online, from the early EverQuest to the recent Elder scrolls online, and from the pessimistic Age of Conan to the optimistic Lord of the rings online."--Back cover.