Player Identities and Their Social Impact
Recognizing the characteristics of the three identities (real, virtual, and projective) can be a bit tricky in a single player game. MMOs bring this interplay out into the open very well due to the need to negotiate and socialize with other players in the virtual world.
As such, players in worlds like World of Warcraft (WoW) can only advance so far in the game alone. At some point, it becomes necessary for them to join a Guild, that is, a group of players that share similar objectives and who tackle quests together. In these guilds, the interplay between the real identity and the virtual identity become paramount.
Guilds appoint Guild Leaders based on the achievements of their projective identities, the player directing the character. In some instances, the real world identity plays an even stronger role, as in the case of the WoW player that, by being a firefighter in real life, tends to get preference for becoming a guild leader.
Player Strategies as Social and Literacy Practices
The same way that ninja looting is seen as an unacceptable social practice in WoW, knowing about ninja looting is an important literacy practice for WoW players. Associated with this knowledge comes a set of strategies that guilds enact to minimize the chances of being subjected to looting, i.e., only admitting members with a good history of play to their raids. Literacy in WoW, then, goes hand in hand with an oral culture, as many of these practices are passed from one player to another through dialog.