Games and CoP

One of the ways to get involved with produsage in mainstream culture involves the gaming community. Currently, the community is experiencing a paradigm shift from a vertical structure of creator-->producer-->designer-->consumer to a horizontal structure of Free2play, interactive simulations and online worlds with currency, trade and financial gain at stake. Consumers move seamlessly from one role to another as game players, but also treasure hunters with new games like Diablo III, that house a real-live auction for players to sell in-game items for real currency. Even games that take advantage of Paypal and bitcoin have created enormous digital wealth for the gaming community. The table below is a Trajectory path for someone playing the game Diablo III.

Trajectory	Gaming CoP
Periperhal	·       New gamer, arcades, LAN centers, trading card players, plays a few times a week (Usually starts in adolescence)
Inbound	·       Gamer participating in a game, plays 7 days a week, joins a clan/guild (teens/college aged)
Insider	·       Guild leader, auction house trader with guild assets, purchases items and manages digital currency for the guild (young professionals/middle agers escaping the wife/husband/kids)
Boundary	·       Social gamer, plays mobile games but no interest in community or gaming identity (the angry birds crowd)
Outbound	·       Someone who retires from games and moves on to sudoku