Welcome!

My name is Kristine Ask and I am a PhD student at NTNU studying online culture in MMORPGs. I am not always sure when I am a gamer and when I am a researcher, but then perhaps I am not supposed to always separate them. This site will tell about my work and my passion for games.

Skill and gear: Who’s myth is really being debunked?

Skill vs gear. Its one of the oldest and most discussed topics amongst WoW players. Its up there with “casual vs hardcore” ™  as one of the favourite things WoW players like to argue about amongst themselves. Its like one of the biggest philosophical questions we ask to each other, who cares about the meaning [...]

My secret tips of raiding

It seems I am only able to be truly active on one written online arena at the time. Lately its been my internal guildforum, however some possible wisom have been shared there – wisdom that might deserve a bigger audience.
There are several things you need in order to get raiding to work well. However, some [...]

Hardcore revisited: Hardcore as normative play in WoW

After my initial musings on hardcore gaming in WoW, I feel its time to make another attempt. Perhaps one that isn’t so broadly sweeping in random directions.
Lacking a definition – because its hard to define the majority?

Hardcore is one of those words that is used by gamers all the time, but seem to hold quite [...]