Beyond Place: On Being a Regular in an Ethereal Culture

Regular participants in gaming subcultures do not seem as bound to conventional time and space anchors as other regulars (e.g., barroom habitués). This different type of regular status involves the assumption of identification in a more ethereal subculture, in the context of more rarified time and space anchors. This article examines a specific gaming culture, “Magic: The Gathering,” as an emergent and structured sequence of accomplishments in which individual participants and competitors cooperate to create and maintain specialized forms of competition, interaction, and commerce. One coauthor, assuming the identity of Playa' , observed the assumption and creation of regular identities that provided a foundation for the ongoing competitive and cooperative sequences and accomplishments.