To Guess His Predator, to Find His Prey
This article is based on the intuition that contemporary video game practices, particularly for role-play in massively multiplayer lines, can be apprehended from the rapprochement Hamayon poses between games, hunting logic, anticipation and random management. After an inventory of the logics of hunting in the universe of World of Warcraft, the hunting strategies of the players are described. On this basis, the pre-predation dialectic that frames the relationship between players and non-human computer in this digital world are clarified. Separate from these habitual relations is the figure of the absolute predator, impossible to kill alone, where the hunter may find himself hunted. The techniques of collective anticipation, especially in the guild, become one of the new resources of survival, which are essential to manage the random part of this type of confrontation. These particular hunting strategies and forecasting techniques are the focus of this analysis, including the management of random loot from the collective victory against such digital monsters.