New Publication:

How to Be a God: A Guide for Would-Be Deities
By Richard A. Bartle

Publisher: NotByUs (1 Jan. 2022)
ISBN-10:‎ 0955649498
ISBN-13:‎ 978-0955649493
Paperback: ‎ 635 pages
https://mud.co.uk/richard/How%20to%20Be%20a%20God.pdf
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955649498 or https://www.amazon.com/dp/0955649498/

I’ve recently published a book that may be of interest…  How to Be a God: A Guide for Would-Be Deities is more a work of a pop-sci than a formal academic tome, but it does cover topics that are new and (to me, anyway) interesting.

Here’s the blurb:

“When it comes to questions concerning the nature of Reality, philosophers and theologians have the answers.

Philosophers have the answers that can’t be proven right. Theologians have the answers that can’t be proven wrong.

Today’s designers of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games create realities for a living. They can’t spend centuries mulling over the issues: they have to face them head-on. Their experiences can indicate which theoretical proposals actually work in practice.

That’s today’s designers. Tomorrow’s will have a whole new set of questions to answer.

The designers of virtual worlds are the literal gods of those realities. Suppose Artificial Intelligence comes through and allows us to create non-player characters as smart as us. What are our responsibilities as gods? How should we, as gods, conduct ourselves?

How should we be gods?”

You can download the .pdf for free from https://mud.co.uk/richard/How%20to%20Be%20a%20God.pdf or buy it from Amazon (e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0955649498 or https://www.amazon.com/dp/0955649498/) if you prefer to have something you can throw at the wall in exasperation.

Richard

Prof. Richard A. Bartle BSc PhD FRSA FBCS SFHEA
CSEE, University of Essex, UK.