Netprov: Elements of an emerging form

While improvisational theater has a well-documented history, the role of improvisation on the Internet has been only the topic of passing speculation (Laurel 1993; Murray 1998), either applied metaphorically to the user interface or in speculation on the nature of computer-mediated textual exchange particularly in the context of identity formation (Turkle 1995). While improvisation is deeply connected to the authorial practices of players of MMORPGs and their MOO precursors (LaFarge 1995) and to players of storygeneration games such as Jason Rohrer’s “Sleep is Death” and to participants in ARGs, we are specifically interested in text-centered improvisation that has as its goal the creation of a narrative or narrative world, rather than primarily the development of a game experience.