1714 Understanding the Virtual Community of Gamers Shafiz Affendi Mohd Yusof Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia introduction Virtual community can be defined as "a group of people who may or may not meet one another face-to-face and who exchange words and ideas through the mediation of computer bulletin boards and networks" (Rheingold, 1993, p. 1). With the use of computer-mediated commu- nication (CMC) technologies such as listservs, bulletin boards, discussion forums, and chat rooms, the time zone differences become less critical and geographical distance and limitations diminish. A virtual community is primarily a social entity where people relate to one another by the use of a specific technology (Jones, 1995; Rheingold, 1993; Schuler, 1996). As emphasized by Wood and Smith virtual community and then present the several types of virtual communities. The subsequent section of this article consists of a discussion from the perspectives of "new institutional theory" as the main theoretical lens in this type of study. Last, I will present a brief overview of potential future work on virtual community in general and online gamers in specific, and finally conclude the chapter. EvERQuEst As A viRtuAl ommunity The virtual community of gamers environment to be looked at is EQ. EQ is the world's largest premier three-