Nomadyczność w cieniu Mordoru

The article Nomadicity in the Shadow of Mordor analyzes the tools of reproducing ideologies in video games based on Tolkien’s legendarium, including Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014). Alejski tackles its mechanics using the concepts presented by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatttari—the nomadic thought and dynamics of relations between particular objects, such as territory, map and diagram during the gameplay. In order to identify these nomadic strategies occurring in the game, the processes of deterritorialization, the creation of maps and diagrams, and the ways of functioning in relation to these processes occurring in the game are taken under consideration. Alejski’s particular attention is dedicated to the categories of inhabitation and movement—both in the topological and ontological context. An important source of reproduction of nomadic thought described in the article is the so-called Nemesis system— a gameplay management module contained in the code of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor that allows new actors to join the game, enabling them to enter into relations not only with the user but also with each other. The operation of the Nemesis system brings together the potential of the agency of all actors involved in the game (including the user) and allows for decentralized and non-hierarchical production of the story.