Mark Chen is a games and media scholar, UX researcher, and Teaching Assistant Professor in Media, Technology, and Learning Design at Appalachian State University. His work explores gaming culture, interaction design, qualitative research, and internet studies, with a particular focus on how people learn, collaborate, and form meaning inside online worlds. Mark is the author of Leet Noobs, an ethnography of a World of Warcraft guild that examines how players developed expertise through game mods and social dynamics, and how those same systems ultimately contributed to the guild’s collapse.Beyond academia, Mark is a long time game designer and former museum technologist, having designed educational games at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. He also runs Esoteric Gaming, a publication dedicated to celebrating diverse and often overlooked gaming practices. Across research, design, and teaching, Mark’s work sits at the intersection of play, learning, community, and the ethical use of technology in shaping how we connect and make meaning in digital spaces.https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdangerchen/https://markdangerchen.net/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13159692-leet-noobs