The Guild

In 2007, Felicia Day created a mini online series called The Guild. The story follow a girl who goes by the name Codex in the fantasy MMORPG that she plays. Her addiction to the game and the odd cast of characters whom are part of her guild, play out many of the negative stereotypes and beliefs about the gaming community. There is the idea that online social groups are not "real" friends or social supports. It touches on online romance, although in this case it was one sided. The whole humor of Day's hit series plays on the new culture that sprung online, specifically with games. Even from the first episode, you get a huge dose of "gamer culture." Watch one episode or all of them. What kinds of themes or culture references do you see?

Watch.

Or read more about The Guild here:
The Official Guild Website
Wiki

-Patricia Chan

Addicted: How Do You Quit an MMORPG?

I found another interesting article regarding addiction to the internet, or more specifically, MMORPG's on digg.com. MMO's and MMORPG's tend to take over people's lives, they're known for destroying relationships and livelihoods. Unlike substance abuse, addiction to MMORPG's are hard to counter. This article basically talks about the dangers of MMORPG's and how to quit this dangerous addiction. In the past, in China, there were accounts of Online gamers that died after a 3 Day Online Marathon.

I have a lot of friends that are addicted to internet gaming/MMO's/MMORPG's and with this in mind, I thought about the parallel between substance/drug addiction and internet/gaming addiction. Unlike chemical addictions like alcohol, cigarettes and other substances, the addiction to an MMO is not physical. However, it is both emotional and psychological. The MMO tends to fill in a gap hitherto left vacant by an unfulfilled social life. MMOs can, in many ways, bring some sense of false emotional satisfaction to the user. The addiction to MMOs can be difficult to overcome. Being an avid gamer, I stopped playing MMO's because it was too time consuming and reality hit me hard and I realized I have to focus on "real life." But with that being said, Asian countries suffer greatly from internet/gaming addiction and there are actual MMO treatment clinics that opened up in China and other Asian Countries to counter this addiction. Furthermore, another article talks about how the Chinese Government will soon begin a mandatory program which will see all online video game players registering their real information for anti-addiction monitoring purposes. I hope that the US doesn't get too addicted to MMO's or MMORPG's. But if this trend reaches the America's, I won't be surprised if MMO treatment clinics opened up here as well, I always feel like we're the last country to receive foreign/international products/problems. What do you guys think?

Are virtual-game players more depressed?

I'm a daily visitor to digg.com and came across an interesting article that made me reflect on my life as an avid gamer and the lives of my gamer friends and family. The article posed the question of whether virtual-game players were more depressed than those who don't play virtual-games. According to a study by the Northwestern University that surveyed 7,000 EverQuest II players, highly active players get more depressed or that depressed people are more likely to be active role players.

With this in mind, I started reflecting on my life as an avid gamer, a regular at cyber cafe's, and as an "anthropologist" and came to the conclusion that virtual-game players are more depressed than regular people. I'm not saying that everyone who plays MMO's and MMORPG's are depressive people, but I feel that even my friends at cybercafe's are generally depressed people or have some kind of "stuff" going on mentally. On average, we spend countless hours on a computer screen, sometimes not eating, sometimes not sleeping. Why? I feel that depressed people tend to use MMO's or MMORPG's to escape reality. I don't feel that gaming causes depression, maybe aggression when people don't know what they're doing, but if anything, I feel that gaming is an anti-depressant because it releases endorphins in your brain, allows depressed people to form social networks, interact and chat with people, etc.

What do you think?

WoW promoting torture and murder?

Thought I would share this interesting review regarding the new "Death Knight" class introduced to World of Warcraft along with the most recent expansion. It's a fairly dated article, but I feel it's still relevant to the sentiments of those concerned with any adverse affects violent games may have on players, as well as the subtle messages that may be promoted through gameplay.

I can't agree or disagree with the reviewer's stance that the forced roleplaying aspect of the Death Knight's initial storyline promotes bloodthirsty and psychopathic virtual behavior because, well, I've never actually played a Death Knight or experienced the gameplay that goes along with it. What I've come to understand from this article, however, is that some players object to Blizzard's decision to force them to torture, maim, and kill. The Death Knight is apparently an extreme form of constricted role play with little beginning options as to where to go and what to do. As opposed to players picking and choosing their quests and objectives within the vast universe of WoW, anyone with a Death Knight is required to advance through a premeditated storyline before stepping out in the freer world of the actual game.

I recently created a Blood Elf character for my class research, and I recall having to complete quests which required that I kill a certain amount of non-hostile animals. The difference being, of course, that I chose to do the quest and I wasn't shuffled right along on a direct storyline path. I also acknowledge that the Blood Elf, as allied with the Horde side of the game, is apparently supposed to be an "evil" class. However, the underlying plot of WoW is obviously war; and in war, there are two sides to every story. I don't necessarily agree that there are good factions and bad factions within WoW, just severe disagreements and misunderstandings.

In any case, players are required to have already played a level 55+ character in order to play a Death Knight, and I'm far from that. As such, I admit to having very little direct experience with the similarities and differences of the Death Knight and Blood Elf classes. However, the article does reveal some fascinating elements of a virtual world's variable gameplay and how even the slightest constrictions create in-game animosity.

Daedalus Project: Guild Demographics

I noticed on the syllabus that we'll be reading Yee's "The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft" next week. From Nick Yee's website, I thought that these figures might prove useful for anyone looking into broader guild relations and demographics.

http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001635.php?page=1

What I found most interesting was the first chart on page three of the study, that supports the theory of MMOs maintaining real life social connections. Findings showed that a majority of players surveyed (59%) joined guilds where they knew someone in real life (defined as someone the player knew before joining the guild).

This is a startlingly statistic for me because, as an outsider, I was always given the impression that the "guild" sphere was built upon relationships formed entirely online. In the past, the idea of grouping "guild members" and "friends" in the same category was challenging for me to understand. I feel I should also note that this perspective is strengthened by myself falling victim to an absolutely terrifying incident of "web-rage" escaping into the real-world more than three years ago.

Regardless, I do feel that these figures have given me deeper insight into guild demographics, and I do intend on researching guilds further for my study.

redlightcenter.

it's four in the morning, but before I forget!

I stumbled upon this... interesting ADULT (and very not safe for work!) virtual world.

as far as I can tell it's basically the anonymous sex personals section of craigslist in virtual world form.

here's a gallery of (mostly safe) screen shots they have on the site, if you'd like to dodge the unsafe main page but still have looksee.

Governing MMORPGs - Good or Bad?

I found this article today.

Apparently, the Chinese government will soon be requiring gamers to register their real names and other personal information before they are allowed to play MMO games. This will be implemented in order to "monitor" developing addictions to online gaming and to stage necessary interventions should any addiction be deemed too severe. This is one new restriction that will be added to a list of growing restrictions in China. But how bad can an obsession to a favorite video game be? In one case, such an obsession has resulted in a South Korean gamer's death. Another prime example led to an infant's death. So can this new system be justified? There is no doubt that this is a serious matter. What does this mean for the future of online gaming? I, for one, have some limited experience playing World of Warcraft, and when I think of MMOGs, I think of an escape from reality where you can distract yourself and get immersed into a world of pure entertainment. By looking at the increasing restrictions that Chinese gamers must face, will online gaming still be enjoyable in the future as their government is slowly finding ways to control this alternate reality?