Hey everyone. I'm Elliot Pinkus, and I'm a senior Info Sci major in Arts & Sciences. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago (Deerfield) and, in case you were wondering, the Chicago Cubs WILL win the World Series this year. I am (or at least try to be) a pretty active musician, playing bass guitar and clarinet. My iTunes library is one of my pride and joys, and of course all the mp3s are completely legal *cough cough*. Academically my interests are pretty split between Human-Computer Interaction and entertainment media (so far mostly Game Design, but I'm interested in branching out into television and literature). The last two summers were spent at MIT working on educational computer games and websites. I like using parentheses. I hate using semicolons.
I'm pretty fascinated by the communities that develop within Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. While I've tried out a few MMORPGs (currently playing Lord of the Rings Online for about an hour every other week) I find them more interesting than enjoyable. In particular "Guilds", large organizations of players, are surprisingly social given their use towards the goals of MMORPGs. A large part of MMORPGs (and one of the "features" that turns me off to them) is the emphasis on number-crunching. The most respected players don't just play, but know exactly how to arrange and time actions to maximize the underlying numbers that determine damage, health, and the such. Players are encouraged to fulfill a certain role within a large group (e.g. healer, tank, etc). Social interaction is fairly irrelevant within the confines of the game rules, yet strong bonds do form and communication extends far beyond just the "numbers".
After meetings of one of my project groups last semester, 5 or 6 people would often stay for up to an hour just discussing World of Warcraft. But what struck me was how their discussion was usually not about the game itself, but about members of the guild they were all in. Through web-based messageboards and in-game voice chat, the guild developed into a tightly knit social community. Many serious guild members I have spoken to in-game take the game seriously and are very polite and helpful to other players. That's a huge contrast to what always seems to be the majority of players, who are obnoxious and seem to almost purposefully refuse to learn how to play well.
This phenomenon is centered around the metaworlds of MMORPGs, but relies heavily on other environments such as message boards, the world wide web, asynchronous and synchronous messaging, and recently voice chat. Without the use of these other environments, I'd be curious to see how social communities would form within goal-oriented metaworlds (MMORPGs and other games, as opposed to social-focused metaworlds like Second Life).
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3 comments:
I really enjoyed reading your blog, I think this phenomena is really interesting too. I am not really familiar with it, so the mystery of it kind of intrigues me as well. I respect your familiarity with it, and i learned more about the topic from reading your entry. I also think the most surprising aspect of these online worlds is how close knit the people who play the games become. These virtual reality games seem to unify the players. Perhaps it is a common thread they all can identify with, therefore identifying with each other. I wonder why this online activity takes on that role. For instance, I dont think everyone who owns the same play station game feels a connection to one another, as the players of the lord of the rings game you talked about might feel. It is kind of curious why these online games facilitate such a bond among the players. Im glad you shared your perspective on this issue, it was really interesting to read, since you come from a position of experience with the games, and also the players.
I like how you pointed out the positive aspects that MMORPG's bring out in peoeple. Anyone thats played one knows that there is a lot of crude behavior in misleading people and insults. But i agree with you that some people are helpful to others even when it doesn't directly benefit themselves, a phenomenon that also exist in real life.
I do however feel that social interaction has become a more key factor rather than irrelevant in online gaming. It is for that purpose that equipment like mics for voice chat exist. And many MMORPG's contain group goals that encourage people to work together in order to reap greater rewards.
But yeah gamers of these type of games do share a connection, i have friends who play these games and they can just connect with each other talking about their experiences and strategies more so then i could about a single player game.
Hello Elliot. It's nice to hear that your academic interests and the very appropriate way they are manifested in your work experience. You must've had pretty amazing summers.
I liked your post because I actually have NO clue as to the reason of the popularity of MMORPGs. I have an older brother who used to play counterstrike, which I suppose is a little different from other MMORPGs, but he would play with other people and I would hear him say "go, go, go" over the mic. I never really understood the fun in those kind of games, but as you mentioned, it seems like the social interactions make the games a means for social networks as well.
I would certainly like to know more about these guilds of "pro" players who do more than just play. In Korea, Starcraft is very competitive and there are even tournaments for the best players, and I did hear from my brother that there are "gangs" or "groups" that are considered the best players and are widely known among gamers. Are there rivalries that go beyond the gaming world?
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