What happens when we have the behavior that comes with a body in traditional space, but we lose the body?

The PC, this “interface” you are reading these words through is a filter, it is an amplifier, it connects and disconnects, in ways we are only becoming aware of in increments.

You may have noticed the link to McLuhan on the right side of this page. Marshall McLuhan often is remembered for “The Medium is the message”. What does that mean?

Well, ask 10 people who “know” and you may get 15 answers.

In MMORPGs we have two mediums; we have the medium of the PC through which we experience content, entertainment, information. We connect with each other in different ways. We are shuffled and jumbled together and we settle in groups, in virtual worlds (I am using the term here in a broader sense than to describe game worlds. I use it to describe interest or affinity groups. And when I use those terms I also mean them broadly, not affinity and interest groups as defined by the name given to them by the producers, users, and identifiers of them, but affinity and interest as defined by looking at the people that participate in them). We also have the medium of the game world itself. Before there are players there, this world is static, it may have dynamic operations taking place, but, at least in the instance of WoW, I do not believe that the “game plays itself” in some unpredicted fashion, sort of a random experiment let loose. In WoW it is the players that end up defining it and it is the players and the “play” that they exhibit and experience that has interested me today.

Have any of you been part of a flame war? It is an interesting happenstance that people will often say things online, in email, in forums, that they would never say in person. This is also true in MMORPGs (I need a short form for that, anyone have any ideas?) and in these games, where we set up social networks that are engaged in goal oriented cooperative tasks (sounds like a job, eh? “OK, we need a good warrior to keep the dragon focused on him; while the healers can make sure he stays up and can control the dragon’s attention. While he is doing that, you, mages, make sure you are using cold based attacks only! Etc…” Everyone has their task) we begin to emulate or at least somehow manifest a “version” of our meatspace (I also would like a different term than that*winks*) behavior in this digital game world.

I want to go further into this, and I will. Before I do I need to do a little more homework.

More to come.

L

PVE vs PVP

PvE: Player versus environment is used to describe the type of gameplay where people compete against the computer or computer-run opponents/creatures. This often involves groups of players cooperatively engaging goals and hostile "monsters" programmed into many online worlds. PvE is the opposite of PvP.

PvP: Player versus player, or PvP, is a type of combat in MMORPGs, MUDs and other computer role playing games pitting a player's skill against another's, where the goal can include the death of the the opponents player character. Historically that has been a focal point, and now, as the gaming worlds get more involved, and more complex, it can involve competing for resources, political and economic power and more. While this can include player killing or PKing, this term is usually used in a narrower sense. It is the antithesis of combating computer generated and operated creatures/opponents which is the focus of a PvE environment.

I have noticed that when I am playing in a PvE world my reactions are very different from when I play in a PvP world. PCs (player characters) are much more unpredictable and use their available tools with much greater effectiveness. As a result, and combined with my knowledge that there is a person on the other side of the character, I have found that I have very visceral reactions, so far so that I have very physical responses. It is similar to what I remember from playing paintball, and I imagine it is similar to what my "flight or fight" reaction would be in meatspace when faced with an actual confrontation.

L

Funny video

In World of Warcraft, like many MMORPGs there are opportunities to work with many other players on a single goal, or target. Much like the slaying of the proverbial dragon.
Our heroes venture forth, head towards the target and work together, the warriors, the mages, the clerics, etc... To bring her/him down.
Well, the toughest objectives in the game are the "end game bosses". Within the context of the persistent world, they are like "gods" or mythical creatures of enormous power. Such that any even small group of adventurers would not be able to even harm then in the least.
In World of Warcraft (WoW) these targets take 40 person "raids" that have players who can spend months or even the better part of a year to get to the point where they can all do this together.
Once they have been able to complete these goals, to "take down" the target, so to speak, the often make videos of their exploits, replete with theme music etc... Sometimes, like the A Unit video from my last post they can be fairly entertaining even to those that do not play the game.
Often though, they are difficult to understand expect by those already familiar.
Well, this video is of a bunch of very low level characters (level 2 or so in a game that goes to level 60 right now) taking down a level 10 or so "boss" It is really funny how much it looks like the end game stuff.
Very well done, for what it is.

Hogger goes down!

L

The creation of art from in the virtual world

This is a link to a video created in the game World of Warcraft. It is mostly about the exploits of members of a particular guild, "A Unit".

"A Unit"'s 4th movie "It's a lifestyle"

The question that this brings up, one I am interested in, is who owns the content?
If I write a poem on a piece of in game mail, and send it to someone else, who owns it?
I am sure there is a clause in the EULA or TOU, and still, I think this is a bigger discussion than that.


If a short video were created in the game, who would own the rights?

I believe, of course, the game provider (the world provider! What a thought, getting sort of matrixy, eh?) would suggest they do....

On another note, being an avid player of WoW, this is a pretty cool video. These guys are very interesting.

~L~

Beginnings

Greetings and Salutations:

This blog will be a forum for the discussion of all of the exciting phenomenon relating to M)assively M)ultiplayer O)nline R)oleplaying G)ames.

Massive: Large or imposing, as in quantity, scope, degree, intensity, or scale.

Multiplayer: Two or more people playing a game and competing with each other via computer. (Is it not funny how a term that had so many applications prior to the advent of the PC has been co-opted in this fashion?. More comments on this later)

Online: (bigger definition than the others so far)

1. Under the control of a central computer, as in a manufacturing process or an experiment.
2. Connected to a computer or computer network.
3. Accessible via a computer or computer network.

Roleplaying:

1. Psychology. A therapeutic technique, designed to reduce conflict in social situations, in which participants act out particular behavioral roles in order to expand their awareness of differing points of view.
2. An instance or situation in which one deliberately acts out or assumes a particular character or role.

Game:

1. An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: party games; word games.
2. 1. A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules.

Game: Mathematics. A model of a competitive situation that identifies interested parties and stipulates rules governing all aspects of the competition, used in game theory to determine the optimal course of action for an interested party. (Very interesting aspect of this, since everything is computer based for what we will be discussing here).

Role-Playing Game: A game in which players assume the roles of characters and act out fantastical adventures, the outcomes of which are partially determined by chance, as by the roll of dice.

Much more to come....

Leslie