Stacey Caruana
Curtin University
Abstract:
In this modern age, finding an online community is not uncommon. With Social Media and online forums available to people, virtual communities are being created within online game environments with the use of the social interfaces available to them in game, with the most common being in the form of a party or guild. In this conference paper, I use the highly immersive gaming platform World of Warcraft known as a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) as my example to discuss what the benefits are of social communities within a game environment and how they are becoming a common place for social interaction, run like conventional communities but in a three dimensional environment.
“You were meant for this world” (Blizzard, 2019) are the welcoming first words you will see on the World of Warcraft (WoW) website when you click on the getting started menu option. Already from these first words WoW attempt to offer the new budding player a place to call home in their online world, allowing them to feel like they belong before they have even begun their adventure. WoW is an immersive massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and according to Statista (2019) there were 5.19 million paid subscribers in 2018 and a slight decrease to 5.03 million who have currently entered the online world of Warcraft in 2019. When a person enters a new and unfamiliar environment whether it is virtual or offline, they seek to find other people to have some form of meaningful social engagement with. This is where WoW’s highly collaborative game architecture and social interface come in handy, allowing players to form guilds to play as teams as well as to socially interact with each other and test online social dynamics. All guilds need some level of organisation, social interaction and strong teamwork to run smoothly and this is where a guild and any kind of offline team operation is alike. In this paper, I will argue that World of Warcraft guilds allow members to have online social connections and interact as they would in a conventional community, thus giving them the opportunity to use social and community skills to create meaningful relationshipsin a virtual environment.
Guilds in WoW offer players the chance to form social relationships within a game environment that also have the possibility to be taken outside of the game and into the real world. Ducheneaut and Yee (2009, p.83) argue that in the response to player needs, game developers have designed multiplayer games so that opportunities for interacting with others abound. It is evident that WoW’s social interface was designed to allow players to interact with each other, namely the guild feature which enables alliances to form and tackle down game areas as a combined effort. Guild members who are regulars can use the dedicated chat channel, making it possible to be present at any given time to engage in a social exchange with another member regardless of in -game location (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006, p.895). Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell (2006, p.353) state that there were a handful of new friends who met in WoW, bonded and extended the relationships they made back to their real life because of the ability to chat to other players. Nowadays, gamers make dedicated forums, websites, wiki’s, streaming accounts on Twitch and YouTube and other forms of social media separate from the in-game platform broadening the opportunity for social interaction outside of the game. A guild can also be seen as a “second home” where similar to family ties can be built. Steinkuehler & Williams (2006 pp. 899-900) describe MMO participation something that becomes a regular part of everyday life and because of this, players who have unusual absences are often queried as to why they are not in game and this creates a natural atmosphere mutual caring and a sense of rootedness between regular players.
MMOG environments, particularly WoW create strong social communities by enforcing team work in their guild structure, allowing players to enact meaningful roles of responsibility similar to those in real life. A guild environment is only as good as the members and leadership structure. The way a WoW guild operates can be closely compared to any offline community with leadership roles being one of the most important features. The leaders of a guild are in charge of monitoring members behaviours when playing in parties, organisation of party activities like raids and hunts and overall connecting and socialising as a team to keep members engaged and motivated. These roles can easily fit into one’s day to day routine and rely on interaction from all members of the guild. Jones (2005) (as cited in Katz, Rice, Acord, Dasgupta and David (2004, p.317) discovered that in order to define a community as a social system, the construction of it relied on social involvement and interaction by the members. Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell (2006, p. 355) discovered in their interview of WoW players that the quality of a player’s social relationships relied upon the guild’s level of organisation which made it clear that guilds with better social interaction and leadership roles enhanced a player’s sense of belonging and enjoyment within the game world. Another role of responsibility within a guild is the healer and the impact they have within the team. Having the option to become a healer in WoW almost guarantees a more favourable opportunity to be included in a team as healing players as they raid and hunt is inevitable. The healer’s role within the team is important and when members of the guild befriend them, they will have the option to be healed by a fellow guild member who can heal rather than resurrect into their character’s body with penalties to armour and items or do the corpse run back to the location of their death. Corneliussen & Rettberg (2008 p.148) state that the design choices made by WoW inform social behaviour within guilds, because characters with healing and resurrection abilities are indispensable, even if they are weaker than a character that was created to be a fighter they will always be needed in the team.
People who play in virtual online worlds like WoW can use the game platform to make new friends with players online that they could not have done previously due to their geographic location or their real-world social status that may prevent real-world connections and opportunities. One of the most attractive parts of meeting people online is that people cannot see other players. It is more convenient to pull up a chair and sit at a computer to play and socialise with your guild members than it is to shower, get dressed and leave the house for a social gathering. The Internet makes it easy to befriend people over the internet via a computer screen, taking away the anxiety of face to face contact because people only see an online character. All of a sudden, your social status and occupation do not matter anymore because you are playing a character who now possesses new online in game skills. Steinkuehler and Williams (2006, p.892) state in their article about third places that players of virtual games are able to enter a virtual world where success is no longer determined by their out of game status but solely on in game talent, wit, diligence and the hard work they put in .A third place is separate from a home or work environment and allows people to come together in a social environment. It is also stated that MMO players expect an equal distribution of opportunity regardless of their out of game status or role (Steinkuehler and Williams, 2006, p.892). For guild members in WoW, one of the most important aspects of a strong guild is in-game skills as this guarantees a strong team and positive player experiences. Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell (2006, pp. 351-352) discovered in their interview that people playing in a guild had more of a possibility to meet with a broad range of people from different countries, people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and cultural backgrounds thus making their guild demographically diverse but able to form a relationship purely out of common interest. Potential geographic location barriers do not longer exist online because players have the chance to choose what server or guild they would like to play on. They do not have to play with only people from their home country as guilds are inhabited by people of various ages, cultural contexts and social backgrounds from all parts of the world (Corneliussen & Rettberg, 2008, p.7).
It is possible to create strong bonds and online friendships within WoW through meeting new people in guilds and creating a social support network.As people in the real-world search for companionship and friendships offline in private and public spaces, people online are being offered exactly the same thing within virtual communities. Mickelson (1997) as cited by Ridings (2004, p.17) suggests that the Internet is a social setting in which people can find useful social support and not just used as an information exchange. After being in a guild for a long amount of time, there is a high chance of making friendships with other players that go beyond the boundaries of just casual play. In this sense, chatting on the integrated chat interface for long periods of time can often lead to a more casual conversation rather than strictly game related. Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell (2006, p.352) interview suggests that WoW players had more in common with their online friends in the guild than they did with their offline friends. Some players even said that they considered the connections that they had form in the guild to be as real as any real-life friendship where strong bonding social support had taken place. These players suggested that the conversations were more about personal problems than anything game related (Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell 2006, p.352). Strong ties that are formed between players in the guild as we as the officers and guild owners because they are seen as important people that can be depended upon just for social chatting. Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell (2006, p.352) interviewee also stated that members of the guilds become so close that when a member has not been active in the game, they will ask other members if anyone had spoken to them and if they are okay. This made members feel a sense of belonging to a community of people rather than just playing a game for leisure.
WoW guild formation is just like any other community offline. Guilds offer members the chance to participate in recreational and leisurely activities within a social environment. Without the element of fun, a guild will not survive as its members would have nothing motivating them to stay. The guild leaders have the important role of keeping members proactive by regularly organising fun events and raids (Koivisto, 2003 p.7). The natural mood of MMO game worlds are in themselves considered playful and the social tone within guilds are the same Steinkuehler & Williams (2006, p.899). When in a game world, you are by default looking to have fun, so an environment that is too strict within its game rules and regulations strips the essence of play out of the players online experience. Some players of WoW guilds described their guilds more like a third place where there was a mix of both friends and strangers, however also stated that they were just a group of people who enjoyed doing things together and having a good time just as they did with childhood friends (Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell, 2006, p.352).
WoW guild members are
able form social relationships in game by using the social interface (notably
the dedicated guild chat) which can then be extended outside of the game and onto
various social media platforms, websites and forums. These external platforms
allow guild members to socialise outside of the in-game community, offering a
deeper social bond than they are able to have within the game realm. The time
spent playing WoW is also a benefiting factor to relationship forming and
bonding with other players because playing the game becomes second nature. Traditional
community roles can be another contributing factor to the social interaction guild
members will share together. These leadership roles promote social involvement
and organisation of the guild, making the play style much more comfortable and
enjoyable. Not needing an attractive real-life occupation or social status makes
socialising in a guild attractive to the player as they are only relying on their
in-game skills to participate in a socially fair virtual world. As any community
operates whether it is online or offline, having a good time is one of the most
important parts of being a part of a guild. If the environment is fun, players
are more motivated to stay and participate in social events and raids as part
of a team rather than playing solo. So, in conclusion to my paper, forming social
connections in World of Warcraft guilds has proven to be similar to the
interactions found in conventional communities because of the meaningful relationships
that can be made via an online space.
Reference List
Blizzard Entertainment. 2019. World of Warcraft, getting started. Retrieved from: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/start
Corneliussen, H. G., & Rettberg, J. W. (Eds.). (2008). Introduction: “Orc Professor LFG,” or Researching in Azeroth. Digital culture, play, and identity: A world of warcraft reader. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Ducheneaut, N. & Yee, N. (2009). Collective Solitude and Social Networks in World of Warcraft. In C. Romm Livermore, & K. Setzekorn (Eds.), Social Networking Communities and E-Dating Services: Concepts and Implications (pp. 78-100).
Katz, J. E., Rice, R. E., Acord, S., Dasgupta, K., & David, K. (2004). Personal Mediated Communication and the Concept of Community in Theory and Practice. In P. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication and Community: Communication Yearbook 28 (pp. 315-371). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Koivisto, E. (2003). Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by Game Design. Paper presented at the Digital Games Research Association Conference.
Statista. 2019. Number of World of Warcraft subscribers by quarter. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/276601/number-of-world-of-warcraft-subscribers-by-quarter/
Steinkuehler, C. & Williams, D. (2006). Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as “Third Places”. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 11(4).
Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., & Nickell, E. (2006). Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4). Pp.338–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292616
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Thank you for this I am not a gamer myself, but my daughter is big into these type of games and this helps me understand some of the things she talks about. I do see how the ‘guild’ is a social community by the way my daughter interacts with other players and totally agree with your points. The one issue I do get concerned about and wondering if you did find any research on is that she says it can become quite a bullying space by some people and I suppose they can be kicked out of the ‘guild’ if that is a concern?
Hi Graeme,
Thank you for your comment. I think with all online games, espeically with kids and teens there is always a need to be aware of what is going on when they are online with people they don’t know face to face. This research was more aimed at adult gamers and my thesis geared towards the positive side to guilds rather than the negatives. I think bullying online is a whole other can of worms because of how big the scope of the situation can be for example gender equality issues, racial factors and age. But yes it is definitely something that could be addressed.
Hi Graeme,
I believe the main issue with spaces encouraging bullies is when people use anonymity to choose behaviours they otherwise wouldn’t engage in. To use Stacey’s paper as an example, in WoW guilds bullying isn’t as likely as it is in other gaming spaces as to be in a guild you generally have to be known and be valued as a member, due to you having something meaningful to contribute. Most people tend to be unwilling to alienate themselves by bullying others because they’ve invested themselves in a community, whereas in other spaces (e.g. competitive and anonymous games such as Counter-Strike or Rainbow Six Siege), players compete against each other for their own sake with the only thing worth losing being the match.
At the risk of shamelessly plugging my own paper, my examination of online gaming spaces takes the opposite approach by examining what happens when people don’t want to find their tribe.
Hi Stacey. Like Graeme, I’m not a gamer, but do find it fascinating how gaming – both on- and offline has such a strong history of bringing people together. It was very interesting to read how communities are formed as guilds within the WoW game. You mention that interacting in the game community allows users to test social dynamics, and I think this is one of the great benefits of all online social interaction. When we are with people with shared interests we are more likely to feel at ease, so it stands to reason that players are using the interaction in this manner. I do wonder how these experiences then translate into the real world. Do players feel more capable at maintaining real relationships because of their online experience, or are they more likely to stay within the online sphere where they feel safe and accepted and avoid social interaction outside of the game environment? There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about gaming addiction and I wonder if this plays a part in that?
Hi Tracey,
Thank you for your comment. You do pose a very interesting question in regards to whether players keep their relationships online or take it off the internet and into their real lives and whether this could be a contributing factor to online addiction. In my paper, second paragraph Williams, Ducheneaut, Xiong, Zhang, Yee & Nickell (2006, p.353) said that there were a handful of new friends who met in WoW, bonded and extended the relationships they made back to their real life because of the ability to chat to other players.
So a handful from their study did decide to socialise outside of the online sphere of WoW. I felt the need to research this further and found a very good German study of Internet users, particularly WoW players who wished to find out whether these players were addicted to the game or engaged. The results for the examination of high level players of a MMORPG (WoW) found that 93.6% of players were at level 85, however only 3.1% were addicted to the Internet according to the Internet Addiction Scale ISS-20 suggesting that not even hardcore gamers can suggest internet addiction (Baum & Fohringer, p.350, 2015).
So I guess the deubunking of addiction on the internet via social interactions is evident in this study, but it is only one study of many. Online interaction would play a large part of someone’s socialising but wouldn’t make up for the majority of it. This article also said that an average player spent 25.14hrs per week on WoW (Baum & Fohringer, p.348, 2015).
Reference:
Baum, M.L., & Fohringer, M. (2015). Towards classification criteria for internet gaming disorder: Debunking differences between addiction and high engagement in a German sample of World of Warcraft players. Computers in Human Behavior, 45(2015), 345-351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.098
Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., & Nickell, E. (2006). Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4). Pp.338–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292616
That seems like a crazy amount of time playing a video game, but looking at my screen time stats on my phone I’m spending about the same amount of time on a combination of social apps so maybe it’s not as shocking as I thought.
Hi Tracey,
In researching along the same lines I actually found a really useful paper that suggested that the majority of people use online interactions (especially those found in gaming) to gather weak ties to generate social capital (Putnam) and, given the right environments, develop offline relationships from online interactions (Trepte), quite a large number in fact (50% of American WoW players), using the lack of physical proximity to overcome boundaries that might otherwise inhibit socialisation. It seems to rely very much on the quality of the third place and the people that inhabit it.
R. Oldenburg, The great good place: Cafés, coffee shops, community centers, beauty parlors, general stores, bars, hangouts, and how they get you through the day, Marlowe & Company, New York, 1999.
R.D. Putnam, Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital, Journal of Democracy6 (1995) 65-78.
Trepte, S., Reinecke, L., & Juechems, K. (2012). The social side of gaming: How playing online computer games creates online and offline social support. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 832–839. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2011.12.003
C. Steinkuehler, D. Williams, Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as “third places”, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 11 (2006) 885-909.
Thanks for these, it’s an interesting topic that I admit I haven’t paid a lot of attention to in the past.
Same for me with other topics in this conference – lots to think about! 🙂
Hi Stacey,
I found this paper quite interesting, especially with the themes of having a “third place” and a level playing field, along with supportive structures and welcoming regulars, something that ran parallel with my paper with my examination of Oldenburg’s third place.
Something that did occur to me though is whether you think online spaces for gaming are welcoming depending on the genre/context? You mention WoW several times in your paper, and while I’ve never played WoW it seems, on the whole, more welcoming than the environment you might find in competitive FPS titles. Do you believe then that some third places are more level than others?
Oldenburg, R. (1999). The Great Good Place: Cafe´s, Coffee Shops, Community Centers,
Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through The
Day. New York: Marlowe & Company
Hi Joel,
Thank you for reading my paper. I believe with any game, it is the players that make the experience worthwhile, however when I look at the environment setting between a FPS and a MMORPG there is a huge difference within how much time players have to communicate. FPS are fast paced run and shoot games whereas World of Warcraft can be fast paced if raiding a dungeon but there is also a lot of time spent just running from area to area not really doing much – so in essence it is a slower game.
I looked at the World of Warcraft website to see if there was any code of conduct for players and it seems there is. I also looked at a FPS game called Rainbow Six Siege (I haven’t played this game before) and they also have a code of conduct, as this is a game created by Ubisoft, All players are expected to play respectfully but no company takes responsiblity of the players actions, only ask that harassing is reported. This makes both environments unpredictable.
I do believe that WoW being a MMORPG and being a slower paced game with the ability to have dedicated guilds, there would be more of a chance to befriend other players and the opportunity for a more welcoming environment as opposed to a FPS gaming environment.
Blizzard code of conduct, https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/42673, accessed May 13 2019.
Rainbow Six Siege Ubisoft code of conduct, https://rainbow6.ubisoft.com/siege/en-us/news/152-326395-16/rainbow-six-siege-code-of-conduct, accessed May 13 2019.
Hi Stacey,
“FPS are fast paced run and shoot games whereas World of Warcraft can be fast paced if raiding a dungeon but there is also a lot of time spent just running from area to area not really doing much – so in essence it is a slower game.”
I suppose that puts a lot less stress on communications between players? Split-second comments from team members have caused full-on arguments between players in some FPS games in my experience.
“I looked at the World of Warcraft website to see if there was any code of conduct for players and it seems there is. I also looked at a FPS game called Rainbow Six Siege (I haven’t played this game before) and they also have a code of conduct, as this is a game created by Ubisoft, All players are expected to play respectfully but no company takes responsiblity of the players actions, only ask that harassing is reported. This makes both environments unpredictable.”
That probably ties in with your comment on my paper about developers making too much money for it to be an issue to police actively. Ubisoft recently implemented an automatic ban system for foul language in chat, which people are complaining about.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1442709799
I’m in two minds about the inclusion of the word Nazi as I think it’s a part of history that we shouldn’t ignore, but it’s unlikely that people using it in online gaming are going to be doing so constructively.
Yes exactly right. You would only have time to say a few words as you run through areas shooting and attacking? I haven’t really got anything experience with an FPS game but I am curious to try one out one day.
Thank you giving me some input on your thoughts about the issue of creators monitoring the gaming environment. I had no idea ubisoft implemented this, and with the online gaming world changing and bringing younger kids into it now, this feels like it is a must for most games that will attract children to play regardless of the ratings. Gaming consoles used to be aimed mostly at kids, but now we are seeing a hike in higher rated games, but some parents don’t really see the ratings are an issue and let their kids play and play online too.
Yeah , I see how the word could be used and how it could offend some.
“You would only have time to say a few words as you run through areas shooting and attacking? I haven’t really got anything experience with an FPS game but I am curious to try one out one day.”
If it’s hectic then definitely, the fewer the words the better, which has made people I’ve played with tense (or come across tense) at times. I remember a conversation with a relatively new player which made me think about how I communicate. We were playing a close match in Rainbow Six Siege, and having played the game for several hundred hours I called out enemy team members to my team mates in a way that assumed that everyone was on the same level experience-wise. One of my team mates commented on my call-outs as “cryptic as hell”, which stumped me for a little (they were right), as generally at higher levels everything needs to be as short and specific as possible, however for newer players the language or details aren’t known, which can cause friction. That’s probably one of the problems with Siege in that every season (3 months) everyone becomes unranked and needs to play 10 placement matches to receive a new rank, so that nobody gets stuck at higher or lower ranks (in theory). It’s quite often the case that in these matches the higher-ranked players will be placed in beginner ranks, which presents a really unbalanced environment for a week or so, which can be unwelcoming and at times confrontational.
“Gaming consoles used to be aimed mostly at kids, but now we are seeing a hike in higher rated games, but some parents don’t really see the ratings are an issue and let their kids play and play online too.”
This is a really good point, something that has concerned me in the past. Higher-rated video games were reserved for the appropriate age while I was growing up, a view that was echoed by a lot of families. It definitely seems to be less of a concern now than say, 10 years ago. I agree that it’s good to have these systems in place, especially in multiplayer, where you can’t control what you’re exposed to.
Hi Joel,
I couldn’t reply to your comment below about FPS and communication so I just thought I would click reply on an older comment to reply here.
I didn’t even think about code words and language when playing in a game with newcomers and how it might affect their game play regarding decisions and direction. Jargon must be tough when you are coming into a new game, let alone a fast paced game. I am a very anxious person at the best of times so I would probably end up panicking and logging off if I couldn’t understand instruction.
Hi Stacey,
Your paper was an interesting read! I have to say I don’t know much about online gaming, nor do I understand it. My husband was addicted to World of Warcraft for many many years – so I came to despise the whole notion of online gaming. I read your paper to gain a different perspective – thank you!
You mention guilds being like second homes to players, who are often queried if they are absent and hence creating a mutual caring atmosphere. What about new players who are not as skilled to the game? I have heard about online abuse if a player causes a guild to lose a raid for example. I don’t think this kind of atmosphere is tolerated in the real world, yet in the online gaming sphere it is quite normal and not very community minded. What are your thoughts?
When my husband was going on ‘raids’ he would sometimes spend 8 hours online… Do you think these new online communities erode our real life everyday communities? Is spending too much time online destructive to real friendships and community?
I have to say that whilst it certainly is “convenient to pull up and sit at a computer to play and socialise with your guild members” I do not think that should replace taking a shower, getting dressed and meeting up with friends in real life – sorry!
Finally you mention that players connect and communicate behind online characters – do you think it’s possible to make realistic friendships when everyone is playing a character? How can you know what is real or fake?
Regards,
Andrea
Hi Andrea,
To your first point, as any community online or offline there are good and bad people, and good and bad experiences. People who are a part of real life communities most certainly are affected by abuse – maybe not in a gaming environment, but there is defintely issues with offline communities as there are online – Just type in community abuse in the university library catalogue. Instead of looking at offline communities in terms of long term players and skill sets, you can look at communities in the sense of age and leadership. We know children are almost always in the line of fire of abuse because they are seen as vulnerable and young. Online, you could probably see it as the same thing “the skilled” and the “noobs”.
And yes, if you aren’t a gamer, you wouldn’t understand what some gamers can experience with the anxiety of going out with real friends or if they even have friends in real life at all. Perhaps writing in the part about “showering and getting dressed and going out” shouldn’t be taken as literally not showering at all. It was more of a way to say that it doesn’t matter if someone gets up and has breakfast then goes and sits at their computer or console and plays a round of counter strike or does a few quests on WoW before they head to the shower because they aren’t leaving the house. A lot of gamers would choose to stay home and game than go out, coming from my own experience of having only interstate real life friends whom I visit once every couple of years when I take my daughters to visit my family in Sydney, I don’t actually have real life friends here in Victoria to go out and visit. And saying that, I don’t think they erode offline communties, if anything it just gives people another place to socialise and meet new people. Whether they are acting fake or not, which sometimes can be fake – we are always taught to not reveal our true selves to strangers but in this study – these guild members had been a part of a dedicated guild for quite some time and some felt comfortable to share their personal and private lives within the guild chat (not public chat).
Hi Stacey,
Thanks for your considered response! As an introverted person I can certainly understand anxiety and I hadn’t really thought about players not having any real world friends etc. Your answer gives me a different perspective – thank you.
Regards,
Andrea
Hey SCaruna!
Your paper was very interesting. While I admit I never really played WoW to any great degree, in your paper you mentioned;
>”People who play in virtual online worlds like WoW can use the game platform to make new friends with players online that they could not have done previously due to their geographic location or their real-world social status that may prevent real-world connections and opportunities. ”
This is something I’ve always had great pleasure in playing online games. I think it’s unfair that people who enjoy video games get the bad wrap of being anti-social because I see it as just another form of communication, no different to Facebook or any other social media. It’s a very interesting method of communication between people where the geographic location of the user does not matter.
Your paper was well researched. Well done.
Hi David,
Thanks for your reply. Yes! I agree with that statement that people who game are anti-social. It is not true with a lot of other gamers I know who actually play the games with their real life friends and even bring gaming into the office as a special treat where they can all indulge in an hour of multiplayer gaming together.
I do believe people under the age of 16 should be monitored on how much game time they are having vs how often they go outside. I have two young daughters who spend a lot of time on their computers and devices and we try and make sure they have a few days after school and on the weekend away from technology.
Hello Stacey
I enjoyed reading your paper, as i could relate to the topics you discussed.
Having the escapism of an immersive game such as WoW, allows players to be absorbed into a virtual reality where they can be whoever or whatever they want, your paper describes this well by contrasting guilds and their hierarchy to real life communities.
And as a gamer, i have come across these virtual communities many times.
Do you believe developers will continue to find new ways for players to communicate / form virtual communities in the future? As new software and hardware arrises (such as VR or improved language translation applications) it is very interesting researching how these technologies will impact players interactivity within these communities.
Hi Mathew,
I do believe game developers will be looking into deepening how immersive a game is especially through VR technology. My partner owns a computer shop and has a VR set up and one of the games purchased through Steam software is a game where all players are in a dance club. You are seen as a faceless/genderless figure and you can walk up to people and talk to them in real time and all you can hear is their voice. So you can have a full conversation with them and play the game (which I believe is something to do with mixing music on a turn table and exploring the dance floor and rooms).
As for language barriers, it would only make sense for developers to start looking into a better way for all gamers in the same environment to communicate, especially with in text translation integrated into the game. That would ultimately be one of the best things they could do for online games.
Hello Stacey,
Great paper and a different view on online gaming communities to my own paper in this stream.
I had a question similar to Andrea’s, in that how welcoming are guilds of new players especially those that have been around for a long time? The reason I ask is because I have read in the past that people pay others to mine for status and articles. So basically they pay real money for someone to do mundane tasks in order to level up therefore making them seem like a better player with a better status than really they may have the skill for. Do they have seasonal levels/campaigns which begin players back at base level in order to allow new players to integrate into guilds? I ask because I can only imaging how daunting it may be for a new player to enter into a guild with players quite obviously way above your level and status.
I know other games do this like Diablo 3 for instance. I found in my paper that competition can bring out very aggressive behaviour in others and teams can be quite abusive to unskilled players who lose a match. Would be interesting to investigate which online communities are more welcoming of unskilled and new players.