First of all, I would like to say that this assignment (if you really want to call it that) is great. I’ve had much experience playing online computer games throughout my childhood and high school years due to my older brother. I remember when I used to play Warcraft, then Starcraft, then came Counter-Strike and for this assignment, I decided to play World of Warcraft, which has changed a lot over the years from the original Warcraft I played as a teenager.
In World of Warcraft, a player can choose to be one of many races; I decided to be an Orc, whose race is considered to be one of the most prolific. As described by the World of Warcraft site, “the Orcs stand ready to fight not for the sake of conquest, but for their right to survive in their adopted world.” My goal is to fight for survival and in addition, to gain levels in order to become a stronger warrior. Also, players are allowed to team up to help each other get stronger faster and to benefit from other players’ special skills.
Although in the game I am a nonrealistic creature, I found that in some ways the game does parallel real life. Like I mentioned earlier, my purpose is to survive where I would have to continually make sure that my race is not being killed by opposing races. I If I get killed in battle, I lose money (gold in this case) and am forced to work for that gold back. This is similar to real life, although I am not getting killed, where I may come across situations where I may experience some kind of hardship and I might lose something (or things) along the way.
My character has green skin and has fang-like teeth. He carries a big axe in each hand and has a skill to fight up close. In addition, he has shoulder pads with spikes coming out of them. His character is pretty simple to use with his attacks quick and interesting to watch.
In the World of Warcraft, there are certain norms that are meant to be followed. In this game, there are variations of appearance due the different races. However, the class of a player’s character affects a player’s behavior more than their appearance. The character’s class determines their roles, race, and the gear they have on. In the game, players are expected to play the purpose of their roles. Yee & Bailenson’s study don’t really apply to the World of Warcraft since appearance is not a key factor in this game, but class is. Appearance did not affect my behavior as much but class, which includes a player’s race was significant and had a major influence on my behavior. Hence, the attraction factors that Yee and Bailenson discussed are not that important in this online game.
http://comm245red.blogspot.com/2007/11/10-hit-and-run.html
http://comm245red.blogspot.com/2007/11/assignment-10-second-life.html
2 comments:
Hi Selena, very descriptive post. The main reason I am commenting is because I had very similar observations to yours during my foray into a virtual world. I chose a different MMORPG, but I noticed the same thing as you. It really depends on what the goals of people are when they are participating in networked, virtual interaction. Perhaps, as you state, appearances are less important when other factors (class, experience level, inventory) clearly take precedence. As this is the case in World of Warcraft, it seems that Yee & Bailenson’s suggestions (according to other blog entries) do apply in the world of Second Life. However, there is no goal in that environment other than social interaction—in which looks are extremely important. This difference seems to take place in real life as well. The attractive and unattractive are forced to collaborate in the workplace or office setting—where there are specific goals and rewards at play. In an area such as a nightclub, appearances have more emphasis when socialization is the goal.
Hey Selina,
I played World of Warcraft for my assignment as well and interesting enough came to the same conclusion after playing for a long time ( and also for my first time). In World of Warcraft, how you act really boils down to what you can do, especially for a beginner. With my weak, beginning avatar in a vast land of dangerous creatures, I was willing to talk and play with anyone who would help me not die and who knew more than I did on how to play the game. As I went from quest to quest, I would help out a fellow Alliance member if they looked like they needed some, regardless of race. I played as a warlock and everything I did, the places I went, the people I spoke to all were decided by this fact. Yee and Bailenson’s study don’t really anticipated an experience like warcraft, where people really don’t spend much time walking around and just staring at others’ avatars. In warcraft, I believe it is more of a question of your skill level. Players aren’t concerned about what other players think of them and let that determine how they act. Players are more concerned on the current objective and how they might go about achieving that objective and ultimately a higher level.
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