Multi-Media Online Games

... "People who are nerds and social retards in real life can be good at something. They can be socially respected online, and thus enjoy heightened self esteem through these online games."
(Sal Humphries, 2006)


Ok, well I'm back again. Albeit later than expected, but I've a lot of the usual this week (assignments). But I still had time to make it to the lecture on wednesday evening (week 6). The topic was Multi-Media Online Game (MMOG) players, and Sal certainly changed my opinion towards this crowd of people.

To be blatantly honest: playing online games like a full time job substracts too much time from social interaction (between real humans, not virtual). As Sal Humphreys stated, "players spend on average twenty-one to twenty-four hours a week playing," (2005, p39). That is a considerable amount!

The restaurant I work at is situated right in front of 'The Bunker,' an internet cafe situated under the Queen St. Mall (yes in the ground!). My workmates and I never see anyone coming out of there until about 9pm at night when all of them re-emerge (like 40 of 'em) to face reality! But the thing is ... I recognise a lot of them as their re-emergence is routine!

I guess I place a lot of emphasis on person-to-person interaction. I just find that unless I'm going to get into a good debate with a person, communicating in a game is just not for me. But I do understand that everyone has different interests and have fun in different ways. Just do what makes you happy ... even if it means being glued to a screen and spending your days in a virtual world full of virtual characters.

At first, I initially considered continuous online game playing as reserved for adolescents with a social anxiety/awkwardness. Don't get me wrong here: I play The Sims 2 sometimes which is a virtual world itself, but I don't play it every single day (maybe once a month).

I think Sal struck a chord with me when she mentioned using online games to build self-esteem.
I just think these players are gradually losing touch with reality the more they spend inside these games! Using it to build your self-esteem means you find it difficult to feel self-worthy in real situations, so people will probably remain in these virtual world's a long time! Players invest enormous amounts of time and effort into conquering one area of the game (building a character up to top level). It's like ... players are contructing a character in an online, virtual world and play this character almost like it is themself. It's okay to escape reality sometimes to have a little "me" time, but escaping all the time is too much.

I do NOT agree with what one girl in my tutorial group (friday 1-2.30pm) said about online games: that they are a form of gambling. There is no relation whatsoever because gamblers are addicted to spending money because of the chance they may win lots of money back. They have a diagnosed problem. Online gamers don't win money.

Since online players spend so much time creating characters, it is no wonder gamers want to feel ownership over their characters. However, there does need to be a line to keep owners in control of the material inside the games that they own. Players merely pay to hire the tools to create characters, but essentially what they create still needs to be owned by the provider of the game. That way moderators can ban people who may damage the game-playing experience for other people.

The same goes with machinima and fan art created around the game: although restrictions against players creating and doing what they want inside the game should be relaxed a fair bit. Otherwise players may feel too restricted and swap to another rival game.