I am a loquacious, outgoing, 21 year old woman who loves interacting with people, both old friends and new. Little did I realize that I would be playing World of Warcraft for a class on a Sunday night. I do not have as much as an online journal because I feel that it takes away the time I can spend with my loved ones in person, and I haven't touched a video game since I was seven. Pushing my limits by travelling into the unknown world of gaming, however, is a great idea for someone like me to fully grasp the theories behind internet psychology.
Once my dinosaur of a computer finished downloading a 10-day free trial of the infamous WOW, I was prompted to create an avatar of my choosing. Hoping to get the most out of this experience, I choose an attractive female human with black hair, and began my quest as a Level 1 Warrior in the world of Velen. My free trial limited my ability to communicate with others, but I was able to observe several individuals through the game's chat function. I was a lowly Level 1 Warrior with no friends, so being my loquacious self I decide to go make some. Citine, my character's name, encountered a Level 6 wizard, to which she greeted with a hearty "Hello!" (complete with sound effects). The wizard stared at me for a little while and backed away quickly, leaving me cold and lonely and painfully aware of the Social Information Processing Theory. I had been in the 'world' for 20 minutes, and had not built my rapport with any of the other gamers there. My impression of the others was cold and lacking, as they were of mine, but I figured if I continued to play the game longer while increasing my skill as a warrior, other players would eventually warm up to me and hold a conversation. An upper level player spoke derisively in the chat about all the 'n00bs' that recently arrived in the world, and claimed that his 'pet could kick all of our n00b asses'.
Citine progressed through the game, increasing her level by cleansing Elwynn Forest of its Vermin, and slowly found people whom she could talk to. A Level 3 Warrior named Shaddo helped me learn how to fight, as well as where I could acquire weapons (strangely enough, I found the 'women' on the game more helpful than the men), and soon other players began to converse with me. The SIP theory held true after two hours of playing the game, after which I had built some rapport within the game and became a Level 3 Warrior myself. The people there were fairly helpful as I admitted I was new and wanted to get better at the game.
The most interesting thing about WOW was the degree to which it was interactive. I found it more absorbing than television because of the vast number of things you could do in the game: everything from storing items in your backpack to keeping track of how friendly an overlord of the world perceives you to be (this interesting function was displayed as a percentage). It became a virtual reality that I easily spent two hours in, and I marvelled at the players who boasted Level 38 or 54 skill because I wondered, 'How long do they spend playing this game to get that far?'
Citine made a stop at an inn to get some rest, and upon exiting the inn, met some interesting characters. The Hyperpersonal Model slapped me in the face as I came upon a group of mostly male players yelling, "NAKED DANCE PARTY!" All male brashness was brought down to the lowest common denominator as male players challenged each other to fistfights and invited female players to join the 'Naked Dance Party'. The decorum that one would expect in a face-to-face social setting was completely lost. In general, I have noticed that most people who are fond of RPGs are introverted, leaving them little opportunity for real social interaction and even less opportunity for dating. The hypersexual persona that the male players took on was a matter of selective self-presentation, since they may rarely, if ever, get to display a more romantic/amorous side to others in real life. A dwarf named Grimrapper asked Citine to take her clothes off and wear a bikini to the dance party, after which I promptly quit the game.
Playing World of Warcraft has been an interesting experience, to say the least, in which I saw the SIP and Hyperpersonal Model in action. I would, however, caution people to enter at their own risk.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Your experience seems to support the general complaint that World of Warcraft is very newbie-hostile. Although I've never played World of Warcraft myself, I suspect this elitist attitude towards newbies is a problem for nearly all MMORPGs. Part of it can be explained by the SIP theory as you mentioned. Additionally, MMORPGs put you in a competitive mindset. You are trying your best to stand out from the crowd and one-up your peers. Participants in this online space are thus primed for a competitive mindset. Belittling the new players is, in effect, the metaworld equivalent of trash talking in sports.
The naked avatar dance party is something that some obscure part of me is semi-wishing I could have witnessed right now. Though highly amusing, I think your analysis of this online space was entirely on-point and a really interesting introduction to a world I know zilch about.
Considering your experience, I do wonder why the Level 6-er turned you down – was it that you were too amateur for his liking? Was he afraid of strangers? And why was it that the women were more helpful – is it all just related to women’s desire for companionship and propensity for schmoozing? Who knows.
Your point about the significance of this naked dance party for a bunch of avatar-creating WOW groupies is a valid one. Considering that it took you two hours to advance to level 3, are these individuals spending the time having virtual dance parties that they might use to actually go out and meet people? Is this a social crutch, or are these people married with children and just seeking some added stimulation? Essentially, I wonder how this compares to the real thing for some of your fellow WOW-ers, and would love to learn more about group members’ real-life social skills. Good post!
I think what you discovered about WoW in the few hours that you played was very interesting. I also think we must note that everyone forms different impressions. In my opinion, the 'Naked Dance Party' bit was a group of stupid immature men who were having fun being perverted, but that its not necessarily an extreme negative thing. However, everyone's views are different.
Just as Earth is vast, so is the World of Warcraft. There are millions of people who play it. I think it would be interesting to see how and if at all your initial impression would change if you continue to play.
I also think its interesting how you never identified yourself with your character. You always called her by her name, Citine, rather than saying "I" or "me". I do believe hard-core WoWers completely immerse themselves in the game and think of their characters as an extension of themselves, as how you were saying, the part of themselves that they can't show in the real world.
Some interesting experiences here. What's important to note though is that there seems to be a little over generalization of the people who play WoW in your post. While the gaming nerd stereotype has some more weight in older MMORPGs, it's important to realize the scope of WoW and how that has removed much of the aforementioned stereotyping. It's almost scary how many people play WoW. To put a number to it: over 9 million world wide. I've literally met and started conversations with random people on the Chicago L (mass transit train) who play WoW. Not quite representative of introversion. Married couples, families, and celebrities also play.
As for the “Naked Dance Party”, well, it seems to be a tendency of simply being on the Internet and not exclusive to WoW. As Alex Krupp saw in #Wikipedia, when people are bored, anonymous and on the Internet, discussion (or play) can easily devolve into something very base (sex) and stupid. Oh there are also legitimate reasons to be occasionally “naked” in WoW. While this doesn't change your experiences and subsequent analysis, which fits well and was succinctly explained, it may have affected how you approached the game at the beginning.
Post a Comment