The Gamespace
World of Warcraft’s gamespace consists of a world called Azeroth that is divided into many different areas. There are two factions, the Horde and the Alliance which are in constant competition within Azeroth and have their own agendas and cities. Some of the areas are Alliance owned and some are Horde owned with everything else considered contested territory. The server in which I play is a PVP (player versus player) server which means that players of competing factions can “kill” each other whenever and wherever. A design such as this promotes a salient group (Horde vs Alliance) identity and behavior. This is an example of the SIDE theory in that the group identity is salient and members are visually anonymous thus promoting relationships on the basis of group membership including over-attributions based on social categories, conformity to norms, and social influences. My past experience playing in the space includes participating in pvp, raids, and quests. I have interacted with large groups of individuals and worked one on one with players assisting them in quests and instances.
My Avatar
My avatar is on the server Mal’Ganis in the Horde faction and serves as the primary identity cue to other players in the game. She is a level 60 Troll Priest. It used to be very difficult to select a Horde character that was considered attractive (including the trolls) until the release of the expansion in which the blood elves were added to the Horde faction and are now by far the most attractive Horde race.
My One Hour Return to Face Addiction
During the hour that I played, I spent time in one of the major Horde cities called the Undercity. This is an advantageous place because it is located close to some lower level instances that are open to both Horde and Alliance players. I talked to some lower level players outside of Scarlet Monastery and intimidated some Alliance players that were in the area. My behavior exemplified The Proteus Effect which states that an individual’s behavior conforms to their digital self-representations independent of how others perceive them (Yee & Bailenson, 2007). I found myself hunting down the Alliance players even though I was alone, offering healing assistance to lower level Horde players, and not feeling intimidated by lower level Horde or Alliance players. This is directly related to my avatar’s class and level. I wouldn’t normally have a desire to pursue Alliance players while alone had I been in a contested area or in Alliance territory but because my avatar is Horde and I am in a Horde controlled area, I felt as if it was my responsibility as a Horde player to PVP Alliance members traveling through the area. Being a priest, I found myself seeking out opportunities to use my specific skills. I have the ability to do things other than heal but it is something that I enjoy doing and feel like it is my personal responsibility as a healing class. Probably the most salient aspect related to my time playing and The Proteus Effect is the fact that I was not intimidated by lower level Horde or Alliance players. Even though the individuals behind the avatars may have more experience than I do through playing other characters and may be better at strategically playing than myself, I did not consider this during my interactions. My avatar was a higher level and had better gear and thus I felt more confident in interacting with other players and, like Yee and Bailenson’s study (2007) found with height and confidence/aggressive negotiation, I felt I could be more aggressive in my negotiations with other players when they asked me for healing assistance in instances and quests.
My other comments:
Comm 245 Blue: 10: EverQuest
Comm 245 Blue: Second Life
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