Wednesday, October 05, 2005
World of Warcraft link from Mike's Blog
Mike's Blog: World of Warcraft
Mike's Blog has a great link to a New York Times article about World of Warcraft. Gaming is our topic for this week and this article is a good introduction to WOW:
One fascinating aspect of all this is that is appears that World of Warcraft has "taken on a life of its own." At "peak hours" there are more than 250,000 people battling away in WOW. There can be as many as 100,000 South Koreans logged on during prime gaming hours.
The social dynamic of the interaction in World of Warcraft is fascinating. Status as a game player trumps real world identity. The times reports that managers watching the exchange of messages between players are getting a real lesson in the social pecking order of cyberspace:
The construction of fantasy is a serious business for the designers behind WOW. The attention to detail and continuity is a part of making WOW an addictive "immersive experience" rather than merely a "mechanical diversion." As one Blizzard designer explains:
Emotional investment in the World of Warcraft, anyone? Gird your loins and construct your avatars. Immersion or diversion? More blurring of the line between real and cyber world identity? Or just a profitable activity and a harmless amusement?
Mike's Blog has a great link to a New York Times article about World of Warcraft. Gaming is our topic for this week and this article is a good introduction to WOW:
"It was 4:33 p.m. Thursday, and 263,863 people were reaching through cyberspace to explore the sprawling World of Warcraft"It seems that Blizzard Entertainment is having trouble coping with the massive number of new suscribers pouring in from all over the world. They don't call it a massively-multiplayer game for nothing. If Blizzard can keep WOW up and running smoothly they will rule an online gaming empire on which the sun never sets.
One fascinating aspect of all this is that is appears that World of Warcraft has "taken on a life of its own." At "peak hours" there are more than 250,000 people battling away in WOW. There can be as many as 100,000 South Koreans logged on during prime gaming hours.
The social dynamic of the interaction in World of Warcraft is fascinating. Status as a game player trumps real world identity. The times reports that managers watching the exchange of messages between players are getting a real lesson in the social pecking order of cyberspace:
And in sifting through all of the messages (or as many as they can get to), the community managers have developed a rich understanding of how people's real and game identities can intersect.
"You literally can see a 68-year-old doctor arguing with a 13-year-old about some obscure gameplay issue, like how paladins should be nerfed," Mr. Della Bitta said.
"The only real way to determine status on the message boards is the level of your character. If you're Level 60, what you say immediately has weight. But if you're only like Level 5, you could make a perfectly valid point on something and everyone will be like, 'Shut up, what do you know?' And if you're a doctor or lawyer or something in real life, you're probably not used to that, so we see the frustrations."
The construction of fantasy is a serious business for the designers behind WOW. The attention to detail and continuity is a part of making WOW an addictive "immersive experience" rather than merely a "mechanical diversion." As one Blizzard designer explains:
Within a few minutes, Mr. Metzen determined that the history and culture of the tower's long-dead inhabitants decreed that the architectural animal motifs progress from horse heads at the tower's base to eagle heads a bit higher, culminating in lion heads at the grand opera house.
"But don't put these heads all over the place," Mr. Metzen told an artist. "Just sprinkling them in here and there will really sell the history to the players who are paying attention."
And if Blizzard has learned anything from its World of Warcraft experience, it is that the players are certainly paying attention.
"It's the difference between an immersive experience and a mechanical diversion," Mr. Metzen said. "You might spend hundreds of hours playing a game like this, and why would you keep coming back? Is it just for the next magic helmet? Is it just to kill the next dragon?
"It has to be the story. We want you to care about these places and things so that, in addition to the adrenaline and the rewards of addictive gameplay, you have an emotional investment in the world. And that's what makes a great game."
Emotional investment in the World of Warcraft, anyone? Gird your loins and construct your avatars. Immersion or diversion? More blurring of the line between real and cyber world identity? Or just a profitable activity and a harmless amusement?
