Ethical Gaming: Problems and Opportunities Lena Bergholm
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Ethical gaming: problems and opportunities Lena Bergholm Degree thesis Online media 2012 Lena Bergholm EXAMENSARBETE Arcada Utbildningsprogram: Mediekultur Identifikationsnummer: 3797 Författare: Lena Bergholm Arbetets namn: Handledare (Arcada): Owen Kelly Uppdragsgivare: Sammandrag: I framtiden kommer alla att spela datorspel av något slag. Eftersom det inte finns någon universal lag som kontrollerar spelutveckling så finns det aspekter inom industrin som kan anses vara oetiska. Bör spelutvecklarna handla i sina kunders bästa intressen? Detta arbete förklarar hur online-spelindustrin är byggd kring att generera så mycket pengar som möjligt på bekostnaden av ovetande kunder. För att komma till det som anses vara roligt i ett spel så måste spelaren tillbringa timmar om inte dagar på annat i spelet – allt för att försäkra att spelaren är så länge som möjligt i spelet. Paraleller dras till hasardspelande: även om folk varnas att inte börja med sådant så varnar ingen folk om att inte börja spela vissa online-spel. Det har inte gjorts mycket forskning inom området så för detta arbete fick mycket information tas från Internet. En studie och analys över Activision Blizzards World of Warcraft och ArenaNets nya titel Guild Wars 2 gjordes. Med dem som bas kommer detta arbete förklara problemen som finns i så många online spel i dag, samtidigt som det förklarar hur saker kan kommas att göras i framtiden. Nyckelord: etisk hasardspel spel spelutveckling online warcraft Sidantal: 70 Språk: Engelska Datum för godkännande: DEGREE THESIS Arcada Degree Programme: Online media Identification number: 3797 Author: Title: Supervisor (Arcada): Owen Kelly Commissioned by: Abstract: In the future everyone will be playing video games of some sort. Because there are no universal laws governing game development there are some aspects of the industry that can be seen as unethical. Do the developers have an obligation to act in what’s in their customers’ best interest? This thesis explains how the online gaming industry is built on maximizing revenue at the expense of its unknowing customers. To reach the parts of a game that’s deemed fun players have to spend hours or even days doing other things in it – all to ensure they spend as much time as possible in the specific game. Parallels are drawn to gambling: even though people are warned not to start a bad habit the same is not said about online gaming. Not much research has been made on this topic prior to this thesis so a lot of information had to be searched from over the Internet. A case study and analysis was made of Activision Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, and ArenaNet’s new title Guild Wars 2. With using the two as examples the thesis will pinpoint the unethical prob- lem found in so many online titles while showing how things can be done in the future. Keywords: ethical gambling game development online warcraft Number of pages: 70 Language: English Date of acceptance: CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Foreword ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Research topic .............................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Motive for research ....................................................................................................... 10 1.4 The scope of the thesis ................................................................................................. 11 1.5 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 12 1.6 The structure of the thesis ................................................................................................ 12 1.6 Terminology .................................................................................................................. 14 Addiction ............................................................................................................................. 14 Digital Native / Immigrant ................................................................................................... 14 Gamer ................................................................................................................................ 15 Grind and farm ................................................................................................................... 15 FPS .................................................................................................................................... 16 MMORPG ........................................................................................................................... 16 Mini-games ......................................................................................................................... 16 PvE & PvP .......................................................................................................................... 17 Dungeons and Raids .......................................................................................................... 17 Time-sinks .......................................................................................................................... 17 EpicWin/fail ......................................................................................................................... 18 Levels & experience points ................................................................................................ 18 2 BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 18 2.1 Games became an every day thing .............................................................................. 18 2.1.1 Of MMORPGs ........................................................................................................ 20 2.2 Different online game business models ........................................................................ 22 2.2.1 Subscription model ................................................................................................. 23 2.2.2 Downloadable content ............................................................................................ 24 2.2.3 Micro-transaction model ......................................................................................... 25 2.2.4 F2P-model .............................................................................................................. 25 3 THE MODELS DISSECTED .................................................................................. 26 3.1 On the ethicality of game design ................................................................................... 27 3.2 Skinner’s box: gambling methods found in gaming ...................................................... 28 3.3 The dominant game model unravelled .......................................................................... 32 3.4 Understanding the key business models ...................................................................... 32 3.4.1 Compelling free to plays ......................................................................................... 32 3.4.2 The subscription model, explained ......................................................................... 35 3.5 Questioning the server transaction fees ....................................................................... 36 3.6 What can be seen as ethical game development? ....................................................... 37 3.6.1 Fun, not compelling ................................................................................................ 37 3.6.2 Make a change ....................................................................................................... 38 3.7 Future opportunities ...................................................................................................... 39 4 CASE STUDIES ..................................................................................................... 40 4.1 Dominant model: World of Warcraft .............................................................................. 41 Making one’s character ...................................................................................................... 41 Of the gear ......................................................................................................................... 43 The levelling system ........................................................................................................... 43 Dungeons and raids ........................................................................................................... 45 PvP ..................................................................................................................................... 46 Crafting professions ........................................................................................................... 47 Guilds ................................................................................................................................. 47 4.1.1 The success behind WoW ..................................................................................... 48 4.1.2 Of time sinks .......................................................................................................... 49 The players contribute to the compulsion ........................................................................... 51 Questing ............................................................................................................................