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Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law Volume 18 Issue 3 Issue 3 - Spring 2016 Article 2 2015 Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games Julian Dibbell Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw Part of the Internet Law Commons, and the Labor and Employment Law Commons Recommended Citation Julian Dibbell, Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games, 18 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 419 (2021) Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/jetlaw/vol18/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law by an authorized editor of Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VANDERBILT JOURNAL OF ENTERTAINMENT & TECHNOLOGY LAW VOLUME 18 SPRING 2016 NUMBER 3 Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games Julian Dibbell ABSTRACT When does work become play and play become work? Courts have considered the question in a variety of economic contexts, from student athletes seeking recognition as employees to professional blackjack players seeking to be treated by casinos just like casual players. Here, this question is applied to a relatively novel context: that of online gold farming, a gray-market industry in which wage-earning workers, largely based in China, are paid to play fantasy massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) that reward them with virtual items that their employers sell for profit to the same games' casual players. -
Cyber-Synchronicity: the Concurrence of the Virtual
Cyber-Synchronicity: The Concurrence of the Virtual and the Material via Text-Based Virtual Reality A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Jeffrey S. Smith March 2010 © 2010 Jeffrey S. Smith. All Rights Reserved. This dissertation titled Cyber-Synchronicity: The Concurrence of the Virtual and the Material Via Text-Based Virtual Reality by JEFFREY S. SMITH has been approved for the School of Media Arts and Studies and the Scripps College of Communication by Joseph W. Slade III Professor of Media Arts and Studies Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii ABSTRACT SMITH, JEFFREY S., Ph.D., March 2010, Mass Communication Cyber-Synchronicity: The Concurrence of the Virtual and the Material Via Text-Based Virtual Reality (384 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Joseph W. Slade III This dissertation investigates the experiences of participants in a text-based virtual reality known as a Multi-User Domain, or MUD. Through in-depth electronic interviews, staff members and players of Aurealan Realms MUD were queried regarding the impact of their participation in the MUD on their perceived sense of self, community, and culture. Second, the interviews were subjected to a qualitative thematic analysis through which the nature of the participant’s phenomenological lived experience is explored with a specific eye toward any significant over or interconnection between each participant’s virtual and material experiences. An extended analysis of the experiences of respondents, combined with supporting material from other academic investigators, provides a map with which to chart the synchronous and synonymous relationship between a participant’s perceived sense of material identity, community, and culture, and her perceived sense of virtual identity, community, and culture. -
The Decline of Mmos
The Decline of MMOs Prof. Richard A. Bartle University of Essex United Kingdom May 2013 Abstract Ten years ago, massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMOs) had a bright and exciting future. Today, their prospects do not look so glorious. In an effort to attract ever-more players, their gameplay has gradually been diluted and their core audience has deserted them. Now that even their sources of new casual players are drying up, MMOs face a slow and steady decline. Their problems are easy to enumerate: they cost too much to make; too many of them play the exact same way; new revenue models put off key groups of players; they lack immersion; they lack wit and personality; players have been trained to want experiences that they don’t actually want; designers are forbidden from experimenting. The solutions to these problems are less easy to state. Can anything be done to prevent MMOs from fading away? Well, yes it can. The question is, will the patient take the medicine? Introduction From their lofty position as representing the future of videogames, MMOs have fallen hard. Whereas once they were innovative and compelling, now they are repetitive and take-it-or-leave-it. Although they remain profitable at the moment, we know (from the way that the casual games market fragmented when it matured) that this is not sustainable in the long term: players will either leave for other types of game or focus on particular mechanics that have limited appeal or that can be abstracted out as stand-alone games (or even apps). -
Online Media Business Models: Lessons from the Video Game Sector
Komorowski, M and Delaere, S. (2016). Online Media Business Models: Lessons from the Video Game Sector. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 11(1), 103–123, DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.16997/wpcc.220 RESEARCH ARTICLE Online Media Business Models: Lessons from the Video Game Sector Marlen Komorowski and Simon Delaere imec-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, BE Corresponding author: Marlen Komorowski ([email protected]) Today’s media industry is characterized by disruptive changes and business models have been acknowledged as a driving force for success. Current business model research manages only to grasp static descriptions while in reality media managers are struggling with the dynamics of the industry. This article aims to close this gap by investigating a new paradigm of online media business models. Based on three video game case studies of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre, this article explores a novel theoretical approach to explain the changes that can be made within business models. The article highlights the importance of changing processes within online media business models and emphasises that the video game sector is at the forefront of business innovation. Finally, it demonstrates that online media business model change is in a trade-off paradigm between capturing or offering potentially higher value per player vs. accessing a potentially larger player-base. Key words: Media industry; business model; process; disruption; video game sector Introduction Today’s media industry is characterized by disruptive transformations shaped by digitization. Digitization is not only generating new business opportunities but threatens traditional commercialization strategies and is proving highly unpredictable with regards to future market development. -
Gaming Habits and Self-Determination: Conscious and Non-Conscious Paths to Behavior Continuance
GAMING HABITS AND SELF-DETERMINATION: CONSCIOUS AND NON-CONSCIOUS PATHS TO BEHAVIOR CONTINUANCE By Donghee Yvette Wohn A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Media and Information Studies – Doctor of Philosophy 2013 ABSTRACT GAMING HABITS AND SELF-DETERMINATION: CONSCIOUS AND NON-CONSCIOUS PATHS TO BEHAVIOR CONTINUANCE By Donghee Yvette Wohn This dissertation examines how non-conscious habits and conscious motivations contribute to an individual’s intention to continue playing online multiplayer games. It empirically examines distinct predictions of behavioral intention based on different theories in two gaming contexts—casual social network games (SNGs) and massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). Addressing inconsistencies in prior studies, habit is conceptualized as the mental construct of automaticity, thus distinguishing habit from frequency of past behavior and self-identity. Results indicate that strong habits positively predict behavior continuation intention and moderate the effect of motivation for SNGs but not MMOs. Self-identity was a positive predictor for both genres. Gender differences in self-determined motivation were present in social network games but not massively multiplayer online games. The residual effect of past behavior was stronger than any conscious or non-conscious processes; once perceived frequency of past behavior was taken into consideration, it was the strongest indicator of behavioral continuation intentions. Copyright by DONGHEE YVETTE WOHN 2013 Dedicated to my progressive grandparents, who believed that higher education was the most important indicator of success for a woman. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my dear advisor, Robert LaRose, whose sharp critiques have prepared me for the most ferocious of peer reviewers; whose brilliant insights bore holes in dams of existing scholarship, making way for innovative paradigms; and whose sincere love for students represents the pinnacle of the true spirit of higher education. -
Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by Game Design Elina M.I
Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by Game Design Elina M.I. Koivisto Nokia Research Center Visionkatu 1 33720 Tampere Finland +358 05 482 1630 [email protected] ABSTRACT Communities get formed almost automatically in multiplayer games, but in some games they seem to be stronger and more active than in others. In order to find out why it is so, We study in this paper what kind of game design makes game community formation and maintenance easier in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). Three MMORPGs are used as examples: Ultima Online, Anarchy Online and Toontown Online. The communication methods, game mechanics and environments of the three MMORPGs are compared and their effects on the game community are analyzed. Communities do not exist without communication. Game mechanics affects how important it is for the players to co-operate and compete with others and how useful it is to form different kinds of sub-communities, such as guilds. If the game supports player created content it typically strengthens the game community. The game environment provides settings for player-to-player interaction and can encourage collaboration and inspire the players to create their own stories around the sub-communities. KEYWORDS Game, Community, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, Toontown INTRODUCTION There are many definitions for online communities. According to Preece [14] an online community consists of people who interact socially as they strive to satisfy their own needs to perform special roles. They also have a shared purpose, an interest or need, information exchange, or service that provides a reason for community. -
Player, Pirate Or Conducer? a Consideration of the Rights of Online Gamers
ARTICLE PLAYER,PIRATE OR CONDUCER? A CONSIDERATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ONLINE GAMERS MIA GARLICK I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................. 423 II. BACKGROUND ................................................................. 426 A. KEY FEATURES OF ONLINE GAMES ............................ 427 B. AGAMER’S RIGHT OF OUT-OF-GAME TRADING?......... 428 C. AGAMER’S RIGHT OF IN-GAME TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT?......................................................... 431 D. A GAMER’S RIGHTS OF CREATIVE GAME-RELATED EXPRESSION? ............................................................ 434 III. AN INITIAL REVIEW OF LIKELY LEGAL RIGHTS IN ONLINE GAMES............................................................................ 435 A. WHO OWNS THE GAME? .............................................. 436 B. DO GAMERS HAVE RIGHTS TO IN-GAME ELEMENTS? .... 442 C. DO GAMERS CREATE DERIVATIVE WORKS?................ 444 1. SALE OF IN-GAME ITEMS - TOO COMMERCIAL? ...... 449 2. USE OF ‘CHEATS’MAY NOT INFRINGE. .................. 450 3. CREATIVE FAN EXPRESSION –ASPECTRUM OF INFRINGEMENT LIKELIHOOD?.............................. 452 IV. THE CHALLENGES GAMER RIGHTS POSE. ....................... 454 A. THE PROBLEM OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR. ................ 455 B. THE DERIVATIVE WORKS PARADOX............................ 458 C. THE PROBLEM OF CULTURAL SIGNIFICATION OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS. ....................................... 461 V. CONCLUSION .................................................................. 462 © 2005 YALE -
[Thesis Title Goes Here]
REAL ECONOMICS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS: A MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAME CASE STUDY, RUNESCAPE A Thesis Presented to the Academic Faculty by Tanla E. Bilir In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Digital Media in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture Georgia Institute of Technology December 2009 COPYRIGHT BY TANLA E. BILIR REAL ECONOMICS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS: A MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE GAME CASE STUDY, RUNESCAPE Approved by: Dr. Celia Pearce, Advisor Dr. Kenneth Knoespel School of Literature, Communication, and School of Literature, Communication, and Culture Culture Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Rebecca Burnett Dr. Ellen Yi-Luen Do School of Literature, Communication, and College of Architecture & College of Culture Computing Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Date Approved: July 14, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis has been a wonderful journey. I consider myself lucky finding an opportunity to combine my background in economics with my passion for gaming. This work would not have been possible without the following individuals. First of all, I would like to thank my thesis committee members, Dr. Celia Pearce, Dr. Rebecca Burnett, Dr. Kenneth Knoespel, and Dr. Ellen Yi-Luen Do for their supervision and invaluable comments. Dr. Pearce has been an inspiration to me with her successful work in virtual worlds and multiplayer games. During my thesis progress, she always helped me with prompt feedbacks and practical solutions. I am also proud of being a member of her Mermaids research team for two years. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Knoespel for supporting me through my entire program of study. -
Module 2 Roleplaying Games
Module 3 Media Perspectives through Computer Games Staffan Björk Module 3 Learning Objectives ■ Describe digital and electronic games using academic game terms ■ Analyze how games are defined by technological affordances and constraints ■ Make use of and combine theoretical concepts of time, space, genre, aesthetics, fiction and gender Focuses for Module 3 ■ Computer Games ■ Affect on gameplay and experience due to the medium used to mediate the game ■ Noticeable things not focused upon ■ Boundaries of games ■ Other uses of games and gameplay ■ Experimental game genres First: schedule change ■ Lecture moved from Monday to Friday ■ Since literature is presented in it Literature ■ Arsenault, Dominic and Audrey Larochelle. From Euclidian Space to Albertian Gaze: Traditions of Visual Representation in Games Beyond the Surface. Proceedings of DiGRA 2013: DeFragging Game Studies. 2014. http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/from-euclidean-space-to-albertian-gaze-traditions-of-visual- representation-in-games-beyond-the-surface/ ■ Gazzard, Alison. Unlocking the Gameworld: The Rewards of Space and Time in Videogames. Game Studies, Volume 11 Issue 1 2011. http://gamestudies.org/1101/articles/gazzard_alison ■ Linderoth, J. (2012). The Effort of Being in a Fictional World: Upkeyings and Laminated Frames in MMORPGs. Symbolic Interaction, 35(4), 474-492. ■ MacCallum-Stewart, Esther. “Take That, Bitches!” Refiguring Lara Croft in Feminist Game Narratives. Game Studies, Volume 14 Issue 2 2014. http://gamestudies.org/1402/articles/maccallumstewart ■ Nitsche, M. (2008). Combining Interaction and Narrative, chapter 5 in Video Game Spaces : Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds, MIT Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://chalmers.instructure.com/files/738674 ■ Vella, Daniel. Modelling the Semiotic Structure of Game Characters. -
Griefing, Massacres, Discrimination, and Art: the Limits of Overlapping Rule Sets in Online Games Sal Humphreys University of Adelaide (Australia)
UC Irvine Law Review Volume 2 Issue 2 Governing the Magic Circle: Regulation of Article 3 Virtual Worlds 6-2012 Griefing, Massacres, Discrimination, and Art: The Limits of Overlapping Rule Sets in Online Games Sal Humphreys University of Adelaide (Australia) Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/ucilr Part of the Contracts Commons, Internet Law Commons, and the Rule of Law Commons Recommended Citation Sal Humphreys, Griefing, Massacres, Discrimination, and Art: The Limits of Overlapping Rule Sets in Online Games, 2 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 507 (2012). Available at: https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/ucilr/vol2/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UCI Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in UC Irvine Law Review by an authorized editor of UCI Law Scholarly Commons. UCILR V2I2 Assembled v4 (Do Not Delete) 7/14/2012 2:14 PM Griefing, Massacres, Discrimination, and Art: The Limits of Overlapping Rule Sets in Online Games Sal Humphreys* and Melissa de Zwart** Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 507 I. Game Rules, the Magic Circle, and Heterotopias .................................................. 510 II. End User License Agreements ................................................................................ 515 III. Breaking the Rules ................................................................................................... 516 IV. Griefing ..................................................................................................................... -
Personality and Character Selection in World of Warcraft
Personality and Character Selection in World of Warcraft Ian D. Mosley: McNair Scholar Dr. Steven Patrick: Mentor Sociology Abstract The present study examined the relationship between players’ personality characteristics and their online behaviors, including character faction, class selection, and game play in the massively multiplayer online role playing game the World of Warcraft (WoW). Data were collected from 205 WoW players who participated in an online survey that included the Big 5 Personality Inventory (Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Openness to Experience) and portions of the California Personality Index, as well as original questions pertaining to WoW (Goldberg, et al. 2006). Statistical analysis showed that although there was not a significant relationship between player personality traits and their class or faction selection, there were significant relationships between personality traits and engagement in player versus player game play. Introduction Game developers go to great lengths to ensure that game worlds are realistic to players. This is perhaps most present in World of Warcraft (WoW). Although the overarching theme of the game may be fantasy, there are several elements to the game that parallel our own world and history (Krzywinslca, 2006). These parallels further the attachment players develop to the characters they portray, and the transference players experience from their game world interaction into their out of game lives. WoW and other games are now so well constructed that it has even been suggested that they could be “…windows into and catalysts in existing relationships in the material world” (Yee, 2006, p. 312). In WoW and all other massively multi-player online role playing games (MMORPG’s) players self select into specific racial and cultural stereotypes. -
Game Developer Magazine
>> INSIDE: 2007 AUSTIN GDC SHOW PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 2007 THE LEADING GAME INDUSTRY MAGAZINE >>SAVE EARLY, SAVE OFTEN >>THE WILL TO FIGHT >>EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MAKING SAVE SYSTEMS FOR CHANGING GAME STATES HARVEY SMITH ON PLAYERS, NOT DESIGNERS IN PANDEMIC’S SABOTEUR POLITICS IN GAMES POSTMORTEM: PUZZLEINFINITE INTERACTIVE’S QUEST DISPLAY UNTIL OCTOBER 11, 2007 Using Autodeskodesk® HumanIK® middle-middle- Autodesk® ware, Ubisoftoft MotionBuilder™ grounded ththee software enabled assassin inn his In Assassin’s Creed, th the assassin to 12 centuryy boots Ubisoft used and his run-time-time ® ® fl uidly jump Autodesk 3ds Max environment.nt. software to create from rooftops to a hero character so cobblestone real you can almost streets with ease. feel the coarseness of his tunic. HOW UBISOFT GAVE AN ASSASSIN HIS SOUL. autodesk.com/Games IImmagge cocouru tteesyy of Ubiisofft Autodesk, MotionBuilder, HumanIK and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2007 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. []CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2007 VOLUME 14, NUMBER 8 FEATURES 7 SAVING THE DAY: SAVE SYSTEMS IN GAMES Games are designed by designers, naturally, but they’re not designed for designers. Save systems that intentionally limit the pick up and drop enjoyment of a game unnecessarily mar the player’s experience. This case study of save systems sheds some light on what could be done better. By David Sirlin 13 SABOTEUR: THE WILL TO FIGHT 7 Pandemic’s upcoming title SABOTEUR uses dynamic color changes—from vibrant and full, to black and white film noir—to indicate the state of allied resistance in-game.