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Sociality, Embodiment, and Institutions in World of Warcraft

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Sociality, Embodiment, and Institutions in World of Warcraft University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations December 2019 Looking for Group: Sociality, Embodiment, and Institutions in World of Warcraft Christopher J. Cooley University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Cooley, Christopher J., "Looking for Group: Sociality, Embodiment, and Institutions in World of Warcraft" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2295. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/2295 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LOOKING FOR GROUP: SOCIALITY, EMBODIMENT, AND INSTITUTIONS IN WORLD OF WARCRAFT by CHRISTOPHER J. COOLEY A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee December 2019 ABSTRACT LOOKING FOR GROUP: SOCIALITY, EMBODIMENT, AND INSTITUTIONS IN WORLD OF WARCRAFT by Christopher J. Cooley The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019 Under the Supervision of Professor Thomas Malaby This ethnography examines the varying degrees of conflict between multiple stakeholders involved in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW). The game’s designers, like many software developers in the contemporary world, tend to be guided by an ideology influenced by classical liberalism, but also inspired by a utopian view of technol- ogy in general. That ideological position has directly affected many aspects of the game, from the largely unregulated in-game economy, to the strong emphasis on individual mastery of the game’s systems to progress through the complete content of the game world. World of Warcraft advertises itself not just on its narrative and combat mechanics; it also entices players to partici- pate because of its very nature as a multiplayer game. The structure of WoW encourages players to join together in tight-knit communities (“guilds”) not just to overcome powerful opponents, but to socialize as well. In this way the game exists for many players as a significant social out- let in their everyday lives. However, players, guilds, and designers exist in a state of tension due to the ideological and architected constraints of the game. Due to the classical liberal bent of WoW promoting in- ii dividual achievement through the game’s many obstacles, players oftentimes find themselves having to break away from close friends they game with in order to follow the primary goals of the narrative. This leads to an environment where players are constantly weighing the social bonds they establish and/or maintain through play against the concerns of software programmers intent on directing them to endgame content above all else. iii © Christopher J. Cooley, 2019 All Rights Reserved iv To Christina, of course. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures vii Acknowledgments viii Chapter I. Introduction 1 The Stage Is Set 1 My Life As a Night Elf Druid 12 Yet Another Magic Circle Discussion 16 Central Argument 21 Games As Architected Spaces 23 Data Collection Techniques 30 Work Overview 34 II. Embodiment and Bodiliness 37 Clothes Maketh the Man 37 Embodiment and Game Immersion 47 Bodiliness and Embodiment 51 Bodiliness In World of Warcraft 56 Games As Rituals 62 III. Amici et Familiae, a History 68 The Family That Slays Together 68 IV. Insulting the Meat 98 Ideology and Software Design 104 Warcraft Guilds of the Kalahari 113 Emergent Play In MMORGs 116 Meritocracy, Subversion, and the Project of the Self 119 V. “git gud,” Get Banned, or Get Mods 121 Night (Elf) School 122 Cheating 140 Design, Learning, and the Player As Platonic Ideal 150 Addons 156 VI. Conclusion 164 Gaming and Power Relationships 179 Embodiment and Virtual Reality 181 Closing Remarks 186 Works Cited 193 Curriculum Vita 204 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: A map of the game world, Azeroth. 6 Figure 2: WoW user interface. 8 Figure 3: My virtual representation in WoW. 14 Figure 4: An aerial view of Stormwind. 15 Figure 5: Suramar. 15 Figure 6: Character panel in WoW. 57 Figure 7: An example of a transmogrified weapon. 59 Figure 8: Screenshot of a typical raid boss battle. 63 Figure 9: Leveling map of the continent of Kalimdor. 90 Figure 10: Shades of Wacquant. 130 Figure 11: Default action icons for a druid character. 152 Figure 12: Customized action icons for a druid character. 152 Figure 13: Homepage of the CurseForge website. 157 Figure 14: An example of a Oculus Rift “home.” 185 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks go first to a student of mine many moons ago, Miriam Winter, who pointed out to me that someone really should do an ethnography of World of Warcraft. She got the ball rolling, so to speak. Of course, I must also thank my dissertation committee members Thomas Malaby, Kalman Applbaum, Benjamin Campbell, and Ingrid Jordt for their suggestions, constructive crit- icism, and extreme patience as I wrestled this work into its final form. Thomas Malaby was my advisor, and provided invaluable insight, support, and advice without which I would doubtless still be struggling to even begin writing. It almost goes without saying that this work would be much the poorer without his constant assistance. A round of thanks go to my comrades-in-arms Laya Liebeseller, Krista-Lee Malone, and Josh Rivers. It is oftentimes helpful to have people to bounce ideas off of, however ill-thought out, and these three deserve special commendations for letting me dribble off at the mouth when I needed to most. Some of those dribbles eventually turned into a significant chunk of Chapter 2, which would not have happened without their input. Extra special thanks to all of the gamers who shared their time with me, allowing me to ask them odd questions, aim video cameras at their faces, and record raid nights for my research. I also thank Brian Randolph, wherever he is. Cliche aside, you were right, Brian — it took me a while, but I did it. viii I am grateful to Lynn Ollswang for helping me to stay sane and to stay focused on what needed to be done to complete this dissertation at long last. Another round of thank-yous go to my parents, Jan and Jon, and my brother Alex. All three managed to avoid incessantly asking me the one thing you should never, ever ask a disser- tator: “So, when are you going to be finished?” Thanks for being supportive without being over- bearing, guys. While not offering gratitude necessarily, I offer acknowledgments to my feline compan- ions Banshee and (the late, lamented) Siouxsie. Both took extraordinary interest in my handwrit- ten notes, along with a keen fixation on my computer screen and keyboard while conducting fieldwork and writing. Banshee in particular was a close companion on my headrest while en- gaged with World of Warcraft, offering silent but pointed advice on playing a feral druid. Finally, I offer my eternal thanks to my wife Christina. She more than anyone else showed a breathtaking level of patience and love while I completed my degree. Grad school is a homewrecker, and I’m grateful that she stuck with me through the entire process. As one is always required to say in instances like this, all of the aforementioned people contributed to my success in some way, shape, or form, but I take full responsibility for the fol- lowing work, and any mistakes or catastrophes are mine and mine alone. ix Chapter 1: Introduction The Stage Is Set “I have to get things ready for him,” eight-year-old Vince said, referring to his younger brother Henry. I observed as the boy pulled a child-sized easy chair in front of the family couch with a sense of solemnity, facing the large flat-screen television in the cluttered living room. It was a formal process, this preparation, with a familiarity of movement that suggested this was something that he was used to doing on a regular basis. Vince indicated my guess was correct when I asked him. After arranging the chair just so, he pushed a small end table to its right. Then came a couple of large pillows, placed in front of the chair. “Is that a foot rest?” I asked. Vince nodded in confirmation. Next came the final step; the boy placed a Playstation game controller on the end table. Ritual complete, his six-year-old brother was now ready to begin playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. Calling him over once finished, Henry sat in his chair, looking like nothing so much as a pajama-clad king with his older brother acting as trusted, dutiful advisor behind him on the couch, both staring with rapt attention as the game began to load that Saturday morning. World of Warcraft (WoW) is the most successful computer game in the massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORG) genre. At its height of popularity in 2008, the game commanded the attention of some 12 million players, a remarkable feat given that not only does the base game cost US$50, but access means an additional fee of US$15 per month. Going live in 2004, as of 2019 subscription numbers are no longer released publicly by Blizzard. 1 Unconfirmed numbers as of this writing place current subscribers at roughly 2 million (Gadgets 360, 2018), but WoW still has more players than any other MMORG by an order of magnitude. WoW is perhaps unique among other games of this type, given its longevity and total number of active player accounts.
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