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Ersitetas Socialinių Mokslų Fakultetas Sociologijos Katedra

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Ersitetas Socialinių Mokslų Fakultetas Sociologijos Katedra VYTAUTO DIDŽIOJO UNIVERSITETAS SOCIALINIŲ MOKSLŲ FAKULTETAS SOCIOLOGIJOS KATEDRA Rasa Šataitė TARP VIRTUALAUS IR REALAUS: ETNOGRAFINIS MMORPGFENOMENO TYRIMAS BETWEEN REAL AND VIRTUAL: ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH OF MMORPG PHENOMENON Magistro baigiamasis darbas Socialinės antropologijos studijų programa, valstybinis kodas 621L60001 Sociologijos studijų kryptis Vadovas: Doc. Dr. Victor de Munck _______________________ (Parašas) (Data) Apginta: SMF dekanas prof. dr. Jonas Ruškus _______________ (Parašas) (Data) Kaunas, 2012 1 Summary In the wake of recent discourses growing around metaphors like globalization and information age, information society, information and communication technologies move into cyber anthropology's focus. Although online games and online gaming communities are not new, the rising interest in online games and the number of people playing online games means that such games and the corresponding communities that seem to evolve out of then have potential to be fertile ground for social researchers. One particularly useful method is that of virtual ethnographies, or participant observation in the game itself. Through an ethnographical research of the Lord of the Rings Online and an online gaming community that has emerged within this game, this work attempts outline the process of virtual ethnography that combines emic and etic methods of data gathering adapted to the virtual context to provide a ‘true’ accounting of the social constructs inherent in the virtual world. Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are present for almost a decade now, but they have become significantly popular only over the past through years. During the past 6 years the MMORPG turned into a thriving cultural phenomenon with over 20 million people daily involved in various social interactions. MMORPGs provide a unique space for social interaction as players no longer share the same physical environment and the non-verbal communication in no longer available. In such games players also are no longer experiencing the intimacy of the environment, since the smells, touches, colors are no longer available. MMORPGs environment allow players to meet the characters from the whole world and the game remains no longer private since many different cultures now meet in public. The players now also face such issues as language barriers, time zone differences and many other issues. This work provides an ethnographical study of MMORPGs phenomenon as a cultural system with its own symbols, rules, norms, values, beliefs appropriate behaviors, goals, contexts, and status-power hierarchy through the exploration of cultural resources that the gaming community members not just create but also adapt and use within MMORPGs. Also anthropological characteristics of online gaming community are discussed revealing how MMORPGs create new mentalities changing the social structure. During the research I was following and describing the process by which individuals begin and become acculturated into the behavioral environment of MMORPGs as well as using the ethnographic-type descriptive data, I developed a hermeneutic analysis of MMORPGs cultural system that goes well beyond the game itself. 2 Acknowledgements It is a pleasure to thank the people who made this thesis possible. I wish to thank: My thesis advisor Victor de Munck, first of all, for encouraging me to continue my research on this topic. His inspiration and great efforts to explain things clearly and simply helped me a lot throughout my thesis- writing period. I really appreciate the hours spent reading my work, good advices and teaching. I would have been lost without him. My educators Vytis Čiubrinskas and Kristina Šliavaitė for constructive critique and advises on how to improve my work. Kestutis Samsonas for introducing me to my first MMORPG - the Lord of the Rings online and showed me the first steps within this mysterious place. Atanas Mahoney for believing in me and accepting me as a community member. Adam Dawes and Andy Redshaw for all the fun, jokes and conversations during my hours online. My parents Edita Šatienė and Virgis Šatas and my siblings Ame, Rika and Martynas for a loving environment, for inspiration and support of my dreams. And of course my dear friends Rasa Kuraitė, Martyna Vaitiekūnaitė who always were there for me. 3 Table of Contents Summary ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Theoretical approaches on internet communication and online communities ............................................................. 8 1.1 Cyber anthropology in its theoretical and historical contexts .............................................................................................. 8 1.2 Introducing MMORPGs ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2.1 Evolution of MMORPG ............................................................................................................................................. 10 1.2.2 Social history of MMORPGs ..................................................................................................................................... 12 1.3 Previous research overview ............................................................................................................................................... 14 1.3.1 The virtual world – real world dichotomy ................................................................................................................. 14 1.4 Conceptual framework: Culture, Community and the Game ............................................................................................ 17 1.4.1 Culture and Cognition ................................................................................................................................................ 17 1.4.2 Online communities: between the imaginary and real ............................................................................................... 21 2. Methodological challenge ............................................................................................................................................... 24 2.1 Research object ................................................................................................................................................................. 24 2.2 Virtual ethnography ........................................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................................... 28 2.4 Ethical issues ..................................................................................................................................................................... 31 2.5 Entering the field ............................................................................................................................................................... 32 3. Presentation of ethnographical data: the case of LotRO ............................................................................................. 34 3.1 MMORPG as a cultural system ......................................................................................................................................... 35 3.1.1 Player demographics: age and gender at issue ........................................................................................................... 36 3.1.2 Player interaction: ways of communication and linguistics ....................................................................................... 37 3.1.3 Adjusting in the game: rules and norms ..................................................................................................................... 43 3.2. Online community: from kinship to European gaming Community ................................................................................ 45 3.2.1 Community structure and management ..................................................................................................................... 47 3.2.2 Different types of guilds: goals and conflicts............................................................................................................. 48 3.2.3 Power relations, decision making and the burden of leadership ................................................................................ 51 3.3 Bridging the worlds: between the “real” and the “virtual” ................................................................................................ 53 3.3.2 Crossing and social boundaries .................................................................................................................................. 56 3.3.2 Friendships within and beyond the game ..................................................................................................................
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