STAR WARS GALAXIES: CONTROL AND RESISTANCE IN ONLINE GAMING BY MIKE DENNY, B.A./B.A. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Law Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario April 20, 2010 ©2010, Mike Denny Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-79579-8 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-79579-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extra its substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Abstract This thesis examines policing and social surveillance in the context of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, a Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game. I demonstrate how Sony Online entertainment (SOE) fabricates a "hyper-panoptic" environment for the monitoring of hundreds of thousands of subscribers through both the End User License Agreement (EULA) and the computer coded architecture of the game. SOE systematically attempts to condition the subscriber base into an abiding and docile group that acts to reinforce the system. The surveillance system, of course, has its limits and subscribers eventually revolted after their stakes in conformity were swept away by wholesale, profit-driven changes to the game. By critiquing online surveillance, of "pharming," the co-option of leading subscribers, and the effective use of online resistance, this thesis uncovers both the power relations and the practices of social control that they support. 11 Acknowledgements A very special thanks to Professor George Rigakos. This project could not be completed without your incredible support. Thank you Sir for the opportunity to learn from you. I would like to thank some very special past and present educators and members of Carleton University and the Law Department who have made an incredible difference with me: former President of Carleton University, David Atkinson, Professor Jane Dickson-Gilmore, Professor Diana Majury, Professor Neil Sargent, and Professor Peter Swan. I also must thank Barb Higgins and Andrew Squires. I would like to thank my online friends for listening to me talk about my research with great patience for so long: BurningSpear, Kobie Pace, Cobie Pace, Ian Pace, Lexxin, ThrillKiU, Fred, Mav, Mell Kerrigan, everyone in PACE and RoH. I would also like to thank Redhand, Disfigured, HillBilly, MottyBlum, z088208, Vaughngoalie, Kingredv, Sinl4216, SRT, Fyrinn, BOWTIEKILLER, Wildthang22, Skullcrusher089, Augerhand, Sleazell and everyone from RLMMO.com and MMOFringe.com. I would also like to thank my close friends Kris (a.k.a. Hippie), Brian, Ian and Peter. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents and brother for all their support. I just do not have the words. iii Disclaimer I have to the best of my abilities reproduced quotes as they were written, including spelling and grammatical errors. IV Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Disclaimer iv Table of Contents v Introduction 1 Chapter 1 7 Chapter 2 25 Chapter 3 40 Chapter 4 68 Chapter 5 119 Chapter 6 140 List of Appendices 155 Glossary 156 References 165 Electronic References 167 v Introduction EXPERIENCE THE GREATEST STAR WARS SAGA EVER TOLD - YOURS Marketing banner for Star Wars Galaxies (reverse of retail box) In the summer to early fall of 2003,1 learned of an online game titled Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. Having been a lifelong fan of all things Star Wars, I began researching this new (to me) type of computer game. It was a Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG; "MMO," for short). The game required a more powerful computer than I owned at the time. Within a month or two, I had bought a new one and installed the game, clicked the I AGREE button regarding the rules and licence agreement, and begun experiencing the game as a new player in the simulated world of Tatooine in a galaxy far, far away. As soon as I started playing Star Wars Galaxies (SWG), I became aware (more and more) of how the players policed themselves in a world without corporeal authority, and how some evaded the customer service representatives (CSRs; also referred to as game masters, or GMs) employed by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). The GMs could be nowhere or everywhere, and it seemed that no one knew when they were being watched. I and many others, therefore, just went about our gaming pleasure, fascinated by SWG's culture and by Star Wars fandom generally. In 2006, a few weeks into a course on "Policing and Social Surveillance," I began making historical, legal, and theoretical connections between SWG and the course 1 lectures. Those connections led me to wonder about SOE's surveillance abilities: the company had built and was maintaining an online environment that enabled it to police an international subscriber base that numbered, as soon as the game was launched, more than 250,000 players. Before beginning the course's major term paper, I discussed this with my professor, George Rigakos. I wanted to take the special-project option as provided for by his course outline. Specifically, I wanted to write an essay about online gaming and social surveillance. While researching that essay, I noted the dearth of academic knowledge on this underresearched area. Clearly, this was a topic I could carry with me to grad school. This Study in Context Playing MMORPGs like Star Wars Galaxies is a popular pastime for millions of people around the world. This thesis examines historic ideas about policing and social surveillance and relates them (and the practices that have grown out of them) to SWG. The current state of the law and SWG's particular technology have combined so that subscribers play in a "hyperpanoptic" virtual world. I also examine how SOE has profited from its surveillance even while minimizing the costs of policing and monitoring the subscriber base. I also show how SOE has used computer code and law to turn panopticism into a real-world business tool for monitoring a revenue-generating subscriber base. I ask two main questions relating to the game's hyperpanoptic design: Where is the real money? And how is making money linked to surveillance? I will be answering 2 these questions largely by applying a critical sensibility, with a particular focus on online power relations. Star Wars Galaxies—its design, launch, and controversial changes—can tell us a great deal about surveillance theory and social relations and how both have impacted modern capitalism. This thesis will demonstrate that panopticism is an active component of online games—indeed, it is "designed in." Subscribers to SOE's products are in effect paying to be surveilled and have agreed to waive their legal rights in order to consume a product. Social hierarchy has reinforced SOE's regulatory and monitoring activities to the point that the company has invited some subscribers to join its Warden Program in order to thwart the activities of third-party businesses. In the same surveillance context, I will also be examining the player "Senate," which works with the developers to solve various issues within the game. And I will be questioning the role of the Influencer Program, to which are invited Web forum subscribers who are acknowledged for their positive and negative commentary on SOE. This thesis will demonstrate that many subscribers are actually helping SOE achieve its objectives instead of mounting effective resistance. The legal arrangement between SOE and the subscribers gives the latter no real standing, since only influencers, senators, and wardens can exist within the governing system, and SOE offers these people only the illusion of control or authority.1 These are not recognized as having authority by SOE's End User License Agreement (EULA), which subscribers accept in order to play the game. 3 Objectives of This Study This thesis has three main objectives. First, to raise awareness and analyze social surveillance in online games and its connection to corporate profits. Second, to demonstrate that through resistance (both inside and outside the panopticon), subscribers and third-party businesses have evolved to such a degree that SOE is now rethinking its business model with the idea of embracing "real money transfers" (RMTs).