In the word MMORPG there are the letters: RPG, i.e.: role-play game. After reading some message boards relating to this type of interactive game I decided to try Star Wars Galaxies: “That’s sound great, I will go back to my childhood when I remembered playing with Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker” I thought. Perfect! This is the game I have chosen, now let's divulge a little deeper into its specifics.
A little bit of history
During its release, SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) was described as one of the most exciting role-playing games of all time. For those who know a little bit about the Star Wars universe, the game originally takes place between the 3rd and 4th episode of the saga. The Empire monitors the Galaxy, all the Jedi are gone and the Alliance is almost dismantled. However, I noticed the game has evolved to become more a MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) than MMORPG and role-playing gamers have phased out. According to a friend who still plays, World of Warcraft, the release lead SWG’s developers to attract new players by creating some incoherence in the timeline by introducing new professions such as Jedi.
Why am I mentioning this? The background is very important to socialize and to play “well” in this game. I understood that a bit too late in my experience with the game.
Different game experiences.
As everyone I had some clichés about MMORPG players. I am sure you know what I mean. However I was surprised by all the difference between players. I met kids around 10 or 12 and one 51-year-old man. They were Star Wars fans or just player addicts. More surprisingly, no one plays the same way.
The first thing I noted – we have to really want to play to this game. I had to download it (almost 2 hours), upload it (30 mns), create my avatar (a sweet wookie jedi: yes, I’m a cool man!): 32 mns and learn the basic vocabulary “afk” (away from keyboard), “PvP”, “PvE”, “XP” (experience). I’m done! Let’s get started!
10 minutes later I realized my first mistake when I tried to talk to Ben_Yardis who told me he do not want to play with a Jedi: “they are not supposed to exist at this period”.
Disappointed, I decided to follow the tutorial and killed my first monster. We do not press buttons to control every gesture of our avatar but just one and stay in our chair to watch him beat the enemy. To be honest: this part is quite boring. The game is only interesting only if interactions are created.
I quickly found some other jedis and between two “lol” they accepted to let me play with them. We try to haunt as a team and that let us “level up” very fast. One of the players spoke while the others (including me) used their keyboard (“attack first”, “I need help to distract the creature”, “do not go there you will be …”) - was among the dialogue we exchanged. By playing with them (and ignoring their slang language or abbreviation: I did not understand everything) but learned exactly what a MMOG is: it is funny, distracting, challenging and more complex than any role game I have ever played. However something was missing: I wanted to experiment the main side of SWG - Role Playing.
The third day I decided to create another avatar. This one is a blond-male-human. To avoid any mistakes I searched on the Internet how to be a good “role-play gamer”. Some of them make groups called guilds and are RP (role playing) oriented. I chatted with some members of the Imperial Force guild and decided to play with them to experience this aspect of SWG - It was totally different.
I attend to a patrol simulation. Depending on the involvement of each player, different rankings were given. There was one officer and 4 soldiers; all of them wore appropriate clothes (officer or stormtrooper suits). They were in the story, checked ID, asked questions… The way they communicated was completely different than that of the previous game. This had a tone which was more mature, and without slang or pointless jargon about the game. My first reaction was: “oh my god, they are weird!” But after hanging out one hour with them and speaking with them about their feelings, attitudes and experiences I realized that the game can be quite exiting. It is more than a game but a real second world, a real simulation and a good way to escape from routine – one told me. When they are playing they are no longer “Dan” or “Samuel” but “officer Yeth” or “Stormstrooper 3428.” Okay I agree, after one hour I felt like it is a little bit bizarre and I need to stop, it was distracting though.
What are the differences between the first players I met and the second? The main has to do with motivation: they do not look for the same game experience. While the first group of players just wanted to let off steam with friends in the same universe (and they do not really care about what universe); the other want to build something more profound and to interact with other Star Wars fans, sharing their passion with one another. One of them told me he plays with his girlfriend after diner. When I asked why, he answered: “I dunno, I like doing that, it’s like watching TV. It’s more funny tho”.
The other difference is the age: first guys were around 13 (exactly 12, 13 and 15), the others were older (from 20 to 35). The last difference is the implication in the game: these kids are hardcore players (more than 20 hours a week), while the guild members play less often (5, 6 hours a week) but spend more time outside the game, the guild message board is very active, they share ideas, scripts… They are more closed-minded: accepting to play only with other role-play gamers and do a lot of PvP (Player versus Players). The first group, on the other hand, was very easy going and liked to play against the environment (PvE).
My last experiment was with my friend’s avatar. First amazing thing: he created a “sexy” (I don't know if I can say that about an avatar) girl who wears a bikini. I was startled and though: does he have problems with his girlfriend? But he explained it is very common. So a little advice if you are a boy: be careful, do not date anyone in SWG, you can have huge surprises!
After this shock I started to play and I understand this game was really made to create interactions: it was impossible to “level up” alone. I had to collaborate with other gamers to try to kill very big monsters and share XP. Everything is about trading, sharing, helping and even if it is not very easy to create a longtime virtual friendship, you always meet someone to speak or play with.
The other thing I noticed is the inhibition hardly existed in this virtual world: I played 3 hours with my friends character. I received 3 virtual dates, a ton of compliments, and a real date! Was this a way for some guys to become more confident? Could this be accomplished by trying to be someone else? Maybe, but it is not specific to MMORPG!
MMORPG are not made for me, I do not want to spend so much time to play and interact with people I do not know, nor do I want to spend much money on it (players pay monthly fees). I do not like the entire business aspect around the game: some guys are willing to pay 100 dollars for having their avatar leveled up. I, however, totally understand why it is attracting: it is a very unique way to play. Role-play gamers can share their passion and hard gamers can add more challenges. Even if some attitudes scare me because they seem too extreme, I met regular guys who just want to have some fun. Clichés and some critics over-exaggerate the reality. After playing almost once a day during one week and meeting a ton of people I never talked to weird/disconnected people who were trying to escape from the real word.
Is it really worse than watching TV for hours or collecting stamps?
Throughout this is entire series of posts regarding MMORPG I have been continually asking myself why anyone would want to play these games. Personally, I am not at all educated on these high tech virtual games, so reading these posts and trying to understand the concepts behind them was like trying to understand a foreign language. I just don't get it - the different realms, the avatars, the monsters, meeting other avatars....it is honestly just beyond me. When it comes to games I like the old fashioned and very simple ones, like mario kart, mario bros, sonic (my fav childhood video games). But honestly, I really never play video or computer games at all because i'm all about board games like cranium wow, apples to apples and those sorts of things. So that being said, I feel like if I were to play WoW or Star Wars Galaxies I would have a really tough time interacting and having enough patience to figure out the game in general so it was really interesting to be somewhat clued in on what these games consist of, the people, who play them, and why they have become popular.
ReplyDeleteI found this post to be really informative and it gave me a good idea of what kind of people play these games and offered an explanation of the intrigue behind them. The motivation to play these games seems to be different for everyone, depending on the age category, but overall it seems that people play these games for a fun and interesting escape. As Benoit pointed out, one guy said he found it to be like TV just more entertaining. Maybe for some people its all about making these virtual friends and creating a relationship of sort.
In the end, to each their own...for the people that have the imagination and intrigue with these games more power to them. I enjoyed learning about the games through this class and all the very informative posts because now I feel a little more clued in, but i think its safe to say im going to stick to games like scrabble and cranium.
As a disclaimer, I've never played any virtual/online game and honestly have no interest in doing so in the future. However, what I found most interesting about this post was the connection and relationship that developed between gamers. Despite their age, I think it's fascinating how close friendships can develop from playing online games. I suppose it's similar to other group activities, except for the blatant fact that most of these gamers never actually meet each other! A family friend of mine is an avid gamer, but he's not your typical stereotype. He's a 50+ age father of two daughters with a PhD is animal sciences. To say gaming is his hobby is an understatement - he is addicted to playing online games! This shows the wide variety of people who are attracted to such activities. Like Annie said, "to each their own." I simply find it interesting and think it's great that such close and potentially long-term friendships can form from what I consider an unusual and impersonal activity.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post. It was filled with both humor and good information. I really enjoyed the description of the difference between playing against the environment and role playing. I didn't realize the same game could offer two very different experiences! It was cool to learn about the demographics of the people who play in different areas of the game. I guess it makes sense when you consider what type of interaction would appeal most to different demographics... Although I'm not up for trying to play at this point in my life, I'm glad I further understand the overarching concept and some of the social benefits the game offers. I still believe people would be better off interacting in the real world...but maybe that's just me!
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ReplyDeleteLike most of you, I have never played an MMORPG type of game. The world, however fascinating I'm sure it can be, isn't one that has ever interested me. I have, however, played the SIMS and am now dabbling in Second Life for the blogs in the upcoming weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe world of gaming is so interesting to me not because of the game itself, but because of said "rules" that Benoît was explaining. You really have to commit yourself to the game or else you end up walking around not knowing what to do. I don't have the patience for this, but it makes me think that the people who play these games devote time to them like it's literally their job.
I am astounded at how much these games, like Benoît mentions, transform from virtual reality to real life so easily. This is something that I'm noticing in Second Life as well. Whereas most people go to the movies or read a book, these games become an escape for users - a vacation of sorts.
Before I leave, I want to share a story about a gamer I know from high school whose experience illustrates how games begin to take over the lives of the players. "Colin" began playing World of Warcraft at age 15. He was a boy with many friends and was involved in countless activities at school. Month after month, we began to see Colin less and less. His friends finally realized that he traded his time with his friends for time with his computer. Colin began using his parents credit card to purchase items on World of Warcraft. $500 later, Colin found himself in video game rehab. (No joke, it exists.) So what does he say today when asked why he did it?
"It controlled my life inside and out."
My hope is that these games die just as quickly as they came to life, or else people will someday liken online game playing to a gambling addiction.