Module 2.5: All The World's a Game

Image courtesy of TORLEY via Flickr.

Creative Commons Licence.

This week's iLecture was given by David Savat. He discussed how the military use game simulators for training. He stated World of Warcraft (WOW) is more than just a game. It's a commercial product consumed worldwide. It's bigger than the film industry. (Savat, 2011). I was surprised by this. I was sure the film industry was more profitable than gaming! He explained that MMORPG's are a construct. Rules enable actions and relations and govern behaviour. There are open designs like Second Life and Project Entropia, where you can create content for the game and you own the rights to it. There are also and closed designs like WOW and Everquest where you can't change much not alter the game world. He also coined the term 'gold farmer's as those people who trade virtual goods for real money.

I watched a TV show called Taboo: Fantasies on National Geographic channel this week which showed a Second Life gamer who makes enough money from the game not to have to go out to work. His avatar name is 'Stroker' and he sells virtual sex beds in the game Second Life. He sells them for Linden dollars which equates to US dollars. He lives in a huge home in Florida near the beach, has a wife and kids and plays this 'game' every day. He has built up a reputation in Second Life for a commodity which players want - and are happy to pay big bucks for. This video shows a snippet of his wares and discusses a law suit where Stroker is suing another avatar for creating copies of the sex bed.

David also explained the term 'grief-play' where players are getting killed in real life for actions within a game. A grief player engages in playing to disrupt or distress other players’ gaming experiences, and derives enjoyment from such behaviour (Lin & Chuen-Tsai, 2005).

The reader by Coleman & Dyer-Witheford explained the terms commons and commodities. Commons are referred to as those items which players use, but not own. Commodities are exchanged for profit. What I didn't realise was how big the gaming industry is It is estimated that, in 2005, World of Warcraft alone was bringing Blizzard, its developer, over $700 million a year, while worldwide MMOG revenues were over $1.5 billion. This seems no commons, but a game commodity par excellence (Coleman & Dyer-Witherford, 2007).

Discussion:
How is user production in games different from other forms of media consumption? Or isn't it?We can't alter other media content, we can only complain about it, comment on it or ignore it. Within some games we can alter it. As David Savat explains in his iLecture: there are open designs like Second Life and Project Entropia where you can create content. That content belongs to you. There are also closed design games like World of Warcraft and Everquest where you cannot change much in the game world.

As there is no commonly agreed definition of User Generated Content (UGC) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has proposed three main characteristics:

• Publication requirement - UGC has to be published in some context (e.g. on a website or on a social networking site)
• Creative effort - A “certain amount of creative effort [has to be] put into creating the work”. It is particularly important that “users add their own value to the work”
• Creation outside of professional routines and practice - typically UGC is created without the “expectation of remuneration” (Clever et al. n.d.)

Check out this video about an avatar from Second Life suing another avatar for stealing one of his. It's an interesting story.

References:
Clever, N., Kirchner, A., Schray, D., and Schulte. (n.d). User Generated Content. Retrieved from http://www.wi.uni-muenster.de/wi/studieren/io/ws08-09/essay/IEessay%20user-generated%20content.pdf


Coleman, S., & Dyer-Witheford, N. (2007). Playing on the Digital Commons: collectivities, capital and contestation in videogame culture. Media Culture Society, 29(934). doi: 10.1177/0163443707081700

Lin, H., & Chuen-Tsai, S. (2005). The 'White eyed player culture' : Grief Play and Construction of Deviance in MMORP's Retrieved from http://www.digra.org/dl/db/06278.21161.pdf

Woods, S (2011). Topic 2.4: Play with me [iLecture]. from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/lectopia.lasso?ut=3453