Posts Tagged: reality

Virtual societies are still a confusing topic for most people.  In a sense, these online worlds could encourage a further decline in real life social interactions among our already digitally crazed communities.  But virtual societies are an interesting phenomenon if studied closely.

We’ve all heard the stories of online world players being sucked into their games and devoting all of their free time (and even work time!) to progressing through the digital scenario.  This obsession has become so extreme in some cases that it disrupts not only the natural flow of the person’s day-to-day routines but also the people around them.  These virtual players are more a part of their online communities than the real world.  Food and sleep are the only elements of actual life that these gamers continue to resort back to in our actual human environment.  Otherwise, they have no use for reality.

It is interesting to note that virtual worlds compress human behavior by stripping away offline interactions and focusing on the core elements deemed important to its participants.  Virtual societies are not concerned with the day-to-day stresses of actual life.  Some may see these digital places as an escape from reality.  While online communities used to be seen as purely recreational, they are now being considered normal.  They are becoming ingrained into social situations outside of simple games by entering the corporate and educational realms.  Virtual classrooms and office meetings can now be found in virtual environments, allowing participants in any time zone and from any location.

We used to have the mindset of “I’m going to sit down and go on the Internet” during the 90s.  Today, the Internet is connected and always changing even when we may not be sitting in front of a screen.  This is now the case with virtual societies.  These are worlds that continue to progress no matter which players are online or not.  Nothing stops the progression just like in the real world.

By studying people’s habits, actions, and reactions to virtual societies, we can learn about basic human behavior.  It allows us to take away the burdens of our actual lives and see what truly motivates individuals.  Maybe we can learn a thing or two about ourselves from digital communities?  Or maybe virtual societies will become the only reality of the future.  Only time will tell.

After the discussion on the emergence of particular types of games and in general the emergence of the virtual world, it can be said the virtual world takes the place of a “real” world for many people, or does it? By the 1980’s, some social MUD’s focused on a social aspect and for a text based game, that could be difficult to convey but when the shift from MUD’s to Massively Multi-player games, it was evident that the growth of the virtual world would expand to many walks of life. The introduction of graphical games has contributed to physically seeing what they could not before and as human beings, seeing is believing. The popularity of World of Warcraft is an example of this visualization emergence because in our society, war is a prominent issue that is discussed in the news. Nonetheless, I do not believe World of Warcraft correlates to the war our country is currently fighting, it provides a path and opportunity to know and understand war. I have never played this game so I am not going to speak on its behalf when it comes to the emotion it conveys but just the title provides some what of an interesting visual stimulus.

In our reading for Monday, the authors state it is “shared interests that provide a reason for people to come together on the internet, while networks of practice provide the technological means to share and create practices,” could this be a definition of media convergence and how the virtual world has contributed in many ways to the perceptions of reality? I think the virtual world has undoubtedly contributed to the “idea” or concept of media convergence. I think what the author said is a great way to describe the design process of certain video game types. The shared interests of the users is imperative but who is designing the technology is imperative as well. The games are carefully analyzed, studied, played, scored, rated, etc before they even hit the market. Why this false reality people?

My second question was: are the visual mediums that provide a sense of place, space and physiological embodiment only hindering users from experiencing actual reality because users find comfort in their own home from the “real life” virtual world they see on a computer screen or television?

I think there are some cases where many people find comfort in a game and facing everyday life becomes a chore and a task. These extreme cases hinder the individual from interacting through interpersonal , face-face communication which many psychologists say contribute to a healthier professional atmosphere. I am not saying it is necessarily unhealthy to play these games but it walks a fine line when it comes to actually helping with communication growth but yet again, or does it? I also think this is a tough area to study and study effectively because there are some things that games contribute positively but does the bad outweigh the good here? Addiction to technology is becoming the fastest growing illness in todays era and although technology is a broad term, the virtual world is a large chunk of that term.

3. Due to the virtual world, is there a separation from imagination and reality anymore? Are these games “just games” anymore? I do not think these games are “just” games nowadays. There has been an increase in crimes of passion relating to virtual worlds and there is little separation between reality and imagination. These games are consuming the lives of people of all ages and it’s not letting up. The popularity of these crime games has seen an all time high during the past few years and when will it stop or when will there be another route established in relation to this issue? There are many things involved with the virtual world that makes it hard to fix the problem. It is a worldwide phenomenon and I do not see any deviance in the future.

1. The authors state it is “shared interests that provide a reason for people to come together on the internet, while networks of practice provide the technological means to share and create practices,” could this be a definition of media convergence and how the virtual world has contributed in many ways to the perceptions of reality?

2. Are the visual mediums that provide a sense of place, space and physiological embodiment only hindering users from experiencing actual reality because users find comfort in their own home from the “real life” virtual world they see on a computer screen or television?

3. Due to the virtual world, is there a separation from imagination and reality anymore? Are these games “just games” anymore?

Week 12: Virtual Societies

Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter
– Thomas and Brown

1.  Thomas and Brown explain while all games provide players with a context for experiential learning, only a few create a context for learning that is primarily social in nature.  Of those that do create this social context, only a handful have the special property to allowing the players who engage in the space to actually create and change and evolve the world they inhabit.  Therefore, since higher learning is a result of the games that allow for player impact on the world, shouldn’t more games of this nature be encouraged rather than deemed as a time-waster?

2.  The article states the visual component of virtual worlds has redefined the landscape of online interaction away from text and toward a more complex visual medium that provides a sense of place.  Should the internet as a whole take on more of this “virtual place” component through avatars to promote social interaction as though in the real world?  In other words, should all sites (search engines, news pages, e-commerce) require a users presence through an avatar.

3.  The function of games has always been to separate play from “ordinary life.”  However, in recent years we have seen many people feel more comfortable in virtual “game” worlds than our real world.  Games today have many qualities of the physical world such as economies, social institutions, reputation, governance, etc.  Should the notion of “separate play from ordinary life” be scrapped as our digital world evolves into a blend of reality and virtual?  Is it possible that our way of life may not support separate platforms in the future?

Ethical Issues in Second Life
– Botterbusch and Talab

1.  There is been endless debate concerning copyright in relation to our digital world.  Have we reached a point in human existence that requires a change in laws thanks to the digital technology now surrounding our lives?  The past 100 years has seen more growth than any other time in history and our way of life today is vastly different than centuries before.  Therefore, a change in traditional laws may be in order to fit our time.

2.  As stated by Botterbusch and Talab, more than one author has noted that ethical issues in Second Life seem to be detached from the fear of consequences in the “real world” (such as illegal file sharing, spamming, multiple identities, illicit materials, etc).  Is this behavior being carried over to the real world by younger generations that seem to carry a disregard for online regulations?  Are games such as Second Life a bad influence and teaching disregard for regulations?

3.  Are the actions of avatars an indication of how that person will react in reality?  Or have people learned to distinguish between real world and virtual world behaviors or personalities?

Staging the new retail drama: At a metaverse near you!
– Papagiannidis and Bourlakis

1.  We all find advertising distracting and annoying, unless it happens to be one of the few ads relating to our likes.  Is it ethically wrong for advertisers to have information about your personal shopping habits in order to better filter ads that are more suited to your likes?  Would the more focused ads be positive (showing the consumer all the choices they have for products they would truly consider) or would it become negative (by overwhelming the consumer and not providing variety to items they may have never considered before)?

2.  There are many cases where avatars do not represent the actual person in real life.  Therefore, would the shopping habits of consumers in virtual worlds be a reflection of what those same consumers would purchase in the actual world?  Can marketers enter virtual worlds with the same focus as real life?

3.  Would shopping in virtual shopping world deem more profitable than simple e-commerce sites we see today?  Virtual worlds bring forth the social elements that people people enjoy about a shopping experience.

Payne reading

1.  So many of today’s video games create realistic war scenarios in family living rooms through a gaming console.  Would video games be as popular as they are if they encouraged less violent conduct?

2.  Should the military keep it’s advanced technology to themselves?  Does society need to experience realistic war combat in the same form that the military trains with?

3.  The more realistic the video game, the more believable and entertaining the experience for younger generations of gamers.  Are warfare video games “unhealthy” and destroying our future leaders if wars are portrayed as “realistic fun”?

4. The gaming industry is now more prosperous than the film industry.  What is it about gaming that has more people hooked?  Is a video game version of “Netflix” (Gameflix??) a possibility for the future?