Social schmocial: MMOG-spel för åskådarnas skull

Postat: 2006-02-08 kl. 17.50

Det är väl i och för sig inte antingen eller, men ganska intressant i sammanhanget när alla pratar om att det är den sociala aspekten som är grejen:

The "social factor" is often advanced to explain the popularity of MMOs: "it’s the people that are addictive, not the game." And indeed, social networks are essential components of the online gaming experience. Game designers build "virtual third places" to encourage interactions. Quality time in a MMO is time spent with others, be it raiding a dungeon in a group, socializing with bystanders in a cantina, or chatting with remote guildmates while exploring the wilderness on your own.

Or... is it? The data PlayOn has assembled from World of Warcraft challenges many of these assumptions.

[...]

Considering all this, it is easy to wonder why WoW’s players spend so much time (more than 10 hours per week) in this game instead of a single-player RPG! To me, WoW illustrates how a large number (the majority?) of online gamers enjoy being "alone together." The social factor at work here clearly has little to do with direct interactions and camaraderie in the context of quest groups or guilds. Instead, it looks as if other players are mostly:

• An audience (to showcase your latest "elite" gear and other accomplishments).
• A social presence (the constant flow of chat in the wide-reaching "general" channel, the movement of other avatars around you, make playing WoW somewhat analogous to reading a book in a densely populated café - while you may not necessarily choose to interact with the other patrons, the sense of being in a public social space can be attractive enough to conduct individual activities there).
• A source of spectacle and entertainment ("people watching" is fun in WoW, in part because Blizzard encouraged it by design with many humorous objects that can be appropriated by the players - the gnomes’ various trinkets with unpredictable effects, the infamous 20-lb catfish that can be used as a weapon, etc).

Terra Nova "Alone Together" in World of Warcraft? (2006-02-06)

MMOG-spelare spelar alltså mest i själva i en social miljö med skillnaden att de kan interagera med andra, att de inte känner sig ensamma (eftersom andra tjattrar) och för att visa upp sig.