What the Avatar Represents

The claim to a more attractive personal appearance than one may truly have is a common theme in the online social interaction scene, so much so that it has actually become a cliche. It only makes sense, then, that when it is not only accepted , but encouraged to actually create a character to represent oneself with an almost infinite amount of physical traits to choose from, that a person would choose to create the avatar with all of the attributes they may wish they had.

Many people who decide to use the social interaction provided through gaming as their primary source of human contact are often unhappy with some aspect of their life, so it is only natural that when escaping to their world online they endow themselves with all of the traits they admire. This also explains why the more attractive avatars are treated better by the other players. The players have all placed value in certain traits such as height and beauty, so they not only desire to posses these characteristics, they also admire these things in others.

Part of the unique experience of gaming online is the freedom of all restraints from one's reality and the the entry into a new limitless reality available at the click of a mouse, complete with new friends. These exciting new worlds, however, are still ultimately populated by the human beings behind the screens, and many social issues that occur in society also occur in online societies. Thus, it is not so surprising that these online societies often put great power in physical appearance, just as we do in our own society offline.

Avatar

I think this is a rather interesting question i think when it comes to an individuals avatar it has alot to do with their self esteem and interests. From what i saw on world or warcraft the first ten minutes i was on there i think that when it comes to avatars on mmo's i think that peoples avatars reflect the person that they are with the cross with what they think relates best with the game. As i saw when i was on there normal bodies with a different head and vice versa. I do think that an individuals self esteem can have an effect on what their avatar looks like, however im sure it will in some cases but i think that this is more for people who are more interested in socialising Etc.

Ethics, Gaming and Altruism

In your reading for today, Noah Barron discussed the ethics of online communities seen through his eyes with the help of a USC researcher. The USC researcher seems rather pessimistic regarding online games such as WOW as teaching tools when he states, "Games can't necessarily work as teaching tools, but they can teach ethics and civic engagement," We'll see that he is wrong on his first point tomorrow. While he downplays games as educational resources he does state they are useful for teaching "ethics and civic engagement".

I would definitely agree with the second part of the researchers findings regarding ethics and disagree with the first. My response comes from ten years of experience as an educator, and a lifetime of gaming. While not terribly well written, the article highlights the issue of creating ethical communities in a virtual world where we must leave out bodies behind. This creates the opportunity for some interesting comparisons. Consider the game developers and in game monitors (GMs)as a policing agency capable of enforcing egregious transgressions. Then consider how people behave in light of the knowledge that actions have consequences.

Later in the article, the author of the article, not the researcher, contradicts the research findings by stating "In the end though, none of these attributes amount to altruism or actual ethics, which are the ingredients to real social world-building."
What is real social world building though? What constitutes ethical behavior? I'm not sure the author was wise to contradict the research on this one. Take a look at this brief definition of Ethics from Santa Clara University and compare it to the guild web page i had you review for homework. If you read closely you will see a lot of similarities pop up.

Blizzard Entertainment, the parent company of WOW, does have rules and regulations regarding behavior which can be punishable by banishment from the game but many of these rules and regulations go far beyond that.

In addition, online worlds are actually full of people who regularly commit acts of random kindness. As a player of WOW I've received help from players of the opposing faction when i was overwhelmed with enemies, I've had people give me money and items they no longer needed or didn't want, and often higher level folks will donate time to run lower level folks through tough dungeons. The perpetrators of these acts have no remuneration other than the satisfaction of knowing they have done the right thing. How often during the day do strangers give you money or help you out when you are down? I know the argument is that these things are not "real", but the time invested in acquiring them is, and so is the time they invest is helping strangers. To me, that is ethical and altruistic because time is how we measure the span of our lives on Earth. Minutes and hours of our lives are more precious than dollars because we can't ever make more.

For Wed: This article on Games as learning tools

Also look at this site which a is a resource for teachers. Take a moment and look at some of the lesson plans. Many of them are quite impressive.

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I think that what a person chooses to represent themselves with speaks volumes about them! A person with low self esteem might try and compensate for it by creating an unrealistic version of themselves. This is something that they can control and is a way that they seek positive reenforcement. I did find it interesting in the article that the mixed attributes were not desirable in the least. A short, attractive avatar was veiwed worse than a non attractive avatar! I guess in the gaming world if you can have it then go all the way!

Plato's allegory of the cave

I was looking over this past weeks assigments and realized I never posted for Tuesdays' topic!



My interpretation of Plato's Allegory of the Cave is that its about self reflection. I interpreted it to mean that we all have "chains" which I see as burdens, sorrows, troubles that bond us to the "darkness" which i see as our own personal struggles and that the "sun "would represent moving forward and letting go of our burdens, sorrows, and troubles. That at first when we try to let go it's difficult and we may stumble back into the "darkness," but that through time and through working through our troubles we are able to eventually let them go. This being that we are able to see the future as a positive place and that while we could easily wallow in our sorrows, that we have the ability to move forward and help others to do the same. But at the same time we also have the choice to not do this and stay in darkness. It's a choice.

Proteus and Dionysus

I hope you all enjoyed a restful weekend. I know i had plenty to do and still have "miles to go before i sleep". The reading for today was a short on and highlighted the similarities between how people act in real life and in virtual environments. We are all affected by other perceptions of who we are. Have you ever felt guilty when you "let someone down" and then worked extra hard to please them? I know as a child that was often the case with my grades in math class.

As we mature we feel as if we have more control over the reins of our psyche. However as Dionysus proves to us we are only in control of half of what is really going on. The human psyche is a pretty complex thing, and something that humans don't yet fully understand. As Dionysus points out to us the hard lines between conscious and unconscious action and intent are often blurred. This is something the studies done on the Proteus effect have proven:
"Together, these two studies show that our virtual bodies can change how we interact with others in actual avatar-based online communities as well as in subsequent face-to-face interactions."

Furthermore, Proteus and Dionysus are closely related in their adaptability, versatility and mutability. These two divinities are hard to pin down in one form or another and both reflect aspects of the human psyche. Dionysus is largely representative of our unconscious mind and unacknowledged desires and intents, as well as our propensity to engage in "taboo" acts.

Just as the Proteus effect plays itself out in the virtual world, the Dionysian aspects of our unconscious also find ample ground on which to play. Much like the forest of the typical fairy tale, the virtual landscape is one upon which the normal rules do not apply. Magical and amazing things can happen there and it can be a land of transformation for our virtual, and actual selves. Heroes, dragons and damsels in distress all come to life; reawakening fantastic notions of what could be. Later in the week I'd like to look at the Mythic elements of what many online games are about as this explains much of the appeal. But after reading this article "On Crime and Crossdressing" i got thinking about on-line issues that would have serious implications in real life if carried out.

For tomorrow please take a look at: "The Ethics of On-line Gaming" and This site which belongs to a World of Warcraft guild in relation to Ethical communities.

Game Choice

The game I chose was world of war craft. The factors that helped me choose this game was how popular the game and how I always see commercials for the game. So i figured that it must be a good game if it is so popular. I always wondered what this game was like because I used to play computer games like this all the time when I was younger but it was more of a history/war game called ages of the empires. It wasn't so much a fantasy type of game such as WOW. The thing that appealed to me the most was how you can create your own character. I downloaded the free trial, but I haven't really played around on the game yet besides creating my character and learning how to move around. I expect to see a different side of gaming that I have not ventured into yet. I usually don't play these types of games but I am actually looking forward to playing it.