a window to the world of online gaming
Some of you may know that I have been involved in playing an online video game since the late fall of 2004. I was a part of (and an officer of) one of the leading guilds on one of the largest servers in a game that something along the lines of 5 million people play worldwide. About 60 people have worked together in a online community to continually beat new zones and bosses. You have probably noticed that I speak in past tense.
Last night several events occurred which have resulted in my guild being separated across multiple servers and not entirely on good terms. That chapter is over. This is not really all that big a deal in the long run since I had not really planned to play much longer anyway. It had become somewhat boring and was hoping to find a more productive use of my time.
However, this seemed like a good time to make some notes about things I have noticed during my time playing. First, to address the ideas of the stereo-typical gamer, when it comes to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG), there is no demographic. I have played with people from 14 years old up to 60 years old. I have played with both men and women, singles, couples, parents, and party animals, people from all over the US and scattered around the world, people who work in high places and people who work in low places, and people who play a couple hours a week, people who play 10 hours a day. In short, the only things common group you could put everyone in is “people”.
Moving on, some might say that playing a video game is a complete waste of time, but I would argue that playing a game like this can be one of the better learning experiences available. To start off with, the opportunities to work on leadership skills are enormous. It takes an incredible amount of work to organized 60+ people to work together and keep everyone happy. So much work in fact, that most guilds eventually fold under their own weight or splinter as happened with us last night. There is a continual need to match schedules in a balanced way, giving people both the off-time they need and the on-time they want. Add to that, people are basically putting in time in order to earn the right to certain in-game items. I will talk a little more about that in a second, but needless to say arguments invariably arise from time to time because people don’t agree with a decision. Mitigation of concerns is truly a continual effort and one that is absolutely needed if the guild is to remain together.
Playing this video game and being involved in the guild leadership has given me more opportunity to use, apply, and experience first-hand more economics and politics that any other thing I have been involved in, ever. As I mentioned people put in time to get rewards. This is basically a work and pay type system and some sort of economy system has to be used for distributing items. It forces people to come together and consider the pros and cons of using a capitalist free market system or a socialist economy. We have to decide if the guild is best run by a republic system or a democracy or a monarchy. Of course, none of those terms are used. The gaming world instead uses DKP, loot council, guild votes and Guild Leader, but that doesn’t change what they are.
In the gaming world, you find people who don’t really know or care about history, government, or economics learning through experience and having heated debates about things they probably slept through in school, and they aren’t even aware of it. The names change, but the concepts and the issues are still the same: possibly corrupt leaders, uneducated voters, bad voter turnout, the rich getting richer, or the lazy being supported by the rich. It’s all there; you just have to look for it. Sure you can tell someone that a socialist system tends to break down when people realize they don’t get rewarded for extra effort, but until they experience it, it may never really sink in.
Funny, I don’t think Blizzard, when creating World of Warcraft, ever considered that they were making an educational game.
FlavaJav: I read that you were maybe quitting WOW altogether.
gaminKing: I was considering it.
FlavaJav: To play another game?
gaminKing: No, to play life.
** some names altered to protect identity **
The preceeding comment was from a conversation I recently had over AIM. It was later featured in my friends profile for its humor presumably. I preserve it here for posterity.