MMO’s & Griefing

As the final weeks approach to exams I am still exploring the different attributes in video games such as MMO’s that I never thought existed. I have never really encountered them in online gaming and finding out different aspects about it caught my attention. Kevin discussed in yesterday’s lecture the affect of the ubiquity of the internet which has lead to creations of games which can be played online and create new storytelling spaces. Games such as “World of War Craft.” was an interesting factor for me, I found out that people globally would take upon virtual sweepstake task/ goals for the game using real currency in exchange for virtual gold. I had never heard of this before: gamers creating characters and selling them for money. MMO’s have the ability to create a storytelling space. The reason for this is because of time and particular spaces. The environment that you put yourself in when you immerse yourself in the game and after many hours you decide to leave the World of War Craft, evidently the environment is still happening even when you are not there. The experiences are always different. The narrative events are an ongoing story and there is no end point. This demonstrates how MMO’s are very dependant on community.

Another interesting factor I learnt from yesterday’s lecture is the concept of “Griefing”. It is defined as a deliberate action from gamers as being a nuisance to other game players. For example: people would find it funny to involve co ordinations of killing and ruin the game play for others. Groups or individuals would disrupt the game play and lead the online players to become very irritated, which evidently pleases the groups or individuals creating the grief. Kevin also discussed that there is also an unintentional forms of griefing which I believe I might have done once before when I would try and play on my older brothers games. I would assume by watching my brother play I knew what to do but after a few minutes, I realised that the other online players were not too pleased. I was amazed that this concept existed; it gave me a superior understanding why MMO’s are taken seriously and the different concepts that can affect the game play. I never would have thought that playing a game normally would be seen as griefing. The reason for this is because as I move and play I explore and contextualise the game experiences for myself and the others that are logged in.

In essence, I found these key terms to help understand the major factors that lie underneath MMO’s and the internet. The power and the ubiquity of the internet has lead to creations of games which can be played online and create new storytelling spaces, not only in virtual actions but also our actions outside the virtual space.