Communities of Play Chapter 2: Emergent cultures in multiplayer games and virtual worlds By Melissa Getz October 20, 2014 EDTECH 531

Principle Characteristics of Virtual Worlds  Spatial  Contiguous  Explorable  Persistent  Embodied Persistent Identities  Inhabitable  Consequential Participation  Populous  Worldness

In Other Words  A virtual world is like real life, except you can’t actually taste the food you eat in the virtual world. If they could figure out how to mimic the taste of food, I bet they would do it, though.  For a virtual world to work, the player needs to be a first person participant who makes decisions, is able to move, and can interact with other players and the surroundings.

Avatars  This is how a player looks when s/he is behaving in the virtual world.  It can be treated like how you used to dress up when you were a kid to act out different personas, or even what your Halloween costume did for your ego.  There are people studying the psychology of how avatars are chosen and the enhancements they’re given.

Avatars  Avatars have a theme, depending on the world  Some worlds don’t require a specific shape or form, but other games work better when the players have some uniformity.  For example in Minecraft we can change our skins, but otherwise look identical, and in Second Life we can be either gender and wear anything we like.

My take on avatars  I spend too much time worrying about what my avatar will look like. There really is a lot that goes into it because I feel like there is even more pressure to look a specific way with my avatar than when I’m a human person.  I wish I could play in a space where what I looked like did not matter.  There is too much emphasis in some virtual worlds on what we look like and what that communicates, much like in real life.

My take on avatars part 2  For some this is a welcome relief. From what little I’ve seen, nobody’s avatar is a cancer survivor, unable to walk, or have any other medical or physical impairments.  For some, this animosity and façade is a fun one to try on. For others, it is awkward because I literally don’t feel like I’m in my own body. Should a disability be a part of my persona anyway?

Emerging Cultures through Play  Free  Separate  Uncertain (spontaneous happenings)  Unproductive (huh?)  Regulated (has rules or other parameters)  Fiction, make-believe

How are games and play related?  Are games that really never end, more like play?  Or is play that ends a game?  Does play have to have rules like games do?  Do games have to have rules?

How are games and play related?  Arguments in the chapter sound feasible when they are stated, but it is confusing because there is so much overlapping and broad way of describing each.  Are games like Minecraft a game like Scrabble? Obviously they are very different, but are both games? Do we play in both situations?

How are games and play related?  The differentiation between games that have an end-point or specific goals are different than the play spaces that are open-ended and are more experimental sandboxes.  Will Wright coining the term “possibility spaces” for games like Sim City or Spore

Ludic vs Paidiaic Worlds  Ludic- serious, structured, goal-oriented - these are games  Paidiaic- frivolous, unstructured, goal being to have fun - these are play

Worlds and their rules  More paidiaic than ludic, yet they still have some structure  Communication protocols- physical method of communicating  Group formation protocols- how to make them, who is in them, who is excluded  Economics- are there virtual objects to own, privileges to buy, or minimal amounts required to accomplish something

Worlds and their rules cont’d  Land/ home ownership- Do I have a home, is my existence nomadic, why do I want a home or own a piece of land  Avatar- any restrictions, can I change it, will it define me or do I still get to prove myself through my actions  Geography/ terrain / transportation- how do I move, do I have to move, what is my incentive or process of moving

Dichotomous Key  Should there be a dichotomous key to categorize games and play?  Is it necessary? Why / why not?

Connection to Standardized Tests  Is the player trying to figure out what the game designer intended and the game designer anticipating what the player will do in a given domain that much different than students trying to figure out how to decipher the best approach to a specific standardized test?  Isn’t all of schooling like the game- the player trying to figure out the rules so s/he can survive?