Gamers who commonly purchased gaming devices such as a Playstation or an Xbox, are now using ‘massive multiplayer online role-playing games MMORPGS or MMOGS (massive multiplayer online games), which concurrently involve thousands and thousands of users (Zwart & Humphreys, 2014).
Some popular examples include Guild Wars, Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft and Eve. These game environments involve characters teaming and interacting to solve dilemmas, or compete quests for power-up items and experience. These newly popular, massive, multiplayer online games are often named as the most addictive in the nature of gaming and online communities. The main goal of game designers under this category is to design games that people want to play and play often. Designed to motivate players to keep coming back for more, the more interesting, challenging and exciting the game is the more time and money the users will spend, especially when there is no ending to a game.
Take World of Warcraft for example, no one can rightfully claim they actually won or beat World of Warcraft because this is impossible as the game goes on and on. Therefore consumers are induced to continue playing and paying and make this activity a part of their lives. These multiplayer online worlds are an example of our online virtual communities. A virtual community can be defined as a social network of individuals whom act together through specific medias, potentially crossing boundaries in order to chase mutual goals or interests.
Gamers tend to heavily involve themselves in these virtual environments for reasons of escapism, senses of achievement, socialization and the ability to manipulate other users in a game space.
In these virtual communities role-playing occurs constantly as gamers take on the identity of a character, which can be thrilling but harmful if excessively pursued.
Goffman suggested in his book ‘Frame Analysis’, that we frequently experience and negotiate our lives through a sequence of frames (Zwart & Humphreys, 2014). We act and present elements of ourselves and perform different roles to different viewers. We may move between our frames and easily slip into our variety of roles. Online gamers collaborate a series of frames, as they play, moving from themselves as an embodied person - the player and then as the character within an online fantasy world.
At times players find themselves shifting across boundaries in an environment. Framing enables one to identify with the multiple roles that can be taken on by one person all at once. (Zwart & Humphreys, 2014).
When these boundaries and rules are not clearly set or defined, problems may arise, requiring regulators to come into play. Virtual worlds develop internal rules that govern how players interact and connect within these spaces, to endure a safe, enjoyable, fair and legal environment. The effects and play of power may be a significant part of online communities and games but all legitimate rules and laws must be understood and accepted by the users (Suzor & Woodford, 2013). Zwart and Humphreys describes online environments such as massive multiplayer online games, as contractual spaces. There are rules and limits of conduct, resulting in user license agreements that the user must accept to access the game platform. The governance of social gaming focuses on the areas of user public and private social relations; it values privacy, expression and security (Zwart & Humphreys, 2014).
Like a physical environment, virtual communities need to have a sense of governance so that the community members feel safe and secure in that environment. Online gaming spaces are communities; players are constantly chatting, sharing and sending each other items, audio talking and even expanding their connection to other social network or physical meetings. Gamers take their experiences, ideas and opinions to forums for further communities as well as meeting and greetings with other gamers. This is expressing and expanding an online social community, of hobby, enjoyment and passion, an example of this is Cosplay. Cosplay is where individuals dress up in costumes and accessorize to represent a certain character and avatar (from a game or comic). Cosplay is a global phenomenon where people from media communities of comics, video games and cartoons gather to share interests and interact with one another. This is just one example of how online communities have become social, representing how much a simple game and narrative can create a community and conversation.
Suzor N, Woodford, D 2013, Evaluating consent and legitimacy amongst shifting community norms: An EVE Online case study, Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, vol.6, no.3, pp.1-11.
Zwart, M, Humphreys, S 2014, The Lawless Frontier of Deep Space: Code as Law in EVE Online, Cultural Studies Review, vol.20, no.1, pp.77-99.
