Online gaming and the magic circle
When I think about online gaming I think about escape, I think about how players can be transported and exist in a world where gaming platforms are used to interact and fulfil their wildest fantasies of becoming a Starfleet captain, an outlaw in the wild west or tend to a herd of virtual animals on your own pixelated farm. Massive multiplayer online (MMO) games like as “Farmville” (Zynga 2018), and massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) such as “EVE Online” (Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 77) and the recently released “Wild West Online” (playwwo 2018) afford users the ability to interact with fellow users through networks exploring at times their own sense of self as much as the virtual world created for them.
EVE Online - Titan Kill (Everything EVE 2016)
In MMORPG’s such as EVE players are asked to participate in deceit, fraud, theft, and even murder, acts which go against the rules of society (Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 78), at times MMORPG’s asks participants to go outside the boundaries of acceptability of everyday standard, allowing players to interact in situations outside of the moral codes of real-world scenarios. So how do online players switch hats so to speak, how do they change from being a father, mother or office worker during the day to becoming a ruthless outlaw within online worlds antagonising fellow users?
Become an outlaw in the west (Wild West Online 2016)
Technological advances have allowed users an affordance to explore alter egos and escape reality through social networked interaction but how do users know where the borders and rules of the online world begin and end (Young & Whitty 2010, p. 1230). The magic circle theory developed by Johan Huizinga in 1939’s describes how a playing field is physically marked out “allows for the change of everyday rules and the transformation of acceptable behaviour rules” (Zwart & Humphreys 2014, p. 91), in traditional terms these are the white lines of a football pitch but online gaming networks like EVE are governed by terms and conditions which are designed to enforce the magic circle. However, participating in a game with other real-world users where the narrative explores murder, deceit and provocation the digital lines of the magic circle can become extremely blurred at times.
Racist Trolls Online (Tech Insider 2018)
Gaming Technology affords connection and a majority of players verbal interact through headsets blending their real and gaming environment together. Above is a video narrated by Terrence Miller where he discusses his experiences as a black gamer and the abuse he's been subjected to online. During the video, Miller talks to Kishonna Grey, a scholar from Arizona State University who discusses the normalisation of racism gamers of colour feel due to ongoing verbal assaults By other users (Tech Insider 2018). Network gaming affords escapism from reality but at times they raise moral questions about how far some players push its pixelated borders. I can only wonder as these online networks expand how far will technology and societies morals be pushed? Although seen as science fiction, Westworld (HBO 2018) which see’s networked cyborg experiences blended with reality have already begun through network gaming platforms.
Westworld (Lousolversons 2018)
Reference List
De 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.
HBO 2018, Westworld, HBO, 28 May 2018, <https://www.hbo.com/westworld>.
Lousolversons 2018, ‘These are all just roles’ [image], tumblr, 28 May 2018, <https://lousolversons.tumblr.com/post/174118225401/you-feel-free-to-command-everyone-else>.
Tech Insider, Racist Trolls Are Still Dominating Video Games, 11 April, viewed 23 May 2018, <https://youtu.be/vPspkEB6l18>.
Wild West Online 2017, Sneak peak on BIG upcoming, 17 May, viewed 27 May 2018, <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DdXL9PdVAAAwxUJ.jpg>.
Wild West Online 2018, Wild West Online, Wild West Online, viewed 26 May 2018, <https://www.playwwo.com>.
Young & Whitty, 2010, ‘An Exploratory Study of Trolling in Online Video Gaming’, International Journal of Cyber Behavior, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 17-33.
