A Sociological Research of Interactive Online Games

Written by Primo Dolcan. Study was made within the course Sociology of information process conducted in Faculty of Social Science Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Introduction

n the beginning of this study, I would like to point out some reasons, why these kind of on-line games study should be done. First of all there has been only few studies about games, especially PC games. The main goal of researchers was to present the quality of games (mostly video games). So we have opponents and defenders of games. The gap between them is wide and some research results are talking for the opponents. And what are defenders saying about games?
The "games expose users to computer technology and reduce computer anxiety, enhance independent thinking and problem-solving skills, bring about educational achievement and self-esteem, as well as motivating learning. They were also said to improve eye-dash hand coordination while providing challenge, relaxation and wholesome entertainment" (Johnsson-Smaragdi and Roe in Roe and Mujis, 1998). These studies are made not for on-line games but for video and PC games in general. The main difference is in word "on-line". For this study this word is the center of our problem. With this world even games have a new meaning. And that is what I will try to do. I will try to look for some meanings. The main subject will be: How the players understand this game, what it means to them!

Perception of on-line game and communication characteristics

For purpose of this research I made a model. This model is based on theory. And in the next few sentences I will present some theoretical problems, which arouse in this field of research. But before I begin, I must say that theory used in my study is from different subjects. Mostly because this kind of study never took place.

I will start with the fact that reality context is the idea from which the rest evolves. Here I must agree with next argument: "People live in the world, and their practices have evolved in the world. Virtual worlds do not exists solely in some enclosed cyberspace: they exist in human culture, knowledge and values as well" (Kellogg,Carroll, and Richards, 1990). We must be aware that culture, knowledge and values or norms are things that make us what we are. And we project our characteristics in this virtual world. I will explain virtual world later. Reality context is something we can not avoid while presenting ourselves, our identity. Every person on Earth has background of his/her own. This is his/her history and what he/she learns in this period, this is the way he/she will act. I think we must be aware of this when we study human relationships and meanings. Next fact is the meaning of game experiences. To explain how players perceive game we must know something about their experiences with the game. They must tell us what they feel, know or see in this game. With this kind of information players present their point of view. To collect this information I will use three variables: communication, community, individual. I will use these variables because they are important components of this on-line game. Communication is essential part in this on-line game.

We are talking about CMC (computer-mediated-communication). CMC is "that communication between people, which is mediated through computers, connected in computer network" (?krlep in Oblak, 1999 ). This definition does not tell us all. Behind CMC there are more then just computers and users. We must consider next definition, CMC is "a process by which a group of social actors in a given situation negotiates the meaning of the various situations which arise between them" (Stasser in Riva and Galimberti, 1997) So we are dealing with social actors and not just users. If we accept Stasser's definition, there are two points we must considered:

The only way to understand it is by analyzing the subjects involved in it in the environment in which they operate, meaning that the social context in which CMC occurs plays a crucial role; New processes and activities will develop which challenge and modify the initial relationship between subject and context I will end this discussion about CMC with these two points, but we must remember them for any future study about any kind of CMC. It is important to recognize the attributes of environment, subjects and social context.

Next variable which I will be using in this study is outcome of CMC. Inside this game some ties between players are being developed. Ties are based on interest of players. Because in the game players are trying to exploit and learn about this game they establish communities. Communities are in the game a very important factor, the mere membership means something for others. There is a variety of communities, and we can be members of more then one. In this game a popular word for community is guild. That is a medieval trade and craftsmanship corporation. And in this game guilds are very important, some of them sustain some kind of social stability. We can divide them on Order and Chaos guilds. But in this section I would like to point out more sociological meaning of them. First off all we must recognize them as community not just for bonding. They are a "system of shared values, norms and rules, feelings of group identity, commitment and importance of bonding as in the real time community" (Ferenback, 1999).

Third variable in this study is the social actor or individual in this game. I prefer word player, this is the game after all. The whole personality is reflected in game. What kind of person player is in real life he will be in the game, too. But identities are not the subject of this study. The main goal here is to recognize player's perception of this game. At the end of this theoretical part I would like to write some things about environment in which the game is played. We must accept that all concepts stressed above have their own characteristics in this environment. And this environment is called cyberspace. Cyberspace is "all what you can see on computer screen- text documents, 3D computer generated graphic worlds, which you try, electronic geography which you use when you are log on WWW. Your computer screen is a portal to cyberspace" (Gibson in Rheingold, 1998). Within cyberspace we have so called virtual worlds. And this game is some kind of virtual enviroment. Basically we are talking about Virtual Reality. We can understand VR as label for "alternative, but not virtual worlds, which belong in to the concept of expanded meaning of reality" and as " label for technology of computer simulated environments, meant for interactivity of the users" (Strehovec in Oblak, 1994:32). Those are the concepts which I will use in my study. So I repeat my research question: 'How the players understand this game, what it means to them!' To examine this question I develop a model. I discovered some relevant theory to confirm my problem.

My hypothesis is:
When we are researching the meanings of virtual environments for subject we must consider the reality context from which the subject is derived from and we also must consider the attributes of the environment itself.

Now I would like to say more about the game itself so we will know what we are dealing with. Ultima on-line belong to RPG (Role-Playing-Game) or more precisely FRP (Fantasy-Role-Playing). Players are creating their own characters; one or more, but most of the time they develop and improve only one. The game takes place in fantasyland called Britannia. This kind of playing arises from P&P (Pen-Paper) games and from card and board game based on Dungeons&Dragons rules. Predecessor of on-line games of this kind is for many unknown Habitat (Rheingold, 1993). Habitat was formed in 1980 by LucasArts Entertainment; it was developed for Commodore-64 in these days an ancient computer. In the same year was put on-line some other form of virtual environment game. MUD game started on a computer in a university in England.
Multi-User Dungeons was a hit in those days. They are text-based virtual environment. But because of the non-graphic interfaces the interest for MUD games are gone. In this games we are dealing with high detail 2D graphic and very improved virtual environment. But even this interface is not enough, on the market we can find new games with improved 3D-graphich interface that means even more elaborated virtual environment. (Ultima on-line 2, Everquest).

The Game

In next paragraph I will present original attributes of this game from the developers themselves:

Ultima Online Preview by Al Giovetti, 09/15/96
Genre: adventure (multi-player Internet computer fantasy role-playing)
Release: December 1996
Developer: Origin
Associate Producer: Star Long
Producer: Richard Garriott
Publisher: Origin
Website: www.uo.com
To find out more about Ultima One, email origin at support@owo.com.
Beta test two phase started August 1, 1997.

History: For almost 15 years, many of the role playing adventure gamers have dreamt of a land where they could go to play classic games, like Ultima and Wizardry. These were the games that caused many to purchase their computers, many years ago. These were the quests that launched their own quests into the worlds of mystery in the cyber domain. How fitting that Lord British and the Ultima series of games, which are loved by most all of the original gamers starting back in the late 70's and early 80's, should be the company that goes to the web with this great idea.

Plot: You take the role as a newcomer to this land of Ultima, unfettered by earlier quests and eager to continue. Your proficiencies are skill based and every citizen is limited to ten skills. You only take up additional skills at the expense of loosing old skills, by this device even old and new human players are on the same footing. The goal of players is to spend time online, prosper in the society, and build an empire to defend against thieves and evil doers.

Game play: The game keeps track of the fame and fortune of all members of the game. Billboards and not email will allow for the transmission of messages. Citizens of Ultima Online can build houses, castles, businesses, and perhaps even run for office. Talking with non player characters (NPCs, computer controlled non-characters) and human characters can get confusing since the algorithms that control the NPCs are quite complex and can even fool the game designers. Steve tells us that we can tell the difference by certain misspelling s and the preoccupation with sex that humans have a NPCs do not. Everything in the land has a purpose and an effect. If you eliminate or cull a population of one thing, another population will grow or suffer due to the effect. All parts, grass, grain, honey, goblins, deer, rabbits, trees, air, water, fish, and other things have a purpose and when the ecology gets out of balance there are consequences. Players can make a living by collecting grain, baking bread, selling the bread, mining iron ore, smelting it, and again selling it. A myriad of professions and businesses can be started and fortunes made. NPCs can be hired to do the work for you and a profit can be made from the business, even with absentee owners. Scripted quests and sub quests will abound t hat will charge characters with exploration, killing of monsters, and other events both economic and political. Computer controlled monsters and characters will have intelligence and be sufficiently complex to give them social structure. Monsters will not just attack to be mean, but for reasons of hunger, economic need, something like a Maslow chart of needs and desires. Rules about unprovoked attack or attacking another player within a city prohibit senseless random mayhem. Attacks are punishable by incarceration or worse, fines. There will be an involved judicial system which will meet out swift justice. There must be a balance between the guilds of the dark arts and the rights of citizens to live unmolested under the protection of the city guards.

Graphics: Graphics resemble those of Ultima VI where the NPCs have a life of their own and continue on a daily schedule of human like activities. The high detailed high-resolution graphics.

Animation: Most of the animations will center around the activities of fighting and conducting lives. Baking bread, drawing water, making dough, making pastries, and other events that will be familiar to those who played Ultima 6.

Music score: The normal high quality orchestral Ultima music that is constantly changing in ebbs and flows of melody.

Methodology of data collection

I collected data from two on-line forums, Chat Zone and UO Stratics. I used these forums to ask eight questions. The questions were formed in accordance with the research problem and hypothesis. I will try to confirm the theoretical model. I shaped the question in accordance to indicators from the model, mentioned above.

Why did you choose to play UO?
How long do you play per day?
What does playing UO mean to you?
What kind of person does this game make you?
Are you a member of any gild (please, name and goals of your gild)?
Do you see the game in any way as virtual world?
How often do you communicate with other players (what about)?
Do you interact more in the game or in the real life?

I expect that reason, meaning, duration and consequence of playing will give me some information about the players . Membership in community and communication will reveal how social they are. I said that communication is important in this game so I will test quality and quantity of it. I will try to collect some opinions about virtual world and comparison between virtual and real. I collected 35 complete answers. In this study demographic data was not important, but with inspection of theory it would be wise to collect some real time information, like socio-economic or more personality information.

Findings

In the process of data review I noticed that some answers were in form of essays. So the information was mostly exhaustive. I believe that duration of something we do in life can tell us a lot about how important that thing is for us. More importantly, this kind of game is not compulsory like school or job, it is voluntary action. First thing which surprised me was the duration of playing. The game demands a lot of time because of its nature. And these players invest a lot of their free time in playing. In my sample of players they played an average of 3 hours per day. If you invest that amount of time it must be very serious. And something else is interesting, one player said, "it depends on who is online". So we must consider sociability of players as well.

Let us now examine some reasons why they started to play. Some of them started to play because they were looking for some entertainment which was not TV; it is to passive for them. Most of them had an experience with old Ultima games, but most common for this players is that they love to play RPG games or on-line games as well. In this answers friends, relatives, magazines, "surfing on-line" and mere connection on net are also important. For some it is just a game, and one players said: "to question why we play games is to question life...

the competition
glory of winning
the pain of losing
the camaraderie of adventuring"

Those reasons are very interesting and they are quite true. Even Roe, K***.and Muijs, D***. who studied children and PC games discovered that competition, winnings, losing and bonding are the facts that attract children to play games. But some of the players emphasize the attributes of the game, non-linearity, endless possibility of exploring, living, character building, interaction and fun. Because my goal is to find some meanings, I asked the players to state them. The most frequent answer was fun, entertainment. A lot of players emphasize the interaction, meeting friends, equal minded. So here we can see mutual interests which players seek, they are connecting regardless of race, sex and nationality. We could say that like MUD's this games also connect people, they form friendships. These friendships are not just on-line: if there is a possibility these players meet in real life, too. So it is more then just a game. And from statements like that he or she spends a year to build a character or put an establishment in this virtual world we can see that this is much more than just a game. In all this years of playing some of them become important in game, they are powerful characters. Some are trying to help to sustain peace and prosperity, some are just trying to live in this world and others are prepared for any kind of conflict. So there is some kind of equilibrium established in game.

These players are becoming addicted to this game. Time which some of the players spend in this world goes beyond our understanding. If you play more then 5 or 6 hours per day and twice more on the weekends you must be addicted. I can not judge these players what personalities they have, but study on young heavy PC game users showed that these users had different real time life. They are not participating in organizations or clubs. Findings in this study reveal that players who achieve bad results in school and have poor social life, look for compensation in different forms of media that offer alternative source of control, status or prestige. We must be aware that this study was conducted on ten-year-olds. In our case the situation may be different.

When I mention an addiction, which some of the players express, I must say that we could look reasons for it in "improving the best score" (Roe,K. in Muijs, D., 1998). Never the less we must except outside enforcement for playing, not just inside. "Outside enforcement is in shape of praise and admiration from peers and viewers providing a interpersonal, social dimension of playing" (Roe,K. in Muijs, D.1998). Maybe this can be relevant in this study too. Because the most powerful and wealthy players are role models for some newbies (beginners) not just that even admiration expressed by other players when difficult quest is solved. When we study addiction it is relevant to consider internal (personal) and external (social) enforcement, we must not forget the players who said that this game is for them an escape from real life world. In this game they relax, for them this is stress-free environment. I can understand them- in real world every person should have some sort of a hobby, time for relax in this high-speed world. By the words of one player the game "is a release from everyday life, like a good book you can immerse yourself in".

When I tried to find out how the game defines the players, I got some really interesting answers. I wanted to provoke players to express their relationship towards the game. First of all the majority stated that the game has no influence on them. This answers were different from the others in which the players were more offensive and expressive. Some of them are hiding behind the anonymity. They are trying to be themselves but I think the temptation is sometimes too strong and they do something which they could not do in in real life without consequences. The outcome of these temptations are alternative identities. "IRL the game don't change me. But when I come online I try to act evil. But that's hard sometimes, its much easier to be the glorious lord who never would be evil to anyone, which I have been and always wanted to be when I became good. But being the glorious lord who is so nice gets boring after a while." So we can see that the alternative identities are not so easy to manage.

But they are the important part of virtual world, for some it is the only way to participate in this world. When we talk about alternative identities it is obvious that, as Markus*** and Nurius*** say, "individuals have ideas about themselves, which are not firmly anchored in social reality. As representatives of the self at some future time, possible selves are visions of the self which have not been tested and validated by social experience" (Markus and Nurius in Riva and Galimberti, 1999). These alternative identities "may force subjects to resort to massive use of stereotypical attitudes and behaviors, other wise they are unlikely to achieve any shared understanding of actions and situations" (Mantovani in Riva and Galimberti,1999). This game is not immune on false identity but the good side is that it also contributes or spice up the life in this virtual world. Some players said that they shape this world and not vice versa, but I believe that the world has some influence on them to. We can't deny the fact that all players contribute some part of their real time life, their habits, norms or culture. The impact of real life should never be questioned when on-line research is conducted.

Now let us see how social players are in game. I was testing this with questions about guild membership and quality/quantity of communication. The game is very sociable, towns are the centers of life. Interest is the important factor in this game when a guild is forming. Majorities of the players are members of one or more guilds. They are active participants. Some freelancers are here, too. Conflicts between guilds are unavoidable, there are Chaos and Order guilds. So players are forming alliances, treaties and other means to make the game more interesting. Guilds are active outside the game as well, with their web side they present themselves and their goals. Now there are 34277 guilds active in the game, 2302 of them Chaos and 2384 of them Order guilds. I would like to present a legend guild, The Syndicate, 375 members form it, and it has its own presentation site on Internet (http://www.llts.org). I would like to present some statements that this guild is enforcing in game.

The Syndicate is a professional and aggressive online gaming guild. We have vision, direction, organization, and purpose we live by a code of ethics and honor.
The Syndicate's members can expect protection, support, teamwork and friendship members will be able to climb the hierarchical structure of the Syndicate.
The Syndicate is a team and guild unity is one of our core values. All members of The Syndicate are important. The Syndicate prides itself on its ability to project power, create wealth for its members, and to keep secrets.
This unique team of friends empowers us with the resources to conquer any problem and to succeed where so many others have failed.
These statements are very much like statements in real time organizations. And we can ask ourselves: 'is seriousness and enthusiasm of this players something we can allow in our research or just ignore it?' Again I would like to emphasize that in on-line research it is important how every subject express behavior on-line or in real time. At the beginning of this study I mentioned that communication is the main integrative link. And players themselves emphasize the importance of communication. They use all sorts of CMC and even non-CMC. Even Jones*** sees CMC "not as mere structure of social relationships, but presents the world in which these relationships take action and means which users use it for entrance in this space. It is something more then a context, in which social relationships are formed, it is meaningfully and imaginary construction of symbolic process, provoked and preserve by individuals and communities." (Jones in Oblak, 1999)

I would like to present some attributes of CMC in accordance to communication tool, here on-line game. As I stated earlier, MUD's are much alike this new on-line game. In game interpersonal or group communication is very important . Synchronous game response, and asynchronous response outside game (not real time) is also important part of communication process of the game. In the previous presentation of guild I showed how communication can be private and also public. Game is conducted in public environment so private communication can be possible only outside the game. Recently a new communication device was discovered, which enables private and public on-line real time communication (ICQ: user-friendly Internet tool). It is not a part of the game but it enables synchronies working. We can play and communicate simultaneously. It is also important that all forms of communication are used in this game. Players communicate by e-mail, IRC channels, NetMeeting, forums, newsgroups so communication options are endless. Some of the players are freelancers and accordingly to that status they are bonding or communicating with only few characters in game. Their main purpose is playing the game and nothing else, why is that so I do not know. But one player said that he doesn't want to be exploited by the others. Maybe this is the reason for solidarity. It is interesting that those players who are not so communicative in game are also freelancers in real life. Here we can also see that reality is an important part of virtual reality.

I was also trying to get some information where they communicate more-real or virtual world. With few exceptions all players said that communication in game is no match to real time communication. Exceptions are those players who in real life can not express their communicative skills. "Can't understand how I go up and say Hi to strangers online but in RL not a peep." This kind of answers can tell us what kind of problems players have to struggle with. Anonymity is for some a relief fact and for some an obstacle in forming a communication network. One reason expressed was: "Also there is a certain lack of intimacy in the game". We are definitely dealing with two types of subjects; those how are showing themselves in game like in real life and those who are using the game to express emotions that are in real time blocked by some subjective reason. I believe that these players are using anonymity of CMC as tool to be heard.

We can recognize one problem here: is this anonymity positive or negative for the subjects? Positive would mean that in time they will not hide under anonymity, and they will use their confidence in game to use it in real life. Negative side would be an enforcement of the present behavior. The position of the players in this distinction between real and CMC is clear. It is easier to start conversations in the game than it is in real life as you can just go up to strangers and start chatting knowing you have something in common. You can't really compare the two. I agree that comparison is not possible, face-to-face communication is elemental and all others ways are mere approximations. But in our case the only difference is communication channel, we have to define the medium and system of communication to get clearer picture about CMC.

At the end of this study, I asked the players how they see this game, is it virtual world or not. This term is now the most popular one, all researchers are exploring it. They are trying to put some meaning to it. For some the VR is like "communication tool" (Riva, 1999). And VR is not just viewed through helmet, glasses and gloves. This game is also a virtual environment. Do players also see it virtual? For most of them, game represents virtuality in their livingness and breathing. Game has an economy, culture, communities, and these things are for players important factor to define something to be virtual world. Virtual worlds are evolving through technology, and in some cases there have been experiments to make a self-evolving virtual environment. I would like to present some statements how players see this world.

"In some ways it's a virtual world but in some ways it is fairly static and out of the players control."
"Virtual world... hmmm... that's a fairly broad question. In the sense that it has its own society government (or lack thereof), it certainly has the characteristics of a persistent "virtual world". I own housing, I have a profession, I help others when I can, and I use a bank to control my wealth. What else does a virtual world need to be labeled such?"
"Well yes it is a virtual world. It has an economy and people and a culture if you will."
"yes, it is a virtual world. "Virtual" as in "fake", well, it isn't really there... Although it seems to be. "World", because so many real people live in it, have fun in it and socialize in it."
"In many ways it mirrors our world, right down to bugs/exploits, just ask anyone in the legal profession."
"Well in as much as it can be, its obviously not entirely a 'virtual world' because its got many constrains from outside and is controlled in a way that a real world isn't"
These are just some of the interesting answers about virtuality of this world. I emphasized some, for me, key words. First of all, they recognize it as a mirror image of real world. Significant is economy, people, culture, society and government; these are real time things implemented in game. But never the less, some sort of static, control and constraints are also present in the game. Designers of the game enforce control and constraints. Static is connected with capability of technology and game designers. I believe that when subjects of these worlds will recognize space as real and not just people in it, we will step in new era of technology revolution and perception of new worlds.

Conclusion

First of all these games can give us much more information than we can expect. It is possible to search information about all concepts presented in this study and much more. In this research I encountered some lack of theory, especially about computer games. In science, PC games are not regarded as some thing positive. But we can't escape from it, for how long games will exist in this world people will play them. I believe that they are something primal; we learn a lot of social excepted norms with games in our socialization period. I believe they can be very significant in our lives, some of players express those feelings. My goal was to get to know these players and their perceptions of this game. I developed a model in accordance to theory and some personal experience. I tested model with three main variables: communication, community and individual. All variables showed how important part of the game they are, and consequently a perfect explanatory factor in the study.

Communication has shown as the most important part of the game, reasons can be found in genre of the game or in mere need to communicate between strangers. I can say that communication in game has an integration function, it combines people, unites them and it can lead to realization of common interest expressed in game. Also it is important that all forms of communication are used in game, from CMC tools to face-to-face communication. The only limitation of the game is knowledge about technology, but with introduction of computers in schools this problems will vanish in time. For society we need two things: individuals and communities. Individuals are members of the community, their personalities direct their behavior. So for the next research, importance of subjects' personalities is something worth exploring. In this game community and members shape events in game. I got some information about their involvement in real time organization but they are in minority. This game is more than a game, because ties between players are sometimes very complex and strong. I believe that this is because everyone has an opportunity to become something in game, and this status and prestige positions are highly respected in the eyes of the others . Individuals are very different regardless by race, sex, nationality, status but still express their ways of living from real time into virtual reality and these are forming their own guild.

So the game is as diverse as it can be. But some common beliefs are made, and presented by the author of the game. He is speaking about eight virtues of Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility. Players are trying to except these virtues as good as possible, not disregarding their own interest in game. For the end I would say that researches regarding on-line games and consequently on-line worlds have to consider the impact of reality context, especially subject activities in real time and also the mere gaming experiences. Psychological point of view should not be ignored to acquire insight in subject mind.

I end this study with players quote: "UO is not our lives, just part of it."

References:

Ferenback, J.(1999). There is there there. notes toward a definition of cybercommunity v Jones, S. Doing internet reserach: critical issues and methods for examining the net: 203-220.
Oblak T. (1999). "Dru?beni kontekst komunikacijskih zehnologij: podobe 'kibernetske dru?be' v znanstvenem in popularnem diskurzu. FDV
Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley PublishingCo.
Riva,Giuseppe.(1999):Virtual Reality as Communication Tool: A Sociocognitive Analysis. Presence, 8,4,462-468.
Riva,G. in Galimberti,C.(1997): The Psychology of Cyberspace: a socio-cognitive framework to computer-mediated communication. New Idea in Psychology , 15, 2,141-158.
Roe,K. in Muijs, D. (1998): Children and Computer Games: A Profile of the Heavy User. European Journal of Communication 13,2,181-200.

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