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December 28, 2005
blurring boundaries between virtual and real worlds
Posted by Liz Lawley
Ted Castranova has a fascinating post up on Terra Nova entitled “The Horde is Evil,” in which he argues that the Horde races on World of Warcraft are “on the whole evil,” and that this has moral implications for avatar choices:
I’ve advanced two controversial positions: that avatar choice is not a neutral thing from the standpoint of personal integrity, and that the Horde, in World of Warcraft, is evil. Nobody agrees, but it’s been suggested that the community could chew on this a bit.
So here’s my view: When a real person chooses an evil avatar, he or she should be conscious of the evil inherent in the role. There are good reasons for playing evil characters - to give others an opportunity to be good, to help tell a story, to explore the nature of evil. But when the avatar is a considered an expression of self, in a social environment, then deliberately choosing a wicked character is itself a (modestly) wicked act.
I don’t agree with Castranova (my horde character is a Tauren, a peaceful bison-like creature that lives in a Native American-inspired cultural context), nor do many of the commenters—but the issues he brings up are powerful and interesting, and the lengthy discussion in the comments is well worth reading.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between “real life” and “game life,” since I have personal and/or professional relationships with most of the people in my World of Warcraft guild, including both of my children. Castranova’s argument, in which he bolsters his argument by citing his 3-year-old’s reaction to his undead character, relates directly to those boundary-crossing issues.
When I was playing online on Monday, Joi Ito said that he thought World of Warcraft was becoming the “new golf” for the technology set. I think there’s some truth in that, but it brings with it all kinds of additional social pressures and complexities, of which avatar racial choices are only the beginning. I think there’s some fertile ground for research in that boundary area, the crossover between the real and game worlds, and the extent to which they influence each other.
(cross-posted from mamamusings)
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1. Jon Garfunkel on December 30, 2005 12:36 AM writes...
re: the fertile ground of research-- seems like there has been a rich harvest of it since Sherry Turkle's Life on the Screen (1994) up through to Terra Nova.
I'm reading through Nick Yee's Daedalus project to understand the motivations of players. From my perspective here on terra prima, I have this question: sure there's no shortage of evil to be done in virtual worlds, but what sort of good can be done? If one acts altruistically during the game does that carry over into the real world?
Permalink to Comment2. Jon Garfunkel on January 3, 2006 10:51 PM writes...
I've continued to follow this thread on Terra Nova; it received a couple hundred responses. On Monday Castronova realized that his original argument wasn't as strong as he wanted it to be: "Now, having created this mess, I will in thoroughly cowardly fashion back out of it and abandon my original position."
Permalink to Comment3. I hate u on January 30, 2006 12:07 PM writes...
Warcraft suck almost as much as this column
Permalink to Comment4. Troy on January 30, 2006 8:57 PM writes...
I was surfing the net looking up references to Warcraft when I found this page. Interesting. I wonder how this will eveolve over time as virtual worlds become more lifelike and immersive.
Permalink to Comment5. Boomie on February 1, 2006 2:07 AM writes...
I've been an "evil" Troll in the World of Warcraft since the day it came online. I have created a Guild with a current population of over 60 players who are also "evil". I can find absolutely no evidence to support the idea that the avatars selected by players are in any way representative of anything other than the fantasy role our members select. We spend our time discussing family issues, vacations, jobs and all of the usual topics found in discussion around the "water coolers" of the occupations we pursue during the day. In fact, other than a view over my Troll's shoulder, I am totally unaware that I have chosen an "evil" character in the game.
Lighten up! It's only a game.
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