After reading all the three books, Play Money presents a world that is somewhere in between Wu’s and Gibson’s. On one side, there is the force that drives Dibbell into the world of MMOs, which is the same force that powers Wu’s cycle – MONEY. On the other hand, it shows a version of Gibson’s “consensual hallucination”, in which we become immersed through avatars and, surprisingly, through play. Personally, I found most interesting how playing games can actually make for a pretty good living! It really makes one wonder how virtual the virtual world truly is…
Throughout his book, Dibbell describes “the process by which a thing becomes a commodity, the network of transactions that connects the warriors and smiths who produce the pieces to the hustler who puts the pieces together to the broker who buys the assemblage to the eBayer who buys from the broker to the player who plays” (144). This is the amazing supply chain, and I say this because the commodity is a “thing” produced by warriors and smiths. Other than this, it resembles a typical chain from the broker, to eBay, and, finally, to the buyer. It is when you actually discover the revenue of this industry of “virtual loot farmers”, that it really becomes mind-blowing.
Somehow, while advancing in reading this book, my feeling of disappointment grew. Why do I say that? At one point, the exciting game transforms into a trade. As Dibbell depicts, there are people who simply buy something from X at a low price, and then sell it to Y for a higher price. This is just a basic trade scheme. Even Dibbell, once very fond of his house in UO, does not visit his place anymore, and, eventually, sells it. Is it here where the game turns into work?
From Dibbell’s confessions, we can see that playing money can really be stressful and, for some of the players, it can actually take up more time than a normal day job. Of course, one might argue here that it is more exciting than a regular job. Nevertheless, if you do not get in the game, the excitement can only stem from the rising figures into one’s PayPal account.
From a brainstorming exercise from class, I learnt that most students associate work with attributes such as tedious, strict, and meaningful, whereas fun is defined by fun, excitement, or even waste of time. However, I think there is not a very clear distinction between two. For example, when a lawyer defends a bad guy, can that job really be qualified as well spent time? On the other hand, when we play games are we really that carefree? We all want to win, and if we lose, then the game is not fun anymore. In my opinion, playing is the first time when we discover competition, and is a way of improving different skills. With video games, one can learn how take risky decisions in a short amount of time or discover what it means to be part of a team. I admit that spending an entire day playing might be wasteful, but there are undoubtedly many other benefits. And it is not at all easy to be good at playing games, especially at the online multiplayer games. So, when we add money to everything I have mentioned before, the game becomes work.
It seems that I have once again reached the conclusion that everything revolves around money (no matter the currency). In this case, though, I think it is normal this way. Who said that you cannot earn a living by playing? I believe a job should bring a steady income and a respectable social position, but it also has to be pleasant, challenging, and even fun, otherwise we would all go crazy, and then, game over!
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