Massively multiplayer online games are addictive, a waste of time, reclusive, destructive. These are just a few of the characteristics that a lot of young people come up with when they think of games. So, why is Dr. Castronova devoting an entire book to the subject of migrating in the digital world through play? Maybe, there is something more with these online games. As Castronova emphasizes in his book Exodus to the Virtual World, most of these games bring to life a new world, a virtual one, but, at the same time, one that has the proportions of a real world. Knights that fight dragons and save princesses with magic swords… Or the same world envisioned in the movie Lord of The Rings or any other movie you can think of. Presently, any successful movie can be turned into a game. You do not have to limit yourself to just watching blue avatars on the big screen, but you can actually be the one that saves Pandora (Avatar). Moreover, you can have this experience as many times as you would like.
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| Pandora in Second Life |
Still believe that gaming is just a wasteful activity? Why would we want to be heroes in a different universe, when we have our own goals that we strive to achieve every day? Personally, I think being completely pleased with ourselves is an elusive concept. In one scenario, you might not have a very successful life. Year pass and you feel that your role in this life is meaningless. This is the category of people which, according to Castronova, is most likely to embrace the virtual worlds: “Not everyone lives in a community with rich traditions, faiths, and stories that put meaning into everyone’s life, whereas in synthetic world, everyone is asked to complete quests, fight enemies, and become a hero” (69). On the other hand, we could accomplish everything we aimed for: the high-paying job and the perfect family. But, what comes next? You can make a change in the world, reach high recognition and then what? Even if we can do all these, we are still humans, so we will always desire more. It is in our nature; that is why if we do not set the bar high, boredom might install upon our lives.
So, are we all going to move in the virtual land? It is still unclear, but I can see how this exodus can bring benefits to everyone regardless of status, money, race, appearance. We all want to be challenged and overcome obstacles in order to feel good about ourselves. Additionally, we want to have fun, to simply enjoy our existence and be happy. As Castronova puts it “helping people find happiness may involve something other than giving them the things they currently seek” (88). This is what these online games promise.
Fantasy is how many of us describe these virtual games. However, the number of people who commit themselves to gaming is far from unreal. The virtual world is not so virtual anymore; its implications will affect our “real” lives sooner or later.
Work cited:
Castronova, Edward. Exodus to the Virtual World How Online Fun Is Changing Reality. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print.
It is scary to think how real these "fake" worlds can be. They carry so many similar economic and social characteristics that we are used to, but allow you to become whoever you want. One day we could all be living in a virtual world and going to the "real" world as a get away...scary stuff.
ReplyDeleteYours is the most nuanced response from the class so far, without the knee-jerk fear and disdain that mars so many other posts.
ReplyDeleteMike, what's "scary" to me is that so many students cannot look beyond their own perspectives to try to understand, and not judge, others' choices. No one will force you to have an avatar, I suspect, no more than anyone forces you to have a Facebook profile. I also suspect that even if more of us "migrate" it will be for occasional fun, not for our entire lives.
What is "scary" to me? A student who chooses (or gets forced into) a major he or she really does not love, then sits in an office at a high-paying job, massaging numbers in some corporation's database and never really knowing why, despite the nice house, car, and family, something seems to be missing.
It has been an American curse for a long time. It's why in 1985 I quit a decent job, sold nearly everything I owned, and moved to Spain for a time, until I was ready for graduate school. The Europeans worked to live; they didn't live to work. That became my philosophy.
I've never looked back and for me, virtual worlds are an object of study, not a place to live.