The rapid technological advancement since the late 20th century has caused human civilization to evolve with greater sophistication. The power and influence of modern-day technological tools have blurred the boundaries of previously distinct institutions. Encroachment of one domain into other domains, whether related or otherwise, is the latest phenomenon which is developing in modern-day societies. A father who is busy at work can ensure the safety of his child at home through a home webcam installation. Internet collaborative tools have made it possible for people to work from home. Foucalt proposed that the human society has progressed from a disciplinary society to a society of control. The system or mechanism driving processes of the society is no longer closed, but has transcended to a level where free-floating forces generated by individuals or entities affect and change the system.
Internet & laptops - a perfect combination to work from virtually anywhere
From a holistic point of view, the human identity is increasingly codified with the aid of technology. As proof of belonging to an institution, one is identifiable by an ID card which composes of alphanumerical characters. The location of a person can be tracked using GPS if he owns a mobile phone. Similarly, Internet users are identifiable by their IP address. Telecommunication signals are manipulated to encode and decode information of a person. The financial status of a person is codified within the internal workings of bank accounts and credit card. Human beings have become excessively reliant on technological tools that without them, the society ceases to function. Stock market crashes result in millions of dollars lost. A computer virus wipes out entire work processes. A glitch in the telecommunication network plunges the society back to ancient times when transmitting of messages was inefficient.
Frustration kicks in if our technological tools fail us
Human beings have to embrace technology or risk being left behind. The over-reliance on technology has caused the people to become ignorant of the associated drawbacks and repercussions. Seldom do we grapple with the ethical concerns of privacy intrusion and data persistence, until something bad happens to us such as a personal computer being hacked with malicious intent. Are we really fine with the fact that we can be tracked by anyone in the world if he has access to our GPS location or IP address? Technology has brought the world closer but at what expense? In the film Minority Report, a sophisticated crime prevention system was invented by harnessing the power of individuals with precognition abilities. Is it ethical to exploit technology and track each and every person in society? How far should we allow technology to affect our lives?
A short video clip of Minority Report's "Precrime" technology
Another aspect of technology which is gradually overflowing into the physical space is gamification of everyday items or events. When Tamogotchi was released in 1996, it sparked off a worldwide trend to buy the virtual pets. Unlike a physical pet, a virtual pet requires lesser commitment and to a certain extent, removes the pain or guilt when it inevitably dies. Conveyor belt themed sushi restaurants in Japan allow the diner to play a fun mini-game according to the number of sushi which he has consumed. Recently, I was told by a friend that even toilets are gamified – when using the urinal, the male has to concentrate his aim on a target to achieve a high score. Alternate or augmented reality game is a hot topic for researchers nowadays. Recently, the gaming giants of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony released their respective vision, namely Wii, Kinect and Playstation Move, for their console systems. No longer is the player confined to a fixed position, tapping inputs in controllers of high abstraction, but is increasingly mirrored to mimick real-life processes in order to provide a wholesome, realistic experience to the player.
The frontier of modern-day gaming
The term “virtual reality” is inherently contradicting because a virtual experience is a form of escapism from reality and one returns to reality when it exits the virtual environment. However, I think that the inventor of the term predicted that virtual environments would eventually become reality itself. Are we ready to embrace such a future? Robotic humanoids and virtual pets replace their respective flesh counterparts. Every process in society becomes a game. Technology is a wonderful boon to humanity but the human touch can never be replicated, at least by today’s standard of virtual reality. In fact, the simplicities of life can be easily achievable without a need for technology, but are often overlooked and neglected in a technologically-wired society. Embrace technology but never forget the importance and significance of the roots of humanity.
Possible future of humanity being overrun by machines?
Cabal Online is not an exception. In fact, the developers implemented an official trade system to facilitate safe transactions, as well as encourage player interaction. Besides that, what is particularly interesting is that the game allows players to open a “personal shop”. By clicking on the “personal shop” button, the player temporarily relinquishes his role as a fearsome warrior and becomes a humble butler or maid with sellable goods on display for the rest of the community to buy from. In contrast, older MUDs had poor trade infrastructure and players had to operate on trust when dealing with their potential clients by dropping items on the floor simultaneously for a mutual exchange. No matter how much the developer tries to deter or restrict trade activities, a community-driven secondary economy will always be an integral component of MMO.
Setting up a shop is easy!
Online shopping never felt so good!
The intricate balance of the economy is difficult to achieve because it is highly susceptible to players’ demand which changes according to updates introduced by the developer. Gold farmers aggravate the situation as they initiate R.M.T (real money trading) as an alternative to obtain virtual currency and items. Players who legally sell their virtual items for virtual currency have to re-evaluate their prices in an attempt to adapt to changes in the economy due to gold farming. Cabal Online is the epitome of the phenomenon. For example, if 10 million gold is sold for a mere S$1 on gold farming websites, is the player willing to sell his rare items at say, 1 million gold, which equates it to having a disappointing real-life worth of S$0.10? In such cases, players have no choice but to drive their prices high in a bid to achieve the optimal real-life worth. Gold farming causes virtual currency to lose power and is made to react to real-life changes, instead of sustaining a stable virtual economy where real-life changes do not have such a strong influence.
Holy Batman! 3.5 billion gold!? Pal, I only earn 2-3 million gold every hour...
An ailing economy spells the impending doom which would befall upon the game. Cabal Online is a challenging MMO because it has rapid escalating levels of difficulty and survivability can only be ensured by upgrading one’s gear frequently. 2 years ago when I was an active player, the ridiculous fluctuations in the economy made it impossible for me to progress further in the game as I could not afford to buy the gear which I needed. The most efficient way to gold farm would be to use hacks and cheats such as botting which does the dirty work without the player even laying a finger to do anything. Before I quit the game, the servers were filled with botters and the MMO experience dipped an all-time low as I knew I was playing alongside mindless automations, instead of genuine people whom I could have interacted with. After 2 years of absence, it was of no surprise that the game masters have increased their security checks to deter botting. Besides the mandatory password, players need to have a personal PIN which triggers after keying in the password, as well as verification images popping up every now and then which boots the player out of the server if he cannot answer it correctly or in time.
It's so tempting to buy gold off the Internet. I don't have the patience to grind...
Hmmm, should I or should I not?
Do MMOs require some form of an authoritative force e.g. game master to take control of the economy in order to reduce undesirable inflation and fluctuations? Should gold farmers be eradicated from MMOs, or do they serve some purpose or benefit to the gaming community?
Breathtaking visuals
Luscious natural environments
Developers of serious games have clear intentions to educate the player, through playing the game, regarding a moral or lesson which is tightly coupled to an actual event or phenomenon in reality. To raise the credibility of the game, it has to progress toward becoming a clockwork world. Although the representation can be made abstract and the complexity of processes can be simplified, the game should replicate realistic environments and causal relations convincingly enough. September 12, a serious game which casts the player as an airforce pilot who has to bomb an Iraqi town, is one such good example. Civilians who are near a dead Iraqi countryman mourn in silence and tears and are subsequently converted into terrorists. The depiction of the scenario might not be photorealistic but the intricacy of the causal relations which centers on the transformation of a harmless civilian to a dangerous terrorist, is successfully and prominently displayed and explained through the sequence of in-game events.
The way to "win" is to do nothing at all
Since a learning outcome is usually attached to a serious game, the player has to enter into a state of reflection to understand and derive meaning from the actions which he performs in the game world. However, this notion is in clear violation of the immersive experience and suspension of disbelief which are required in order to compel to Huizinga’s definition of games. In order for a video game to qualify as a clockwork world, the game experience should be flow-like without any form of disengagement such as having to pause and reflect on one’s actions in the midst of gameplay. In my humble opinion, if reflection occurs after the player is done playing with the game, the learning process and/or outcome, which may be subconscious and not a conscientious effort, are not detrimental to the immersive experience.
For instance, a classmate of mine remarked in class that Angry Birds should be considered as a serious game which teaches physics. Her comment struck me with a realization that I am being taught lessons about physics by the game all these while and I was not aware of it! Although the inner workings of the physics engine are hidden from me, the game showcases the mechanics through the gameplay beautifully without having the need for explicit instructions. I do not understand how the gears of a watch work in tandem but all I need to know is that I can rely on it to tell time accurately. Similarly, when I play Angry Birds, physics equations do not pop up in my head but rather, through trial and error, I learn about the effects of momentum and gravity on the trajectory motion of a projectile subconsciously.
Are you learning something yet?
The Macdonald’s game is a serious game which teaches the player managerial skills which are required to sustain a fastfood business. Along the course of gameplay, the player would be introduced to ethical issues such as using diseased cows for the hamburger patties in order to keep the chain of supply moving smoothly. As observed by Ms Anne Marie Schleiner, players do not seem to care about detrimental effects but are willing to embrace unethical means in order to progress in the game. In my opinion, this phenomenon is observed because the state of flow is strong and reflection might occur but is probably not a conscious effort. While it might not be fully accurate, Henriksen’s stairway model can be applied to the Macdonald’s game. There are incremental learning outcomes for reflection but the player is thrown back into the state of flow before he reaches a full understanding of the repercussions of his actions.
Step into the shoes of a fastfood restaurant manager
My question for you would be: Do you think that a state of reflection, especially one that is imposed in the middle of gameplay, is disruptive and diminishes the mystique of the game as a clockwork world? The topic is the center of hot debate in my serious games course and I would be interested to know your opinions.
I was at my auntie’s house yesterday for the annual Chinese New Year gathering. As I whipped out my iPhone to play some casual games, it immediately drew the attention of my two little nephews. Despite owning a dedicated entertainment device in the form of a Nintendo DS, their gaze was fixated on my iPhone. They persistently pestered me to lend them my phone and I was in a deep dilemma. However, as I thought that it would make for good research by observing their play patterns, I reluctantly handed over my phone to the mischievous kids, not knowing whether my phone would come back in one piece…
Nope, they just can't get it
In my opinion, the mentality of children is the epitome of paidia. Spontaneity and exploration are favored over reasoning and logic as their undeveloped minds attempt to make sense of the world and its various mechanisms in response to interaction. Complex lessons cannot be comprehended. For example, my nephew played a game which involves a fighter jet shooting rockets to blow up mountains below it. In this case, the win condition is based around the understanding of the rocket’s motion i.e. it does not land straight but at an angle relative to the forward velocity of the fighter jet. Being a mere 6 year old boy, he could not grasp the concept and failed miserably for 10 whole minutes. Yet, on the rare occasion which he connects with the rockets, he became visibly excited despite losing in the end. I believe it is because he had discovered a new interaction in the world – a “Eureka!” moment which was made famous by an ancient Greek scholar Archimedes.
Why do people play MMORPGs? Although Singaporeans are predominantly agon (competitive), I believe the motivation stems from the child-like need for exploration and discovery. MMORPG is the perfect environment for paidia to manifest because boundaries can be infinitely expanded, not subjected to real-life limitations. Unlike most console RPGs which have a story ingrained in the system to progress the game, MMORPGs relax conventional rules and grant players the freedom to explore. Cabal Online is no exception and make story quests completely optional, although the player reaps incremental benefits if he chooses to undergo them.
Danger ahead! Stay out!
Unsupervised paidia might potentially be dangerous. Parents chide their children if they try to touch a naked flame. Dangerous situations should be avoided at all costs, even if it means that one might never have the chance to experience the danger. In such scenarios, one has to trust and believe the advice and accounts of victims or closed ones. In the case of video games, a ludic structure must be in place to prevent the player from crossing boundaries if his reckless exploration put him in dangerous situations. In Cabal Online, the enemies are color-coded to indicate their difficulty level. Similarly to techniques employed to educate children, the spectrum of bright colors (red) to dull colors (pale yellow) gives a solid visual cue of the potential risks and dangers. Random equipment drops of the monsters provide hints of the desirable grade of equipment which the player should be wearing in order to survive with ease.
Training Dummy - a premium service which allows player to grind their skills comfortably
An undesirable quality of paidia is when it leads to ludic mutations which take on the form of discovering loopholes in game logic, bugs to exploit and cheats to grant unfair advantage. Who ever can forget the infamous “bunny hop” of Counter-Strike? Or map hacks of Warcraft III’s DoTA? In Cabal Online, character experience and skill experience are two separate entities. The worth of a character is based not on the character level, but on the repertoire of skills. By equipping gear which increases the amount of skill experience earned, augmented by training strategies which exploit the gameplay mechanism, a seemingly lowly Level 30 character might actually possess the power of a Level 100 character which went through normal progression. The developers have not fixed the exploit and it might even be a possible theory that they intended the game to be so. Nevertheless, as an avid gamer who appreciates the wholesomeness of game experience, the flaw pushed me to the brink of quitting the game 2 years ago. The end of the straw came when the game economy crumbled under the pressure of inflation.
Dude, play fair!
Where's the fun in that!?
Are you an advocate of game exploits, be it legal or illegal? Do you think Singaporeans are far too competitive (pushing them toward agon and ludic mutation) instead of purely enjoying the game (pushing them toward paidia and mimicry)?
I had wanted to choose a brand new game which I have never played for the basis of my ethnography blog. Yet, recent MMORPGs seem to be clones of one another and nothing caught my eye. In the end, I decided to return to the game which wholly captivated me 2 years ago – Cabal Online. Perhaps now, after years of acquiring knowledge of game-related phenomena, I might appreciate the game deeper and better understand why I loved the game in the first place.
To constitute “play”, a given activity has to be free (spontaneous devotion) and uncertain (absence of pre-determined outcomes). MMORPG is precisely the epitome of the second characteristic. Most of such games do not have a tangible end goal! The game world exists whether or not the player chooses to remain or leave. A couple of days ago, my friend saw me playing a sandbox game on my iPhone and lamented that he does not understand what motivates people to devote their time and effort to games which do not lead them to a grand finale, a definitive closure for players to move on from the game.
His logic is not ill-founded, but yet, we have to acknowledge the global success of MMORPGs e.g. World of Warcraft and social games e.g. FarmVille. In order to keep up with the ever-changing trends of gaming, we have to cast aside traditional notions of play and enlarge our capacity to accept and apply new dimensions which adds on, or may even subtract from, the constitution of a game. This blog has been created specifically for that purpose – to broaden my views and perspective regarding game-related phenomena.
Agôn – a concept which strives on healthy competition. By artificially creating, equality of chances, games provide the ideal conditions for confrontation to take place amongst adversaries. Besides the obligatory PvP (player versus player) system, Cabal takes it a step further by incorporating “nation wars”. The player has to swear allegiance to a particular faction and engage in large scale PvP wars against rivaling factions.
To survive in the competitive environment of Cabal, a player has to embrace the practice of agôn e.g. sustained attention and training discipline. To become a member of a prominent guild, one has to aggressively improve his standards to match up to the rest of the guild members. Taking a step back to look at the bigger picture, one has to become strong enough to further or protect the cause of his nation.
A random monster drop in Cabal
Alea – a concept which is likened to gambling; decisions which are independent of the player, outcomes over which he has no control over. Most of modern MMORPGs incorporate the idea by introducing random monster drops. Cabal introduces a unique system whereby the player explores the vast game world in search of elusive “Force Cores” which enables him to upgrade his equipment. Yet again, it is subjected to the forces of probability as the player might fail to upgrade his equipment, despite precious hours spent hunting for the “Force Cores”. It is a game of probability, much like how card games such as poker are made to be. Individual strength is of no consequence, everyone is subjected to the events of chance.
Creation and customization of character
Mimicry – whereby deep immersion in the imaginary universe leads to the manifestation of new identities for the player. Ever wondered why MMORPGs allow players to customize their avatar? I believe it is because the developers wish for the players to believe that they are the avatars themselves. In the real world, we are bounded by circumstances and limitations. In virtual worlds, we are free to express who we really want to be. Online games allow temporary escapism without real-life consequences.
The snowy town of Bloody IceHowever, that is not unique to MMORPG. What is unique about MMORPG is the persistent game world which wholly absorbs the player. The visual landscape of Cabal is breathtaking. The game is set in desert, snowy, tropical, port, industrial towns and this allows the player to experience such environments which are different from his native homeland at no cost at all.
I am eager to see how events unfold as I get back into the foray of things. Stay tuned for future updates which will reveal my account of events as an observer, as well as participant, of the vibrant world of Cabal.