“Just when I thought I was out – they pulled me back in!”
A famous quote from the movie
God Farther III used as a commercial for the MMORPG WOW. I actually think this is true.
You get addicted to the online community as you meet new friends, trade and
live a life without judgement, as no one really know, what you look like AFK.
I have a
friend, who is very introvert and has met a lot of his friends through this
game. His best friend lives in Japan, due to a game designed in California.
TV ad for WOW
Al Pacino in God Farther III
Blizzard,
who made WOW, started out offering the game for free. Now people have to pay
and in order to discover and buy new land possibilities and to stay online,
which is two of the main ideas of the game.
Blizzard
were sneaky and turned the ‘story’ of the game in a way that it made sense to
buy different add-ons and extension packs. This was very clever, as people were
addicted to the role-playing and needed teams in order to win some battles. You
can still have a tryout for free, in order for them to ‘drag you in.’
Raasens (2005,
375) points out Rushkoff’s point: ‘‘… The better and more sophisticated the manipulation,
the less aware of it we are’’. I think this saying inspired Blizzard, as they
swooped in a need in people, without them noticing it. Plain Hegemony through
coercion.
Even
smarter is it, that the game is unisex. The characters look like weird monsters
and you have no feminine powers if you choose a female character. The
interpretation is individual and polysemic, which excludes a direct discrimination of a specific sex or
look.
Many people
fear this increasing second life, and I think it is because of their conviction
of people not being able to tell the difference between online and AFK. Even
the Danish queen mentioned her concern in the last New Year Speech. Well if his or her interpretations are as
every other normal human being, I do not fear for the players to see me as a
weird looking monster.
Bib:
Just when I thought I was out...they pull
me back in.. (2008). Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in..
[Online Video]. 08 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU.
[Accessed: 06 September 2013].
Raessens, J. 2005, ‘Computer games as
participatory media culture’, Handbook of Computer Game Studies, MIT Press,
Cambridge, Mass
Steve Van Sandt (Silvio) World of Warcraft Commercial TV Ad. (2008). Steve Van Sandt (Silvio) World of Warcraft Commercial TV Ad. [Online Video]. 20 November. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXeyYdGoLCU. [Accessed: 06 September 2013].
I found this blog very relatable as I was once addicted to playing wow and it is true the quote used, I was able to get off for ages but then it has a way to just drag me back in, I have been studied enough to pay for month of usage when I only used it for about two weeks. The blog itself was well construed and the use of short clips really helped the causes of the blog. And it is true how the online games have the ability to make friends, I would say it is easier to make friends online than in real life as you are judged on personality and not looks witch is always a problem in real life. Thanks for the blog.
ReplyDeleteHey Silja, great post. Video game addiction is a very interesting topic, and you’ve looked into it here well. Great use of videos in your post to show what you’re explaining. Interesting to see you have a personal connection to it through your friend, and your friend’s link to his best friend is a great example of globalisation. Great job, and I look forward to seeing more!
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