Readings for 10/27/11: Culture, Gender and Player Intervention in WoW

Source:

Nardi, B. A. (2010). My life as a night elf priest: An anthropological account of World of Warcraft. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Excerpts:

Part Three: Cultural Logics of World of Warcraft

Chapter 6: Addiction

Chapter 7: Theorycraft and Mods

Chapter 8: Gender

Chapter 9: Culture: WoW in China… and North America

Coda

Overview & Synthesis:

Chapter 6

            In response to the discussion about addiction in terms of video games, Nardi introduces the idea of “problematic use,” or the potential for aesthetic activity to become overwhelming. Aesthetic activity is potentially dangerous because of the quality of passion it caries (Nardi, 2010, 129). Because it requires balance and proportion, intense passion can turn extreme and overwhelm us, creating this problematic use. However, she argues that this use is not the fault of the game, but instead players bring their problems to the game. Lack of self-regulation or vacancy in a player’s life precedes video games and the games themselves do not cause problematic use (Nardi, 2010, 125, 133). While problematic use might displace important activities, we must reach beyond the game for an explanation of why some people play to excess. Also, problematic use only makes sense when compared in context to these other competing activities. As far as the term, Nardi (2010) argues that cultural terms like addiction can stretch exaggerate and distort what they express (133). For some players, ‘addiction’ can have positive connotations, showing connection to and understanding of the game. However, problematic use is confusing because it arises from a passion for activities we are deeply attached to and on their own are not “always bad” (Nardi, 2010, 135). Therefore, we continually wrestle with the ambiguousness between positive aesthetic experience and negative states of excess.

Chapter 7

            Nardi chooses to use Theorycraft and Mods to illustrate the capacity of WoW to stimulate participatory activity outside of the game. Theorycrafting is the discovery of rules that can’t be determined through play (Nardi, 2010, 137). According to Nardi, this is a serious analytical activity. For example, players might design and perform quantitative experiments and analyze results to solve game mechanics. Modding on the other hand allows players to create and install software modules to add new functionality (Nardi, 2010, 143). This can include altering the user interface. This little bit of permitted entry allows players to contribute significant bits of player experience to be codified and incorporated into the game (Nardi, 2010, 143). Mods serve as a collective resource, helping to reduce player effort, make visible invisible parts of the game, enable information sharing, aid players in coordinating with one another, and capture aspects of play history (Nardi, 2010, 146). Because they can change the game to a decent extent, they affect both players who use mods and those who don’t. As part of a larger movement toward participant production on the Internet, Nardi (2010) points out that modding establishes an ethos that allows for a more open relationship between people and technology (150).  Both Theorycraft and Mods help to enrich and deepen experience through reflection on play.

Chapter 8

Nardi examines how gendered experience in WoW is constructed through patterns of discourse and game design. In the game, discourse is usually led by males and contains sexualized and homophobic language, establishing that males are the dominant gender. This dominance and use of language that is prohibited in many everyday settings is embraced, exaggerated, and given free expression. As far as the interactive gendered landscape, Nardi divides it into two planes: the dominant and the secondary. The dominant plane dampens heterosexuality where players can enjoy a relaxed space to play and the secondary plane sustains heterosexual flirtation and romance where people can play with no-strings-attached. As far as game design, WoW contains elements of strong appeal to women, such as visual experience, while the harsh masculinity of environments is still dominated by men. The game also contains activities that are cross-gendered. Despite the games combination of masculine and feminine elements, female players are still a minority.

Chapter 9

            In her study of Chinese WoW players, Nardi found that the setting in which the game was played was not only different but also very important. Internet cafes provided a mixed reality of virtual and physical social interaction; this social atmosphere is crucial to player experience (Nardi, 2010, 179, 181). Nardi (2010) argues that this is helping to redefine and reshape virtual experience into a hybrid, mixed reality of the virtual and physical (181). One of the reasons the social experience of play is more important is because Internet cafes provided a way of escape for Chinese players. The sociability of the game amplified the sociability of the playing setting. In reference to game design and culture, Nardi (2010) points out that there is a common core of participatory aesthetic experience that transcends national and cultural borders (194). Because of this, she argues, WoW and other social games are emerging as global artifacts that appear to sustain alternatives to or displacement of traditional media, even in different cultural contexts (Nardi, 2010, 196).

Coda

            In her conclusion, Nardi (2010) again describes WoW as a work of art and argues that as a visual-performative medium, good video games engage and stimulate visual, cognitive, and social capacities (197). As part of this, she sees rules as necessary for nurturing and preserving a reliable experience. As cultural entities, games don’t come to life until actually played so they depend on significant player contribution. While WoW appears feminist, player culture is masculinist and performance is a focal concern. Games allow for players to experience unconscious cross-cultural encounters through software. While games provide spaces to create new work relations, provide possible platforms for education, or serve as encounters with other cultures, they are still appealing because they provide frolic and tomfoolery (Nardi, 2010, 203). Overall, Nardi (2010) argues that multiplayer videogames have generated hybrid physical-digital spaces of visual-performative activity (201).

Questions & Reflections:

1. In chapter 6 on addiction, Nardi (2010) mention how problematic use can be defined as play that displaces important activities such as schoolwork, maintaining friendships or family activity (125) This reminds me of a mass communication theory I once studied called “Displacement Hypothesis,” which basically says that the large quantity of time spend with media serves to displace time that would ordinarily be spend doing other important activities. How does the kind of activities players displace by playing affect problematic use? Is excessive use okay if it only displaces other media use? Do we need this other media to function in society? Is this better than displacement of real life responsibilities? What if someone has a lot of free time on their hands or a void in their life? It is good to use games to fill vacancies? Or could people be doing something better? Are we giving up too much by gaming? As Nardi (2010) asks, just what should people be doing rather than playing games? (136).

2. What does character choice have to say about identity? Particularly in terms of gender dynamics? How does culture influence this? Here we only see the U.S. and Chinese cultures, how do you think other cultures would affect this?

3. Nardi (2010) asks just how far WoW can stretch in its boundaries and across cultures (195). My question is why it doesn’t go further already. In the beginning of the book, she tells us that WoW is available in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Russia, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. While available in all these places, she mentions it is only available in English, Chinese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, and Russian (Nardi, 2010, 8). However, there are many more languages spoken in these areas and all over other parts of the world. This seems relatively limiting to me in comparison to other forms of networking media such as social networking sites and the likes. Why doesn’t the game exist in more countries and languages? Yes, it surely takes more time, effort, and money to produce in these varied regions, but obviously it is popular and likely to profit if spread out further.