The Identities Shaped by Online Games - World of Warcraft - Dissertation Example

?Contents Chapter Two: Literature Review Introduction Avatar as it Becomes Part of the Community 2 Individual and the Avatar 2 Community 5 Transformation 6 Morality and Transformations of the Self 6 Social Transformation 7 Transformation and Game Change 8 Gender 9 Online Worlds 10 Socialization 12 Online Identity 12 World of Warcraft 14 Summary 15 The change that this lit review reflects focusing on identity and transformation as they relate to online game environments, specifically World of Warcraft. Chapter Two: Literature Review Introduction This literature review will examine the concepts of identity and stress as they relate to World of Warcraft play. This literature can help in framing the topic through understanding the identity and the ways in which it is formed so that real world identity creation can be reflected in an understanding of a virtual world identity and vice versa. The emergence of online identities is not a completely new concept. People have been creating public identities with the purpose of achieving goals throughout human existence (Wallen 1998, p. 52). However, the nature of the online persona is somewhat unique in that it is done with the intention of representing an ‘otherness’ through character and skills that would not be possible in the real world. Exploring the nature of this creation provides for a greater understanding of the concept of identity. Watslawik and Born (2007, p. 2) state that “ego psychoanalytical theory places the individual within a more or less nurturing social context, as contrast with the more confrontive view of classical theory wherein the individual is seen more as contesting society”. The nature of human interaction, according to Erikson’s theory, is in finding communities in which nurture is the primary benefit. While an individual seeks a community in which shared values and beliefs are experienced, or in the case of game play, shared goals, eventually it is the sense of nurture that is built that will provide the attraction to a community (Watslawik and Born 2007). The following literature review will focus on the identity as it is positioned in an online environment as a created and semi-controlled entity. This will be discussed through the created and controlled aspect, as well as how that control is not complete as the social dynamic and the real life characteristics begin to come through to the online identity. Avatar as it Becomes Part of the Community Individual and the Avatar The nature of identity is the result of a tension between conformity and individuality. In seeking to find an identity, the individual must find a position between these two oppositional forces in order to find both acceptance and individuation. This phenomenon creates an internal conflict within which the individual seeks to find a sense of self and the acceptance of self by the community (Jackson 1984, p. 203). Through following group norms, the individual seeks to find positive interaction within the context of group identification and personal differentiation. The sense of self is defined through social identities that are evolved through group behaviours and attitudes, with the individual identity evolving through perceptions and evaluations of social situations (Korostelina 2007, p. 36). Human existence has been framed through the formation of identity within the concept of race. According to Smedley (1998), the concept of race as an identifying factor has only emerged since the 17th century. Before that time culture and kinship were the ways in which people were grouped. Where in the past, occupation and city of origin identified an individual in a ethnic way, the idea of physical differences having the power to inform the identity is relatively new. In the game of World of Warcraft, actual species differences are developed in which race becomes a very important aspect of the identity of the character (Hammer and Kellner 2009, p. 597). In choosing a race, the player makes the initial step towards creating an association within the game. However, the creation of a race is only one identifying factor, and while like in any environment there are players who have prejudices about one race or another, class assessment, whether the player chooses to be a hunter, mage, warrior or etc. will have a higher impact on player prejudice. Within the context of the online environment, the avatar becomes the both the representation and the embodiment of the identity. Virtual identity and online identity are two separate experiences, the duality a phenomenon that is defined by the split between the association that is made by others to the avatar, and the conceptualization of the self within the context of the visual representation that is the avatar. The virtual identity is the presentation, the face, name, and overall appearance of nature that is created by the user as a representative of the play (Meadows 2008, p. 73). Other players will begin to associate different ideas, beliefs, and attitudes with that visual representation. These second aspects, the characteristics that are associated with the avatar, are both consciously and unconsciously poured into the creation of the online persona. The combination of the visual representation, the unconscious and conscious aspects of personality that emerge, and the creation of a social position through class and professions, supports a separate and unique identity associated specifically with the avatar as an extension of the player (Subramanyam and Smahel 2011, p. 63). The avatar that an individual creates is the embodiment of the experiences that are shared. When an avatar is deleted, the identity that was created and the associations are also deleted. While the ‘mun’ (mundane, referring to the person at the computer) still exists, the identity was situated within the avatar. As an example, a game environment such as Second Life where the experiences are specifically based upon relationships rather than achievements, changing to another avatar will create distance between the relationships that were formed on the original avatar. Wood and Soloman (2009, p. 116) refer to the avatar as “a form of digital memory, similar to tourist photography taken to preserve the commodified experiences of travel”. They also go on to say that “Gamers are connected through avatars, and possessing an avatar is seen as an authenticating act that defines a person’s membership within the gaming community” (Wood and Soloman 2009, p. 116). The importance of the avatar is as the embodiment of the identity that is formed, and if eliminated, than the accumulation of those experiences are eliminated, remembered through distance rather than connectivity similar to the experience of real life death. Each avatar has a unique set of experiences that are only fully connected from within each individual avatar. Changing into another creates a new identity in which new connective experiences will occur, but will not be the same as others belonging to the same ‘mun’ (Fritz and Sablatnig 2010, p. 38). Community Within a sense of community, the ethnicity of a cultural group has a bearing on the way in which the individual is placed within that group. The cultural identity that is adapted to the individual is formed based upon a series of conditions, including everything from physical appearance to economic station. This is suggestive of a multi level cultural identity in which different members hold different spaces within that structure (Gravres-Brown and Sian 2006). The personal position within the cultural space becomes defined, by the way in which choices have led to different outcomes which can only be predicted to a point because influences from unknown events will cause shifts in the original plan. In the case of the game, a player makes different choices that lead them to a specific position within the game, thus creating an identity that is defined by norms of the community (Chappelle 2010, p. 26). Where in real life the path that a person takes in creating their identity is more often determined by a combination of factors that are mostly outside of their control, such as physical attributes, family dynamics, socio-economic position of the family during childhood, and the infrastructure of the community, are negated within the game framework. The choices that are made are up to the individual with relatively pre-defined outcomes, thus the cultural identity is a matter of choices (Selfe and Hawisher 2007, p. 79). The introduction into the community is a matter of ritual in which the individual moves from being an outsider to a member of the community by the creation of the first avatar. According to Wood and Soloman (2009), sharing stories of the first avatar is similar to skydivers who share stories of their first dive and Harley-Davidson riders who share stories of their first ride. Exploring the different choices towards identity becomes a part of the search for acceptance into the community. “In this process, the new gamers enter the game at the bottom of the status hierarchy and undergo a process of socialization and transformation. As a gamer’s commitment to the game deepens, the avatar becomes an integral part of the gamer’s daily experiences” (Wood and Soloman 2009, p.114). Becoming a member of the community is a matter of initiation, the shared experiences becoming central to the connectivity between players. Transformation Morality and Transformations of the Self One example of how the online identity will be very different than the real world identity is in the actions that the character online will take in order to play the game in relationship to the actions that real life would never afford. The individual suspends morality about death as the online experience becomes redefined by a mandate to kill in order to proceed through the game. According to Monroe (2006, p. 406), “Findings suggest the tremendous power of identity to constrain choice, reveal the complexity of the moral life, underscore the importance of identity for moral motivation, and fill in critical gaps in our understanding of the moral psychology”. However, how this relates to the online identity is through the reframing of the social and cultural moralities that are within the game social integration. Social Transformation Conversely, the game environment allows for the continuation of a social fiction in which consequences no longer apply and the rules diverge from real world constructions. Emergence occurs when the imagination of the creator and the imagined responses of the players collide so that the imagination of the player takes the world into new concepts. The world begins to transform into complexity theory in which “we might characterize virtual worlds as play ecosystems along a spectrum that parallels ludic/paidiaic play forms, and also helps to define the dynamics between the designer and player” (Pearce and Artemisia 2009, p. 31). The nature of the game is to build a hero, but in creating such a character, the morality has changed. One can look at the work done by Monroe (1996) on altruism which suggests that it is a “disguised form of self-interest” which suggests that there is gratification in altruistic action. When one forms an identity that includes an altruistic nature, there is a conflict of definition because altruism has this sense of self-gratification. Dugatkin (2006) discusses the nature of the human experience to examine what makes an individual good and what makes them bad. In trying to understand goodness, one must look at the way in which a society identifies what is good and bad. In looking at the values of a culture, the definitions of good and bad can vary over social constructions. Within a game environment, the culture within the game will define what constitutes what is good and what is bad, just as it is redefined from one culture to the next. Etiquette in the online game environment develops in relationship to expectations that emerge between players. Through both person-based trust and category-based trust, individuals have specific ideas about how the others they come into contact with will behave. Person-based trust is based on beliefs about how to form expectations about other people, while category-based trust is based upon the human-automation based trust. These trust systems are developed for working teams, paradigms that are more suited towards the interactions that creating progressive goal acquisition requires (Hayes and Miller 2011). The way in which people are monitored in World of Warcraft is through administrators of the game, but more so through the shaming practices of other players. Players who violate rules put out by Blizzard can be reported or caught, but the fascinating events of punishment occur in the game. When in the game, if one does not understand an aspect of a game, he or she will be shamed in front of the group for not performing as intended or as the conventions of play have been defined (Bainbridge 2010). Feigenson and Spiesel (2009) state that social shaming is a major means of internal policing within internet games, reflecting tribal patterns of policing behaviours and supporting a return to social power that asserts power over correct and aligned behaviours in its citizens. Transformation and Game Change One way of looking at the creation of an online identity can be in associating it with the concept of organizational identity. An example of how an in game identity can be seen through theories that are associated with organizational identities is through the example of game expansions. A game expansion occurs when the creators of the game decide that it is time to make a radical change (Nardi 2009). As an organization undergoes change, the collective identity will shift, thus creating a radicalized shift in the way in which the individual sees themselves in relationship with their association to the organization (Fiol 2002). Burke (2006a) discusses Identity Control Theory (ICT) as defined through hierarchal views of identity which involves control systems in which problems are addressed and solved. Change in identity involves the definition as it is a series of self-meanings that are then transformed, creating a change in the identity. In creating the identity, more specifically, in creating an alternate identity, meanings that are related to the culture take context and are used so that the new formation of identity will occur. Examples of these types of transformations can be seen through the emergence of leadership roles, through antagonist roles, and through the construction of identities of war and battle that are not part of the real world life experiences of the individual player. A person who is a low level worker without any authority in real life can invest their time to lead great legions of individuals within an online community, creating and utilizing an identity that he or she is unable to express in real life. The theory of ICT emerges as hierarchal systems provide a structure in which aspects of the identity of an individual can perform and excel through new systems of problem resolution that have eliminated real world constraints (Burke 2006b). Gender Social constructivism, according to Cerulo (1997) informs a great deal of the work that has been done on gender identity. Constructivism is “an interactional accomplishment” which is defined and continually realized through “linguistic exchange and social performance” (Cerulo 1997, pp. 387). The concept of gender identity is defined by the way in which social interaction informs the individual on how a gender is suppose to behave and through which concepts the gendered identity is formed. According to Whittle (2002) the online environment creates an opportunity for the disembodiment of the individual which opens up the exploration of other opportunities of the self. Within the online experience, the individual has the opportunity to escape the body, to transform into an ‘otherness’ that can be translated into many types of experiences, including a switch in gender. Gender is detached from the materiality of the body and re-codified within the cyber space. External forces are eliminated, and the expression of gender can be released to embody the choice of the user, rather than the assumption and impositions of society. World of Warcraft is a game that is not only defined by its business model, but is also defined by its in game economic structure. It is necessary to look at gender and consumption in order to help to understand the drives towards participating in the game. According to Palan, Areni and Kiecker (1999) it has been established through the work of previous researchers that gender is relevant to the way in which consumption is approached. In addition, according to Bem (1981), the way in which masculine and feminine brains function influences the way in which information was processed. Bem (1981) further revealed that the way in which males and females perceived their gendered identity was relevant to how they processed information. This means that a male that perceived himself as female will approach information from a female perspective, and vice versa. Online Worlds The online world creates a series of experiences and explorations that would never be available in the real world. The online experience, however, can help to provide a microcosm of real world events in which a better understanding of human nature and human experience can be achieved. As an example, according to Vastag (2007) Blizzard put into their World of Warcraft game when they had a subscribership of 4 million players, a beast that was intended to unite players so that it could only be killed by the player banning together and forming groups. Part of the event included a virus that would infect the players and their in-world pets. The intention of the creators was that the virus would stay isolated, but what was not considered was human nature. Players were able to out of the area and into the towns where they spread the virus to other players and their pets. Beyond that, shop keepers known as NPC’s (non-player characters) were also infected, but they did not die, so they infected anyone who interacted with them. While the players could die and resurrect without the infection, the NPC’s would not die, thus acting as carriers for the infection. Tina Fefferman, a specialist in computerized infectious disease models for studying the nature of the spread of human disease, was hired to look into the problem in order to help Blizzard solve the issue (Vastag 2007). In this case, the nature of the online environment to replicate a real world problem provides context for understanding how the online world can provide information on real world issues. Crovitz (2007) takes this further and suggests that from the point of view of the student, online worlds can provide avenues of unusual and fruitful research if used in context towards research and study. The nature of the online community is that from a smaller, more accessible venue, human nature emerges and can be observed. The nature of the online experience provides such a close parallel to real life scenarios that the military in the United States has begun to use online games designed to train their combatants for military oriented reflexes and strategies (Squire 2006). Socialization Based on the work of John Hill’s theories, there are four areas that can be identified for their relationship to the online socialization experience: identity, autonomy, intimacy and sexuality (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield 2008). While this is associated with the adolescent use of online communications, this theoretical framework easily transfers to the creation of online identities as it has expanded from the adolescent demographic into the adult world. The online identity is shaped through two aspects of social interaction: interpersonal connections and constructing identity. These two aspects of individual development are centred on the adolescent developmental experience, but the evidence of a vast community of adults who use the same venues, such as Facebook and online gaming venues such as Second Life and World of Warcraft, it suggests that adults are tapping into unfulfilled identity creation in order to relate to the nature of the social interactions. Hagood (2003) “new media and online literacies can no longer be considered only what youth ‘do’ to the exclusion of what adults ‘do’” (p. 387). The nature of the online participant is no longer defined by age, neither is the event of playing online games or participating in online socialization. Online Identity Norton and Toohey (2002) have discussed the nature of writing and comprehension as being a component of how identity is constructed. Labels that are created during educational experiences provide a resource for a part of the identity as intellect and intelligence is perceived through the nature of literacy as a part of the constructed self. Moje, Birr, Luke, Davies and Street (2009) state that “Learning from a social and cultural perspective, involves people in participation, interaction, relationships, and contexts, all of which have implications for how people make sense of themselves and others, identify and are identified” (p. 44). The way in which people speak, create language, and interpret language on the internet has begun to extend beyond alphabetic language, thus creating a whole new set of skills from which language must be created for online interaction. In the process, the way in which the individual learns this new language can help to define the created online identity. Choosing to use LOL to symbolize laughter, or choosing to use an application to say ’name laughs’ can create a difference in how the user’s identity is defined. Kendal (2000), in discussing the nature of language in an online atmosphere, discusses the way that identity is shaped in relationship to the way in which new forms of expression have been formed. Those who participate in online conversation must find new ways to gesture in order to express emotions that would normally be expressed through visual cues. Unlike writing letters or e-mails, the online text communication allows for real time communication that has been developed to extend beyond the type of language that depends on facial expressions, tone of voice, and hand gestures to allow for text to represent different forms of this type of new language. This includes such cues as all capital letters to indicate anger or excitement, abbreviations that stand in for emotional explanations, and combinations of symbols to represent the human face such as Read More