Class Location and Meeting Times: T + TH 8:30 9:45 RCC 400 / 402

Transcription

1 COMM Games for the web (Interactive Multimedia) Fall 2008 Dr. Aaron Delwiche Office: Laurie 363 Office Phone: Office Hours: M, W, F 8:00 9:00 T + TH 10:00 2:00 Class Location and Meeting Times: T + TH 8:30 9:45 RCC 400 / 402 Course description A staple of nerd subculture for almost three decades, role-playing games have taken on new life in the era of networked computing. High-speed connections, sophisticated graphics and powerful microprocessors have paved the way for massively multiplayer games (MMOs) such as World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, and Maple Story. Meanwhile, social virtual worlds such as Second Life, Hipihi, and Project Wonderland have demonstrated their potential as valuable tools for community-building, education, and distributed collaboration. Of course, virtual worlds are just one subset of a much larger videogame industry. From the Internet cafes of China and South Korea to the living rooms of American suburbs, hardware and software manufacturers generated more than $42 billion in global sales in Pricewaterhouse Coopers predicts that sales will climb to almost $70 billion by the year Clearly, videogames and game-worlds are here to stay. In this course, we will conduct an ethnographic study of the behaviors, cultural practices and motivations of MMO gamers. Along the way, we will play and critically analyze a variety of games. In addition to exploring game mechanics and video-game aesthetics, we will investigate sociological and psychological dimensions of virtual worlds as well as social controversies that surround this emerging medium. We have three objectives: 1. to explore communication theory and cyber-culture studies through sustained interaction with other residents of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, 2. to apply ethnographic research methods to understand the behaviors, cultural practices, and motivations of MMO players, and 3. to develop a critical vocabulary for analyzing all types of videogames Prior technical and gaming experience is not required for this course. Course requirements and materials Assigned texts for this course include readings from the course packet (available on Blackboard) and a subscription to the game Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. You will need to purchase the game software ($40), and you will also pay a monthly subscription fee ($15/month). Since the first month is free, you should budget approximately $100 to cover the overall software and subscription costs. Please do not purchase the software or your subscription until next week. Class communication will regularly take place in and class blogs, so please be sure to check your Trinity address at least once a day for course-related messages. All class-related messages sent to your Trinity account should be treated as required reading, and you are responsible for their contents.

2 Page 2 of 6 Throughout the semester, we will spend a significant amount of time in the virtual world of Vanguard. This virtual world is an ideal location for studying on-line gamers, cyberculture, and videogame aesthetics. A significant amount of class time will be spent in the game-world, but you are also expected to devote at least five hours a week to the game in order to conduct ethnographic research within Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. To ensure that everyone spends enough time in world, a group gaming session will be held between 6:30 and 9:00 on Wednesday evenings. You are welcome to play the game on the lab computers when other classes are not using the facilities, and you may also be able to install the game on your personal system. At the outset, it should be noted that massively multiplayer games have a reputation for being addictive. When I taught a previous version of this course using Everquest, I received several messages from former players who were concerned about the potential for addiction. For example, one person commented [Y]ou could potentially get people addicted and lost in this world. I was addicted to the game for 3 years and it IS a very, very powerful addiction. I strongly urge you to explain to everyone in advance that if they have strong addictive-type personalities not to force them to do this... [I] could not be any more serious. Of course, the same factors that make these games addictive make them highly interesting to new media scholars. If you have a compulsive personality, you might want to consider strategies for placing limits on your access to the game. One possibility is to avoid playing the game in any location other than the computer lab. Also, please remember that the game though intrinsically fun is merely a vehicle for understanding the dynamics of virtual worlds. If you are worried about your relationship to the game at any time during the semester, please do not hesitate to contact me. Assignments and grading There will be one take-home exam. The exam will be distributed on October 16 th, and it is due at the beginning of class on October 23 rd. This exam will ask you to connect ideas from the class readings to your personal research project. (25% total) When conducting fieldwork, researchers typically maintain a journal of observations, insights, and evolving research questions. As you play the game, you should be taking notes about your interactions with other players and making connections to ideas in class readings. Throughout the semester, you will record these observations, insights, and questions in a regularly updated web log. No prior technical knowledge is required to create this on-line research journal. I will periodically distribute specific web log assignments, but you should independently update the journal with your thoughts and observations at least once a week. (20% total) You will also write a term paper based on the research conducted throughout the quarter. The actual term paper will constitute 35% of your overall grade in the course, and your final presentation will account for 5% of the overall grade. A more detailed description of this assignment will be handed out during the third week of class. Your final paper is due at the beginning of the final examination period at 6:30 p.m. on December 17 th. You will also present your work to your peers during this final exam session.

3 Page 3 of 6 Participation accounts for fifteen percent of your overall grade. Exam 25% Blog / VG 20% Final project 35% Presentation 5% Participation 15% Late assignments will have their grade reduced by one-third of a letter grade for each working day that the paper is not received. If you expect to miss class or arrive late please let me know in advance. All assignments must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in this class. Participation Attendance You are expected to regularly attend class sessions. A total of two absences are permitted. More than two absences will result in lowering of your overall grade or dismissal from the course, at the professor s discretion. The two absences include excused absences and should be conserved like "sick leave." If you are a member of a Trinity University team or organization, school-sponsored activities may cause you to miss class during the semester. If this is the case, you should present me with the dates of the activities in writing prior to the activity. If notice is not received in advance, the class period will count as an absence. Discussion Class discussion is an important part of the Trinity experience. To receive an excellent grade for participation, you should arrive on time and participate in discussion without prompting. An average grade will be given to those students who only answer questions when asked. I do understand that some people are very shy. If you re not comfortable participating verbally in class, there are other ways of participating. For example, you could bring materials to class that would facilitate discussion. Please see me to discuss these options. Quizzes From time to time, quizzes will be given in this course. Quizzes are more likely to appear if I notice that people are not prepared to participate in class discussion.

4 Page 4 of 6 8/28 Course overview 2 3 9/2 Multiplayer games: Introduction / Blog set up Ducheneaut, Nicolas, Yee, Nick, Nickell, Eric, Moore, Robert J. (2006) "Building an MMO With Mass Appeal: A Look at Gameplay in World of Warcraft." Games and Culture 1: Richard Bartle (1997) "The future of virtual reality." [Relatively short article.] 9/9 Virtual worlds: Anda s Game Dotorow, C. (2007) Anda s Game. Short story excerpted from Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present. 9/4 Multiplayer games: Mechanics Scott Rettberg, Corporate Ideology in World of Warcraft. Book chapter in World(s) of Warcraft, a Critical Anthology of World of Warcraft Studies. Hilde Corneliussen and Jill Walker, eds. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008 Reeves, B., Malone, T., & O'Driscoll, T. (2008, May). Leadership s Online Labs. Harvard Business Review, 86(5), /11 Players: Motivations Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDs. Journal of MUD Research, 1(1) [Classic] Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations, and Derived Experiences of Users of Massively Multi User Online Graphical Environments. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 15(3), /16 Players: Demographics Williams, D., N. Yee & S. Caplan (2008, in press). Who Plays, How Much, and Why? A Behavioral Player Census of Virtual World. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. Optional: Pearce, C. (2008). The truth about baby boomer gamers: A study of over forty computer game players. Games and Culture, 3(2), /18 Players: Gender and gender bending Cox, B. (2005) Sexism in World of Warcraft. Bruckman, A. (1993). Gender swapping on the internet. Proceedings of INET, 93, 1 7. [Classic] 5 9/23 Players: Gender and gender bending (cont.) Real Boys Carry Girly Epics: Normalising Gender Bending in Online Games. Esther MacCallum Stewart. Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture. 2008, 2 (1), p Optional: Hussain, Z., & Griffiths, M. (2008, February). Gender Swapping and Socializing in Cyberspace: An Exploratory Study. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(1), /25 Communities: Guilds Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., & Nickell, E. (2006). From tree house to barracks: The social life of guilds in world of warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4), 338.

5 Page 5 of 6 6 9/30 Communities: Collaboration and griefing Nardi, B. and Harris, J Strangers and friends: collaborative play in world of warcraft. In Proceedings of the th Anniversary Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (Banff, Alberta, Canada, November 04 08, 2006). CSCW '06. ACM, New York, NY, Gregson, K. (Oct. 2007) "Bad Avatar: Griefing in Virtual Worlds," M/C Journal, 10(5). 10/2 Research methods: Overview Williams, D. & L. Xiong (2008, in press). Herding Cats Online: Challenges in Deriving a Sample from Online Communities. In Hargittai, E. (Ed.). Research Methods from the Trenches: The Nitty Gritty of Empirical Social Science Research. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press /7 Research methods: Quantitative/qualitative Williams, D. (2005). Bridging the Methodological Divide in Game Research. Simulation & Gaming. 36(4), p /14 Research methods: Ethics Kafai, Y. B., Feldon, D., Fields, D., Giang, M., & Quintero, M. Life in the times of whypox: A virtual epidemic as a community event. Community and Technology.Berlin: Springer Verlag, 10/21 No class: AD at State of Play (Chicago) 10/28 Game design: Insights from developers 10/9 Research methods: Ethnography Fetterman, D. (1989) Walking in rhythm: Anthropological concepts. Chapter 2 (pp ) in Ethnography: Step by step. London: Sage. Fetterman, D. (1989) A wilderness guide: Methods and techniques. Chapter 3 (pp ) in Ethnography: Step by step. London: Sage. 10/16 Research methods: Ethics Steinkuehler, Castranova, Lastowka, Reynolds et. al. (2004) What constitutes ethical participant observation in MMOG ethnography? Fetterman, D. (1989) Walking softly through the wilderness: Ethics. Chapter 7 (pp ) in Ethnography: Step by step. London: Sage. Take home exam distributed 10/23 Research methods: Discussing project concepts Take home exam due 10/30 Game design: Insights from developers Raph Koster, 2003, "A theory of fun." 11 11/4 Real world implications: Virtual property Bartle, R. (2005). Pitfalls of virtual property. Report for Themis Group. Castranova, E. (2001) Virtual worlds: A first hand account of market and society on the Cyberian frontier. CESifo Working Paper No [Classic] 11/6 Real world implications: Surveillance and privacy T.L. Taylor (2006) "Does WoW Change Everything?: How a PvP Server, Multinational Playerbase, and Surveillance Mod Scene Caused Me Pause," Games & Culture, v. 1 n. 4, October 2006.

6 Page 6 of /11 Real world implications: Education Dickey, M. (2007, June). Game design and learning: a conjectural analysis of how massively multiple online role playing games (MMORPGs) foster intrinsic motivation. Educational Technology Research & Development, 55(3), Optional: Childress, M., & Braswell, R. (2006, August). Using Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games for Online Learning. Distance Education, 27(2), /13 Real world implications: Addiction Smyth, J. (2007, October). Beyond Self Selection in Video Game Play: An Experimental Examination of the Consequences of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game Play. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(5), Optional: Chuang, Y. (2006, August). Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game Induced Seizures: A neglected Health Problem in Internet Addiction. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9(4), /18 Small fish in a big pond: Global dimensions The realities of virtual play: video games and their industry in China, Yong Cao and John D.H. Downing, Media, Culture & Society, Jul 2008; vol. 30: pp /25 Research workshop 12/2 Research workshop 12/9 Last day of class 11/20 Small fish in a big pond: Global dimensions John Funk (2008) My Korean fantasy life. The Escapist. August 26, and Jared Rea (2008) Global dimensions. The Escapist. August 26, and Allen Varney (2008) Gamer nation. The Escapist. August 26. [All three articles are very short.] 11/27 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY 12/4 Research workshop Official final exam period: December 17 th. 6:30 9:30 p.m. Papers due at beginning of exam period, and presentations to follow.