MMOGs
Last night’s lecture was delivered by Sal Humphreys. Her topic: The law and ethics of MMOGs.
In her lecture, Sal introduced us to the MMOG EverQuest and to a few colourful participants of her extensive research. She went on to dismiss the stereotype of gamers, highlight the sociability of the medium and encourage us to question ownership and control of MMOG product.
In my opinion, MMOGs are a form of escapism. Gamers use the medium to ‘become’ someone (or something) in the virtual realm they cannot be in the physical realm. Sal briefly touched on this theory when she mentioned her physically disabled friend who was an adept guild leader in EverQuest yet could not tie her own shoelaces.
For most users, this form of escapism is harmless and often beneficial. For others, it can be devastating. The danger of MMOGs lies in addiction (i.e. Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD).
Unfortunately, as Sal discussed in her lecture, multinational publishers of MMOGs rely on this addiction for success. The publishers increasingly produce games that are more complex, require more commitment and greater social networking. The gamer must devote a significant amount of time to that particular MMOG to be victorious. As a result, his or her ‘real’ life suffers.
A real question of ethics (I believe) lies in whether or not the multinational publisher should take responsibility for contributing to IAD. Should they be obliged to act socially responsible?
For more on IAD see:
http://library.albany.edu/briggs/addiction.html
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=257132005
posted by Aisling McCartney @ 11:40 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Hey,
I liked your take on last weeks lecture. You have probably heard of this already but I found this artical http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm that relates to internet addiction. I also subscribe to the theory that the internet is a way for many people to 'escape' and open up a part of themself to others that they cannot usually show off for whatever reason. Cool post.
Paul Goldston
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Thanks Pauly i hadn't.
It still amazes me that people can become so addicted to something that inevitably kills them. I would think that a person's survival instincts would kick in before they died of malnutrition or heart failure. But then again i have never been in that situation (nor do i ever want to be) so i guess i'm not qualified to comment.
What goes up must come down. For every good thing that the Internet offers it also offers something equally bad. It's all about how you manage it and yourself i suppose.
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