Media and societal violence: Identifying the two camps on the debate

The second discussion highlighted by Terra Nova in respond to a never-ending fascination by some quarters to link media with violence in society was also started by Edward Castronova. Castronova provides a scathing attack on the authors of a paper "The Effect of Videogame Violence on Physiological desensitization to Real-World Violence" (see left).

Now I have not read the paper yet but Castronova's review brought to my attention the individuals from the two polarized camps on this issue. I am familiar with works of people in Castronova's camp but not that of Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman. I need to be familiar with their works, how their works are cited and who cited them , and also critics of their works. I need to explore more of such works as they will be useful for my literature review and help extend the discussion of my research topic from psychological perspective.

GE lanyard design: Magical bond and transcending game playing experience beyond fun and social enjoyment

On the left is a lanyard designed by Keo-Hime following Granado Espada theme. I thought the design was incredibly fantastic. There seems to be interest from IAH for the design. Whatever happens, I hope Keo-Hime gets her share of monetary reward for her effort.

Anyway, what interest me the most about the lanyard is what I draw from insights I gain making commentaries on an article post by Aldo Tolino in Gamasutra and a blog post by Henry Jenkins. The lanyard is an example of ludic artifact and it transcends game playing experience beyond the game environment. What is interesting about the lanyard is that while it is product of a player, but it came through from collective effort of critical friends who are fans of GE. There seems to be a kind of magical bond created from the process of making the lanyard that brings the designer and her critical friends together if not closer, and this magical bond transcends beyond this circle to include all GE players as the creator dedicates her design to all. Amazing.

I am at odds trying to reconcile how lanyard is situated in the designer's exploration of her subjectivity and experimentations with many identities while searching for meaning to her existence and her relations to the social environment around her. I can see that the process of making the lanyard afford her some degree of recognition from her circle of close GE friends and overall, the GE community. This is very empowering and she has established herself in the community (even IAH notices her now).

So her playing experience transcend what we normally associated games with- fun and social enjoyment. For her, it is bigger and one that potentially affects and mediates her future. We cannot dismiss that she also sees playing as empowering and providing opportunities to explore her potential and interest. It will be interesting if I could interview her and find out more about how she read GE and what she takes away from playing.

How teens' experimentation with identities affects how they read game?

Henry Jenkins shares an autobiography of one of his students reflecting on her journey and engagement with popular media during her teens. The post reminds me that I too did collect pictures on my bedroom wall and in my scrapbook. Those pictures are pictures of soccer teams and players. I remember those collections meant a lot to me then and I had to save before I could afford to buy soccer magazines from sundry shops where they had pull out centre piece that featured a famous players or soccer teams competing in the English Division One, equivalent to today's EPL. I drew pictures of soccer players and paste them onto the cover of my school text books. Back then, I aspired to be like them, most importantly to be like my all time favourite player, Ian Rush. While I play nowhere near Ian Rush, I remember fondly calling myself as him when I got together for a game of soccer or even when I hanged out with friends. I agree that I was experimenting with identities back then and media facilitated that.

Jenkins' post alerts me to the influence of age factor on how players "read" games. Teenage is a period of time where teens explore their subjectivity and experiment with many identities while navigating their way in searching of meaning to their existence and their relation to the social environment around them. Hence, MMOGs can be seen as laboratories to experiment with identities and how this experimentation mediates how they "read" and take away from playing MMOGs.

Social bonds created in MMOGs: With who and how players choose as friends?

Face with never-ending fascination by some quarters to link media with violence in society, Terra Nova highlights a series of discussions held in the past on the issue. I start with my commentary of the discussion entitiled: Why Do Kids Kill? by Edward Castronova.

Castronova brings to attention the works of two family therapy scholars, Ken Hardy and Tracy Laszloffy, who according to him, "warn (us) from blaming simple environment factors like video games and guns...(but) trace the roots of teen violence to four things: devaluation, erosion of community, dehumanized loss, and rage".

Castronova then goes onto suggest that video games can potentially help teens with such background overcome the impacts of their experiences. One of the discussion paths centres on social bond players create in MMOGs. The contention is that the four roots of violence are "elements that damage an individual's bonds with a social group" or more specifically with the "mainstream" social structure. So the issue is, if affected teens are only exposed to teens who share similar experience, their bonds potentially will serve as "social reinforcements that make (their) group stronger, perhaps even increasing the isolation from... or the animosity toward... the "mainstream" (social structure)".

This discussion makes me thinks of a possible primary and many secondary research questions for my study. I wonder whether players my research subjects play with most often are those that share similar real-life profile as them or are they opened to play with just about anybody. I have read a paper that reports that players commonly establish clan (guild, faction, etc) consisting of individuals from their off-line networks in order to reduce the risk of cooperating with strangers. I guess it is always fun playing with real-life friends in MMOGs but subsequently, how open are players to embrace the community of strangers out there in the game world. Is there a rule of thumb that they use to decide who they can get closer with and who they should stay away? Or do these work on hunches? Or do they have like a self-imposed "probation period" to find out more about strangers from playing with them before finally loosen down their guard and become friends. I am sure the kinds of friends players have in the game world potentially mediate the kinds of conversations they have in game which in the end, impact how they "read" and what they take away from playing the game.

What BGT can teach us about subjectivity?

Watching the trio of Piers, Amanda and Simon gives you a good lesson how exploring one's own subjectivity is important in qualitative research. This particular clip (click on pic) is taken from the first semi-final of BGT 09 involving the performance of Julia Naidenko. See how they reacted throughout her performance and when they gave comments in the end.

Looking at Piers giggling and overly excited, I wonder what he really meant by "stunning performance" and "I am very grateful that you brought all your frieds with you". :D I see Amanda's interjection as a good prompt for Piers to check on his subjectivity. And Amanda cannot agreed with Simon on whether the Queen would like to see belly dancing underscores how gender too impact on one's subjectivity. It's like have three qualitative researchers looking at a phenomenon and all three come up with three different stories to describe it.

It was only during qualitative class that I learnt to explore and appreciate how important it is to establish my subjectivity. Well, not all subjectivities can be addressed but it is important to be aware of them and how they mediates how you generate and interpret your data. I see subjectivity as a lens for readers to understand where you coming from and appreciate how you see your research. Another thing I learn about subjectivity is that it is not a one-off process where in one sitting you can pen down all your subjectivities. It is a process of discovery. So far I have gone through two rounds of subjectivity writing and in the process learn more about assumptions and biases I have - in short, I learn more about myself. I will do the exercise again when I during the stage of simulataneous data collection and analysis.

Well, I don't think that the judges in BGT will be ask to write their subjectivity statement in any foreseenable future. But it would be great if we can have a peek into their mind through their subjectivity writing. While I agree there will be benefits, I also think the controvesy this will invite outweighs its benefits. Just sharing my thoughts.

Choosing from four screens: Interactivity still does not impact narrative

Following up on Wesolowski's great article Beyond Pacing: Games Aren't Hollywood, Wesolowski argues that cinematic narrative is only possible because of the absence of any interactivity in films. He adds that any decision made about a film (even decision to stop watching), is made outside the process of film watching. "Within the process, there are no decision you can make with regard to the film you're watching." So no audience interactivity here like in games.

A respondent to Wesolowski's article brings to attention one possible exception, the experimental film "Timecode" by Mike Figgis. He says "The film consists of 4 scenes shown on the screen simultaneously (which take place in real time, without cuts), but the audio only comes from one of the scenes. In the theatrical release, Figgis controls the audio for what he wants the audience to pay attention to. However, in the DVD release, the watcher is allowed to switch the audio channel at will, so you do have direct control of how the movie plays out, at least as far as the sound goes."

While I agree there is somewhat limited audience interactivity in Timecode, I can't see how such interactivity have any bearing to the narrative of the film. The film narrative continue to be linear and audience are not shaping the outcome of its narrative. Choosing which screen to see may give the audience one perspectival view if the shots focus on looking at what is happening in the film from one character's lens. Choosing to look at different characters' lens may give the audience more complete picture from every characters' perspectives. Still, even when, as Wesolowski puts it, "when miscommunication happens, a film just goes on at its own pace".

Another interesting note from Wesolowski is his comment about films that encourage thinking and discussion. He says

" ...the process of building an interpretation. The message of a film is not delivered instantly. It takes time, so your perception of the film and its message changes over time. Your reaction to film is your own, individual process - you kind of "play the Reservoir Dogs game" in your head. But it doesn't affect the way you watch the film, only the way you interpret it. Again, it happens outside of the process of film watching. Naturally, you can discuss or even object to the film's message. But the message itself won't change. "

In games, interpretation and actions on what is perceived and interpreted are live, and they mediates the outcome of the narrative.

Wesolowski's Games Aren't Hollywood

Another word for "pacing" is "storytelling". We never tell stories to players; we just put them in games. Then players tell our stories to themselves.

- J. Wesolowski

There is a great article in Gamasutra by Jacek Wesolowski entitled Beyond Pacing: Games Aren't Hollywood. Reading the article makes me wonder how Steven Spielberg inaugural videogames will look like. Will it has the same cinematic effect like his many epic films. God knows.

In his article Wesolowski argues that "games aren't Hollywood". According to him, in many blockbuster films, you find a prescribed formula to achieve "cinematic effect of mounting tension" that glues the audience to their feet, roller-coastering their emotions over alternate climatic peaks and downslide reliefs, and at the end of the movie they are "left shaken and wanting for more". This effect can be achieved when the intensity is paced as "an increasing wave of peaks and relief".

Wesolowski argues that in games you cannot pace intensity as you see in film for the fundamental reasons that unlike film:

• games are not linear
• games are interactive
• the audience are not passive but participate in the shaping the outcome of game narratives
• games rely on repetitions
• games are "three to twenty times as long as film" (so intensity is much slower and hardly noticeable when compares to film)
• games has "more individual action sequences than in film" and so more difficult to connect gameplay and narrative
• games needs redundancy because "you never know which part the player is paying the most attention to"

Further, he argues that intensity in games works differently than in film when he says that in games:

... we can either escalate sensory stimuli or build up abstract meaning. The former happens when guns, explosions or enemies get bigger, putting the Hero in a greater danger than before. The latter happens when each part of a narrative means something -- but together they mean something else. "I am your father, Luke" is more than just a paternity acknowledgment.

These two kinds of intensity tickle different parts of our brains. Escalation is visceral and relies on our perception, while meaning buildup is cognitive and relies on our understanding. Escalation is temporary, because it's easy to replace a big gun with a small one.

Meaning lasts. Once we learn to like a character, it takes a lot to convince us to hate them.

To make things even more difficult, he adds, what players take away from escalation and meaning build-up are mediated by players' subjectivity. He says:

You can give them a bigger gun, but they may still like the previous one better, because it made a nicer sound, or because it fit their style. You can give them a useless but funny sidekick, and they may not appreciate it if they are challenge-oriented.

[...]

Audience tastes differ, too, but most filmgoers will agree they watch films for one or more aspects of the narrative.A player may or may not care about other players, the story, the challenge, the opportunity to express themselves, and so on. The game's message needs to be much more robust, because you never know which part the player is paying the most attention to.

But all is not lost. Moving away from pacing Hollywood style and looking at four exemplary games, Wesolowski suggests that pacing can be done by 1) players' skills, 2) balancing sections of play between giving players the liberty to do whatever they want and forcing them to play through short introductory sections, 3) setting, and 4) allowing events to emerge that guide players' decision.

Wesolowski concludes that pacing is "a complex function of player actions, parametrized by game's dynamics and aesthetics." He adds:

It's a dynamic, rather than preset feature, hence it's difficult, and sometimes impossible to specify it upfront and then design a game to it. We can't just take the increasing wave, and slap it onto the gameplay.

We often see ourselves as all-powerful creators of worlds. Our job is to present, and our players' job is to admire. But in reality, our job is to create an interesting, consistent, and interactive system.

All of its components, including decorations, and the narrative, are interdependent. If the underlying process is interesting, rewarding and entertaining, then it will create a compelling intensity pattern dynamically. We don't have to predefine the pace.

Another word for "pacing" is "storytelling". We never really tell stories to players; we just put them in games. Then players tell our stories to themselves.

Wesolowski's article provides game designers' perspective on players' gameplay and is congruent with game researchers' findings that players may not necessarily play according to how a game is designed but exercise some degree of agency in shaping the kind of game playing experience they wish to engage in.

Games and suicide: Exploitation of public paranoia

Article summary in Bangkok Post

What happened?
A 12-year old boy jump to his death from the sixth-floor balcony of his school building.
Why he did that?
It is perceived that he did that because his father banned him from playing computer games.
What happened next?
No investigation was done to establish why he committed suicide but the government had ordered the closure of 72 websites offering access to online gambling and games.

If you ask me, what happened here reminds me of what the government of a middle-eastern country did when H1NI virus first came under the spot many weeks ago. The government decided to cull all pigs in farms within the city. The farms were in squalid conditions but the government did not have the political will then to order their closure for re-operation on the condition that operators must place high regard on cleanliness of the farms. So, taking full advantage over the H1N1 virus scare (which was popular under the name swine virus even though it is not established that the virus comes from the poultry) and heighten public concern over hygiene resulting from the virus scare, the government ordered the culling.

While I do not support any form of gambling and welcome the closure of the gambling websites, I feel strongly it should not be done or be seen as a respond to the suicide. I see no link between the suicide with online gambling and games (unless a thorough investigation is done and is proved to be the case). The Thai government here too lacks the political will to order the closure and rides on increasing public concern over the suicide and its perceived link to gaming to order the closure. One repercussion (which is likely to be intended) will be continued public association of games with addiction and other ills fanned from this incident. What a pity.

GamePolitics are against gambling too but feels that "it would seem reasonable for the Thai government to at least conduct some sort of investigation before closing down online game websites".

The attractions of Granado Espada

I found a number of websites here, here, here and here featuring interviews with key players in Granado Espada - Hak Kyu Kim (imcGames CEO), Grantley Day (Vice President of Product Development at K2 Network) and Peter Cesario (Operations Producer also at K2 Network). K2 Network is the publisher and distributor of Granado Espada in North America and Europe under the name Sword of the New World. In MMOBase, Granado Espada setting is described as (brackets added):

" ...it takes place, as the title indicate (Sword of The New World), during the time when European explorers, adventurers and colonists braved the lengthy, perilous Atlantic crossing in small, sailing ships. Some did so in search of riches, whether by establishing new, profitable trade routes or by taking them through force of arms. For others, the vital motivation was to build a better life in a land where they could escape tyrannical oppression and openly practice their beliefs. However, the game’s primary focus is not historical accuracy. Rather than trying to simulate the harsh and frequently unappealing realities of the period, it transports players to a romanticized version that seems likely to provide a suitably sweeping yet somehow familiar backdrop. "

Interesting excerpts of the interview are below.

On what are the attractions of Granado Espada...I wordled excerpts of the interviews related to GE attractions and this came out.

" It has a really unique feel and position in the marketplace, both in terms of the game play and feature sets, and in terms of the consumer model

a huge quest system, trading houses, diversity of classes, and depth in game play

a huge PvP system that will offer something to every type of player. What we do not have from the Korean side is the dreaded grind, that Korean titles are often associated with

the level progression is similar to other MMO’s released over the past few years in the American market.

a few that really stand out such as the game’s unique setting, stunning graphics, and its one of a kind multi character control scheme

there is room for a highly unique and exciting MMO such as Sword of the New World Vis. The fact that no other title in the genre offer’s the player the ability to control up to three character’s at once is almost enough in itself! But add in the distinctive setting, highly detailed and striking visuals, and almost unlimited character skill combinations, and Sword of the New World Vis is a title that no MMO fan should miss out on!

you are given the option to create a party of three characters to explore and conquer the world

Granado Espada was the winner of the 2006 Grand Award for Best Game in Korea. Gamers highly valued the creative game system and appreciated the beautiful graphics, the dynamic action, the fast-paced gameplay, multiple character control system, the NPC creation, etc.

some of the most amazing visuals I have seen in an MMO - and not just another clone of a current MMO, but rather something that looks new and different.

The art-style of the game caught the eye of many MMOG veterans, who saw something familiarly fantastic yet altered just enough to make the game feel new. Gun-slinging was just as prevalent a combat style as swordplay, and the multi-character control system stands as a brilliant gameplay adjustment on a tired old formula.

At first, we were definitely attracted to the setting and the graphics...On top of that, we really enjoyed the unique player characters. There’s really nothing that Sword of the New World compares to in the Western market. The Baroque style is unique, the UPCs certainly are a draw, and the setting is fantastic.

Set in an original world with a story modeled after Europe’s exploration of America, the developer of the title, IMC Games, looked for a period where there was little exploration and development in the game world, and settled on the 17th century. Not to mention the access to such great content including architecture that is used in the game.

Sword of the New World’s Multi-Character Control (MCC) enables players to control up to three characters at once. No longer limited to playing just one character at a time, with MCC players can access their favorite classes immediately and combine them for fast-paced, dynamic action.

The multiple stances per character class that allow for diversity in play styles without the downside of having to create or go through some elaborate process to change you characters skills will also be of huge benefit to players. Not enough healers for your RAID, simple, move your scouts from Assassin style back into Healing style (when the combat has died down) and proceed. The level of flexibility will be a refreshing change to players.

On why change the title to Sword of the New World...

The title is being changed for the West to remove the steep entrance curve that exists in the game currently, and to change the flavor of the name to be more interesting to the western marketplace

On what changes to be made to the game for Western markets...

The primary changes to the title are in character creation. We are offering many more options to the North American players when they start the game. Each character class is going to have many costumes and outfits available for selection. We are also making subtle changes to the control scheme so that players who have been playing other MMOs will be able to slip into SNW vis’s control scheme and feel “at home”. Additionally, we are adding a significant storyline to the title and revamping the whole quest structure. I believe that the snw vis players of 2007 expect great stories and interesting quests when they play their games.

On whether MCC will encourage less socialization...

Sword of the New World still contains many dungeons, bosses, quests and PVP instances where parties are essential; the bonus that players can achieve by forming social groups and fighting for prizes will be of great boon to most. On the positive side, you want have to spend hours trying to find a healer for your party, since most groups have the ability to have their own!

On why less buzz now...

One of the things that hurt us concerning release was the fact that we launched the same day as E3. And E3 this year garnered even more interest because it was in a new venue and the focus of the expo had changed. When E3 hits, people shift their focus on to what’s new and what’s upcoming, not so much what’s just released.

What do you take from watching Eugene, the Librarian?

Fancy that you'll get into the semi? I have already had standing ovation from two thousands people. I can die happy now.

-Eugene the Librarian

Amazing. One of my favourites to win this season BGT. Simon and Piers ought to be ashamed of what they did here. I guess they must have forgotten lesson from Susan Boyle's episode which Amanda called "a wake-up call".

Anyway, if you keep coming back to this video or share it with anyone, you may want to ask yourself why you keep coming back and what kind of conversation you have about the video. As Henry Jenkins puts it (when reflecting on the Susan Boyle phenomenon), the "meaning doesn't reside in the video itself -- we won't exhaust it no matter how many times we watch it. The meaning rests in the conversations that [in this case, Eugene and not Susan Boyle] enables us to have with each other."

So it follows that the meaning that colours our conversation is what we take from watching Eugene.