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Readings
1) Society of Control by Gilles Deleuze
2) Toys of Biopolis by Anne-Marie Schleiner

Online Enclosure

Deleuze in his article talked about Foucault's organization of vast spaces of enclosure. This was rather intriguing to me because I began to think the world of Lagendia as an enclosure. When we enter this online world, we are subjected to rules and "laws" of this online world. The movement of an individual into this online world is rather similar to an individual moving across different spaces of enclosure in the real world. The movement is dictated by choice. The "laws" are not imposed onto the players but it is the players who chooses to be subject their freedom to be inhibited.

In the world of Lagendia, I begun to realize that there is a form of hierarchy which exist in the game. The hierarchy I am referring to here is not of those among the players (eg. guild hierarchy, PVP ranking status). The hierarchy which I wish to discuss is more of hierarchy of control, the "law enforces" that exist in the game.

Bow to the Game Master, GM Adriano

In Lagendia, players log into the world through their accounts. As such, like what is mention by Deleuze, "in the societies of control... what is important is no longer either a signature or a number,but a code: the code is a password". This password works like a signature or number combination in the real world where the password will give player access to special privileges entitled to their accounts. In the world of Lagendia, special privileges are given to players who pay. they gain access to "In-Game Cash Items" which gives players certain advantages. However, there is one player in the game that has a very special privilege, the power to decide who is right and wrong in the game, the epitome of "law enforcement" in the game, the GameMaster.

GM Adriano in CNY Promotional Cash Item

GM Adriano (left) latest look

GM Adriano "dancing" with players

In Lagendia, the GM functions similar to a gamified security enforcers called "Searchmotrons" (usually shortened to Saatchi's) in Dennoi Coil. However, instead of an artificial intelligence that searches for violations and anomalies within the game, Lagendia depends on the GM and players as watchdogs to prevent hackers and ensure fair play. I had a little chat with my guild members in the game to understand how does the policing in Lagendia actually works. Since gold selling (selling in-game gold for real world cash) is illegal in the Lagendia, I used that as an example.

[Me]: So what happen when someone sells gold in-game

[Guild Member]: Ban

[Me]: Permanently?

[Guild Member]: Not necessary, depending on the number of offenses you have made

[Guild Member 2]: Yes

[Me]: How do they know? As in how will they find out? I could just private message the person right?

[Guild Member 2]: Simple, if I take a screenshot of this chat and send it to the GM, your account will be ban for investigation.

[Guild Member]: I think they also have a system that tracks the gold transaction every character made. So if you have been making a couple of large gold transactions and the item of exchange in the trade does not account for its value or if there isn't any item at all. Your account will be banned for investigation as well.

[Me]: How about text detection in chats?

[Guild Member]: Not too such about tt

[Guild Member 2]: Yup me too

Ok, So from this I can deduce that GM is more or less the authority in the game. When I search up more about the job scope of GM in Lagendia, they take care of game graphical/ functionality bugs that turn up in the game. Similar to what Saatchi's in Dennoi Coil does, detecting and repairing obselete spaces and virus in the virtual world. Just that, GM do not actually "repair" them but verifies the issue and send a report to the developers. In the game, there are often players shouting out for GM attentions regarding problems which are due to bugs, item lost, game frauds, etc. Even though the job scope of a GM is tough, they do enjoy certain perks such as "boot licking" from certain players. Not too sure if they are subjected to corruption but it is a definite possibility that may worth investigating. GM are human afterall, not some robots.

Dissolving of the Magic Circle

Last week's seminar got me into thinking much about the convergence of real world and the virtual world. Would I want a world that is like Dennoi Coil's? Imagine all the Fun and infinite possibilities we can have as users!

Currently, we need a medium to log into the virtual world. We see the virtual work through our monitor screens or television screens. In Dennoi Coils, these screens are replaced by virtual reality glasses but the concept is very much similar. In the virtual world like Lagendia, I can be certain, that all our movements are being recorded in the system. This is like a safety mechanism whereby in case of a server error, developers could roll back all our characters' statistics and condition to a previous time. Imagine this when the virtual world coincides with our real world. In Dennoi Coil, I am assuming that the glasses used by the characters are not tracked (I maybe wrong because I only viewed 2 episodes) but the Saatchi's could track all changes made to the system. This form of Data Mining could be an invasion of privacy because we are constantly being put under surveillance. One of my other professor, Dr. Kevin McGee once mention in his class, "If you are not paying for something, you are are product being sold".

We have seen how Facebook has very much taken over our lives. As Facebook can be seen as another space of enclosure or a society of control even as well. A concept of an augmented reality where people willingly give up their information and their privacy in return for the FUN and SERVICES is not alien to us. To a certain extend, the technology is within our grasps. If not, it is definitely not far away either.

Would we want a world like Dennoi Coil if that is the case?

With this, I end today's blog entry with a video trailer from Deux Ex: Human Evolution which I find closely related to the idea of giving up one's freedom for something which we find useful.

Deux Ex: Human Revolution Official Movie Trailer

Players against Developers

Beneath the Cuteness of Dragon Nest

Co-operative gameplay is rather common in most online games nowadays. This co-operative gameplay mechanics seek to enhance interaction between the players, differentiating online games from single-player games. Unconsciously, gamers may develop a violence nature as coordinating a kill becomes somewhat similar to plotting a murder or a coordinated attack in a military context.

In Dragon Nest, level designers design the game mechanics in a way that requires players to work together as a group to win. For instance, the design of PVP maps:

The Red Dots on the all maps symbolizes spawning points with the exception of the center red dot which represents the center of the map. From the maps, we can see that there are many ways in which the players could approach their enemies. This results in players strategizing their attacks which are similar to that of a military unit. Regardless of the composition mix of the teams, commands such as “Cover Fire”, “Flanking”, “Backup”, “Focus Fire”, “Lure (Decoy)” etc. are often used by teams to co-ordinate their attacks. Real-Time adaptation of strategies that are common during military exercises are also commonly seen during the PVP matches when team tries to counteract to their adversaries.


One explanation for such similarities between the Gaming World and the Military maybe due to the similarity of both having objectives. In the Gaming World, the objective is given by the level designers who decides the winning objective of the game. In military, objectives are in the forms of missions. As such, in order to complete the winning objectives/missions in the most efficient manner, both groups of people (players and military personnel) will then use the same tactics. Because the history of military dates back much longer as compare to online games, there is a perception that most online gameplay incorporated military elements in the game.

Other occasions which players make use of military strategies are in dungeons such as the Dark Lair and Nests. In the Dark Lair, players are required to protect a central monument from waves of monsters and the teams that succeeds are often the ones that co-ordinate the best. Players group together as well to beat the Nests which are dungeons of much harder difficulty. However, the strategies which players use in the above two example is rather standard and less varied as compare to the group PVP matches. This Is because the strategies that AI monsters used is similar every time. For example, there are guides on the internet available for teaching new players how to beat the level (A Doctor’s Online Gaming Life, http://mhauckonline.blogspot.com/2011/12/dragon-nest-apocalypse-nest-guide.html ;Forums Guides, http://forum.cherrycredits.com/forum/topics/view/apocalypse-nest-guide/page:1). Nonetheless, players cooperate to beat the game in these two scenarios.

Challenging the Terrain – Situationist Gameplay in Dragon Nest

As mentioned in my previous post, game modification is limited in Dragon Nest. Therefore, the actions of hacktivists are somewhat limited. There is not much freedom involved when it comes to changing the contents of the game. However, there are still ways of having Situationist gameplay without adding new contents into the game.

In Dragon Nest, I belong to a guild known as Exceeds. In order to keep things interesting for the guild members, some members of the guild decides to organize Events.

These events add new game elements into the existing world without modifying or adding contents such as the examples that are given in the reading (eg. Velvet-Strike). Similarly, it allowed playing another game within the game from another perspective. The Mystery NPC, it is an event that adds a detective/investigative game element in the game as players are required to find out who the mystery NPC is in the game with hints given by the event creators.

In the online world such as Dragon Nest, the virtual space in which the players move around is limited, restricted by the designs of the level designers. However, players are able to develop their own type of games using the game world features with their creativity. Even though the game focuses on militaristic and competitive gameplay, such events presents the game from another perspective.

Thus, this brings me to my question for the seminar: Would Situationist style of gameplay trivialize this gaming world that is dominated by militaristic gameplay (Violence and Achievement orientated).

I just want to look NICER! or COOLER! or... WHATEVER!

Before I start today's reflection paper, I would like you participate in a quiz:

Let's make a guess where they come from!

Did you get them right?

(Answers could be found at the bottom of this blog entry)

Below are two of my favorite mods:

In the reading, this type of modding is describes as "texture poaching". However, when I was travelling around in the Lagendia, I do not see these players around. Interestingly, whenever I ask about game modification in the game, here is the response which I get: 

(Disclaimer: This is my own interpretation of their responses).

I found out that this is a result of the game developer's (Eyedentity Games) having strict rules against game modifications. In www.dragonnestsource.com, an official webpage forum for the game, posting information about game modification on the forums will result bans of game accounts. Even so, game modders carry on their practices and continue to thread on a thin line between fulfilling their fantasies and getting their game account ban in the name of hacking the game. 

Most "MMORPGs largely closed off to modification for fear that modding could disrupt the mimetic immersion of other players in the Tolkienesque universe, as well as interfering with play mechanics and unbalancing player quests and battles". Thus, it is the same for Dragon Nest as it is for World of Warcraft (described in the readings).

Even so, the game modifications in Dragon Nest only change the aesthetics of players' avatars and they are only visible from the game client's perspective. In other words, only they could see the changes they made to their game. I guess this is why these artistic modifications (texture poaching) does not have any copyright issues because it is solely for a modder's personal pleasure and viewing only. 


With regards to modding in-game UI, unlike World of Warcraft where modders could make drastic changes to their interface (e.g. adding item/skill slots, adding threat/ dps/ healing meters, adding debuffs counters, etc.), modders in Dragon Nest could only make changes to the way each feature of the UI looked, absolutely no additional features are allowed.

This phenomenon in Dragon Nest Community has gave me some interesting thoughts with regards to Game Modification.

Symbiosis Relationship between Game Modders and Developers

In the context of an MMORPG, balancing the game is of utmost important. Therefore, the role of game modders  is decreased to the minimal. There are very limited types of modification which could be done because developers will not allow cheaters to thrive within the game. 

Despite warnings and bans for game modders who step across the line, this did not deter game modders from modifying the game. On the other hand, developers did not stomp out game modifications in their game entirely. The presence of an online community of Dragon Nest game modders simply shows the developers' acceptance towards reasonable game modifications. 

In a way, I view this as a symbiotic relationship because the two parties have come to a consensus where the situation is mutually beneficial. Game modders get to play in their favorite avatar costumes, skins, etc. while developers enjoy the increase in number of subscriptions brought in by these game modifications.

Dragon Nest(JP) New Costumes Based on Player Design Available In-Game Now.

http://de.ssegold.com/news-info.aspx?n=552&c=1

The above link is the reinforcement of my point with regards to this symbiotic relationship between game modders and developers as it showcased how Dragon Nest developers "poach off the voluntary labour of players" as well.

Game Modders as Parasites

In this reading, I find that the view of game modders as parasites are rather harsh due to the negative connotations that the word, "Parasite" entails. Indeed, game modders are fueled by the contents from the original games and they "(the artist modder) engages directly with the game engine, inserting noise from within". 

For game modders who are cheaters that end up breaking the game, I believe they are eligible to be considered as a parasite. But to consider game modders who have gotten the game legally and done nothing harmful to the host (game) as parasites is rather injustice. I understand that the identity of the parasite could be dynamic but it is definitely a food for thought for me tonight.

The reading has sought to identify the role of the parasites between the game modders and developers and introduce the concept of a symbiotic relation between the two parties. Thus, my question for today's seminar is: Which party stand to gain the most through these forms of game modifications, becoming the biggest parasite in the context of a MMORPG game?

Answers to quiz: 1) Bleach 2) Naruto 3&4) Final Fantasy VII

Mimicry in Dragon Nest

It was Christmas when I first entered the world of Lagendia. Apparently, the festive mode at the end of December has been brought forward to the month of January as well. After Christmas, Legendia entered yet another festive season, the Chinese Lunar New Year (CNY).

The virtual world of Lagendia seems to be synchronized and up to date with the real world. I assume that this is the least I could expect from a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) to create a relatively realistic fantasy world.

[World][PlayerA]: “GONG XI FA CAI”

[World][PlayerB]: “Happy Chinese New Year!”

[Guild][PlayerC]: “Happy New Year”

These were some of the messages that flooded my chat box during twelve midnight on CNY eve. Some of my guild members were online and we counted down to CNY during the ever. However, with my television turned on beside me, I was viewing the countdown in the real world as well. Soon after, there was nothing seen in the chatbox that was about CNY except for the discussion of the statistical advantage and probability of owning the CNY promotional items.


[Party][PlayerD]: “How many times did you try before you get the attk 20-20 cny weapon?
[PlayerE]: “Wad? CNY items are rubbish, there is only 1/8 chances I will get the item I need and wad am I gonna do with those pile of junk that I wasted my cash on?”

With that being said, I come to my point of discussion concerning Mimicry: Do players actually become absorbed into the game acting like “citizen” of the virtual world in the context of MMORPGs? The reason why I ask this question is because from my observation, players in Dragon Nest behave more agonistically than interested about the storyline of Lagendia. There are many claims made that MMORPGs provide a realistic virtual world that promotes Escapism and results in addiction issues for some players. However, the closest examples of such claims I can find in relation to Dragon Nest are videos such as this:

I find that such videos depicted the game to be more Agonistic by nature rather than being related to Mimicry.

In Dragon Nest, players are mostly more concern about their Player-Versus-Player (PVP) rankings, what is the best equipment in the game currently, forming parties to farm for better items. Furthermore, buying Vanity items such as the CNY Promotional Cash Shop items are seen as a statistical improvement to their character as these items do give players additional statistical advantages in-game rather than items just to make your characters look good.

Given the nature of the Dragon Nest, players in it then to be competitive and as the game are PVP centric, there are two different PVP arenas in Dragon Nest. The Colosseum is catered to people who are unable to devote their time into gearing up their character (so they normalize all character stats in it) while in LADDER matches character equipment plays a significant role in winning.


[Player B]: "When you lose to super geared noobs, you will understand why LADDER is not as fun as Colosseum".

From this statement, we can sense unhappiness of players in LADDER who lost due to equipment rather than skill and many in my guild thus opt to play in the Colosseum rather than the LADDER matches.

From the interview with Will Wright, the game, The Sims, reminded me of online games like HABBO and Second Life. These games may have placed more emphasis on in-game character development and storyline which may then be classified under “Mimicry". Thus, this brings me to my question for the Seminar Discussion:

Are there any online games that are considered to be only classified under Mimicry or is Mimicry only used in online games to differentiate itself from other game titles?