As I write this I can hear my brother in the next room talking to a group of his friends... the last words out of his mouth were "it's time to do some crime-fighting - if you want to hang out, we may have a very good mission coming up for you."
He meets these friends online several times a week to play a "Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game" (MMPORG) titled "City of Heroes." As I read Henry Jenkin's white paper, this game came to mind constantly when I thought about my brother's participation in this game. EmilyZ's post about avatars motivated me to revisit a project I'd abandoned, so here's a slideshow of mixed quality using screenshots my brother has taken over the last few years playing the game to illustrate a few of the concepts from Jenkin's paper:
If the video doesn't embed properly, try going to this link where you should be able to view it separately.
Here are some links directly to the character stories, I don't know that they'll show up properly in a video (they're kind of dark, don't look at them if morbid stories bother you):
Persephone Lee, Mr. Plutonium, Silent Seth (creepy), and Dreameater
Also, the bit of Pokemon-ish music that plays during one bit of the video is from this site, the song is titled "run girl run" and it's a CC licensed song I found on archive.org here.
EmilyZ talked about avatars as expressions of personality. I don't deny that's a really fun part of them, experimenting with "different selves," but some people are more likely to invest the characters with personal meaning and some people are more likely to enjoy investing in a fictional environment that they can explore through a character that doesn't really reflect their own personality. I mentioned some issues with my brothers' female characters here. I find it amusing because it contrasts with his purpose, but other people might find it more offensive or scary. How you play also affects how you react, I suppose.
Also, this game costs $15 a month and requires a computer with a fast internet hookup and pretty decent graphics card, so there are definite barriers to participation in this sort of thing for many people. I'm sure there are more accessible environments out there, but I thought it might be nice to do a more extended tour of one of the more complex ones and it was nice to have the screenshots already there. :-)
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3 comments:
I was checking out your avatar video and my kids came in and asked what I was watching. I told them one of the students in my class had created the video to show the avatars that she and her brother had made for games. My daughter asked, "How old is she?" I said I thought you were in your 20s and that there were lots of adults that played these multi-player games. She replied with a smirk, But not you , huh, mom?"
So you are far cooler than I! :)
I'm glad you decided to post this video. It makes it easier for me to see into these gaming processes without haveing to download a game or the likes. The avatars are very creative and I see the elements of narrative that you are speaking of.
"All the (virtual) world's a stage." too.
eh, I don't do it much and, to be honest, have only done the team stuff with people I know in real life because I'm not confident enough in my skills. My brother deleted my favorite avatar, "Maniacal Minnie" (I like making absurd characters - she was a villain based on Minnie Mouse) because I hadn't played in so long. If I had more time, maybe... It really does help to have a more committed gamer around, though. Whenever I felt like wimping out I could ask them to finish a mission :-P
oh, oh... I have to say, though, that the mom of some of my friends, a teacher in her late 40s-early 50s, is totally into this game. She plays with the same group of friends she met online and they've even formed rivalries with other superroups and do missions to raid their bases and stuff. Its really funny to watch her family as she talks about it - they play too, but ot with anywhere near as much passion. :D
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