Saturday, April 7, 2007

Bonus Mission #2: Second Life, The Sims, World of Warcraft.


Second Life: Let's Get Started!

Second Life (SL) is an Internet-based virtual world which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007 ("Second Life", 2007). It is a 3D world which allows its users (its residents) to build their own house, properties, and even land. To build those kind of things, residents must have certain amount of money, named Linden dollars. Linden dollars can be obtained by converting your "real money" using your credit cards or PayPal account, or you can work in SL and start your own business. However, even if you don't have lindens, you still can get free stuffs that Linden Lab has offered, or even from other residents.

To get started, user has to choose an avatar. In cyber world (not only in SL), one can decide to be pseudonym by choosing avatar that does not represent one's true self. In the creation process, users can designed their avatars specifically, from the body shapes, eye color, make-ups, and the clothings.

Since SL is an online-based, users can communicate with others who are available (online) at that time. This feature enhances people to form online social networks through SL.

But why does Linden Lab explain SL as “virtual world”, rather than call it a game? To answer the question, we might want to compare SL to similar kind of “thing”, such as The Sims and World of Warcraft (WoW).

The Sims = Game; The Sims >< SL; Therefore, SL >< Game!

If you noticed, you will find that SL has quite much similarities as compared to The Sims. It also allows the players to create avatars and design it as how they want it. However, The Sims is not an online-based like SL (It is available in PC or Play Station). Thus, no actual interaction occurred in the game. You can talk to others by selecting phrases that are pre-designed as a 'template'.

In The Sims, one is given missions according to the aspiration that one chose at the beginning part, in order to complete the game. Aspirations that available in the Sims are knowledge, popularity, creative, and wealth. For example, when you choose knowledge as your aspiration, through the whole game you will be assigned to tasks such as working as scientist, reading books, and even exploring aliens.

Different from The Sims, SL does not have mission to be completed(not even the one in tutorial island!). It is just a virtual world to be explored (and there are a lot more you can do in SL! Keep reading and you will find out). In addition, The Sims is just a typical kind of 'game' where players can ONLY enjoy the world that Maxis (The Sims game developer) has created. In SL, you can even build your own world!

A Little about World of Warcraft (WoW)

WoW seems to be more similar to SL rather than The Sims because it is also an online-based. Since the popularity of WoW is on a rise, allow me to talk about it a bit more.

How to Play
In order to start playing, one has to get a blizzard account. One can get it directly via purchasing online, buying the game package, or getting a guest pass from friends. Online purchase is relatively cheaper compared to package purchase. Entering the game via guest pass requires a friend that already has an account. Once one receive a guest pass, he will be able to play for 10 days but won’t reach anywhere beyond level 20.
Expansion pack is an optional package. It cost S$ 45.00 to be purchased in the store or US$ 19.90 to upgrade online. Either way, the player needs to have a blizzard account and an installed World of Warcraft game. Expansion pack includes “ticket” to the all new world in Outland, flying mounts, and new races.

The Game
World of Warcraft is arguably the most popular online game currently in the planet. In a news release shortly before the announcement of their brand new expansion pack The Burning Crusade early this year, the game developer Blizzard announced that they have served a total of 8 million players over the years. With the new expansion pack selling fast, it is not a wonder if currently there are roughly 10 million people in the world who is or ever played the game.

Gameplay
Starting a game, one has to choose a server and a realm. Basically there are only two main servers. One is located in USA while the other is in Europe. There is no way for the player to interact between these two servers. Inside each server there are numerous realms. To describe the concept of realm, take this example. Player A which is currently standing inside City A in realm A will not be able to see or communicate with Player B which is also inside City A but playing in realm B. All realms are categorized based on the playing characteristic. One can choose to play in PvP realm (allows combat between players), PvE realm (disallows combat between players), or hybrid (disallows combat between players as a default setting but offer an option to enable that function).

After choosing the realm, one has to create a character. One account can contains more than one character. To create a character, one has to choose either playing as Horde or Alliance. This will affect their starting point and allegiance. Each of them has 4 default races and 1 expansion race. For the Horde, the default races are Orc, Tauren, Troll, and Undead while the expansion race is the Blood Elf. For Alliance, the default races are Human, Gnome, Dwarf, and Night Elf with Draenei as an option for those who have the expansion package.

Every race has a number of possible classes. Warrior, Paladin, Mage, Warlock, Druid, Hunter, and Shaman are among the classes that can be chosen. However, there is no single race that can play all this classes. Some races are good in magic using, some in melee attack and some in agile movement. Knowing the advantage and racial ability of each race could be pivotal in determining the class to be taken.

Upon creating a character, one will be able to start playing immediately. The game will start with an opening prologue telling about the races chosen. The aim of the game is determined by the player. It is similar to many other MMORPG games where there is no clear ending to the game. But the main activity of the players is leveling up. This can be achieved by either killing monster randomly (called “grinding”) or doing quest by either killing certain monster or collecting some items or even delivering items to a certain NPC (non-playable character).

Players can go form a group for a difficult quest or a raid for an even more difficult one, entering PvP arena to fight other player (it’s always Alliance Vs Horde), challenge others in duel, auctioning their loot, learning a profession etc.

World of Warcraft Economy
The numerous players playing the game inadvertently created opportunities for some people to make real money out of the game. There are some side activities that involving real money and some of them are actually forbidden by the EULA (End-User License Agreement). Some activities are not actually forbidden but can be subjected to fraud. This involves gold selling, item selling, and character selling. Whilst the one that actually violate EULA involves power leveling or job leveling. These activities involves sharing account which is basically not allowed by blizzard and if caught can cause an account to be banned permanently.

WoW ??? Game; SL ??? WoW; Therefore ???

After reading a brief explanation about WoW, I guess we can answer the question whether WoW is a game, or it is not. When you play a game, there should be someone who wins, and other who loses. I am sure that you can find this in playing WoW (despite the fact that you can still live after you got killed, but you will have to find your dead body). Thus, we can say that WoW is game. But is WoW just barely a game?

Levy (2006) told us why WoW is not ONLY a game. Just like SL, players can interact with others and form online social networks. For example, Ross Mayfield confessed that he closed a deal with a company he met through WoW. The social networking through WoW also occurred when one of guild members died (in real life, not Azeroth) and his grieving friends decided to hold a funeral for him inside the game. However, the solemn affair was disrupted when a rival guild burst upon the unarmed mourners and slaughtered them mercilessly. In this case, WoW does not only serve people as an entertainment, but it also gives people the sense of respect and anger. This is the reason why WoW is not only a game.

Anything Else About SL?

What makes SL different from others is its economy system. SL residents are allowed to make business out of goods and services that they create. Using PayPal or major credit cards account, one can buy Linden dollars in order to start a business, from creating clothes, to building a real estate. Who are the customers? Other SL residents, for sure.

Very Brief Conclusion

SL are connected to the real world by its economy system and real communication among residents. So, do you still think that it is a game? Well, I don't think so.

References

Levy, S. (2006). World of Warcraft: It It a Game?. MSNBC.com Newsweek, Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Second Life. (2007). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Life&oldid=120268909

WoW Game Info. (2007). In World of Warcraft. Retrieved April 5, 200
7, from http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i really love to play 3 of them. thank for your information. hehe i think that very good. :)