I was reading this morning when I came across an interesting article on Science Daily
Clumsy Avatars: Perfection vs. Mortality in Game Simulation
It's an interesting concept--The idea that users create these avatars to represent perfection and physical characteristics that never change. I myself play a few online games, such as Lord of the Rings Online from time to time. From the moment I log in, I'm immersed in a different world that requires my full attention: Interactions with other player, quests, battles, and tasks that need doing. I even cease to exist as myself altogether by referring to myself as my character's name. My character is tailored to my specifications--from the armor to cosmetics, the avatar embodies my ideals.
The problem (in my opinion) arises when people can't separate themselves from their online aliases because, as the article states, "frailty and mortality" is what makes us human. The roles of reality and virtual fun have been swapped. Recent trends show that more and more people go to work in order to spend their money on virtual lives, lavishing their avatars with the latest in-game merchandise.
What Chang, one of the contributors, suggested was that video games incorporate human qualities that develop over the character's "lifetime". Again, This makes me wonder why anyone would delve into an online world if they change the same as reality.
It's a fascinating article and I would love to read your input on the matter. Please post your comments below!
Interesting article and posting!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've been thinking about...the social functions of Internet use, including game playing. Of course, it is going to vary according to the individual, but I would say that on the whole, "virtual" identities have become closer to our "real" or offline selves since the dawn of the net. I believe this is due in part to the fact that we do everything online now--banking, shopping, communicating with the people we know in our everyday lives in "meatspace"--and less of the gaming, role playing, chatrooming with strangers, etc. I'd even give a lot of credit to Facebook, where we are prodded to post our real pictures, list our schools, friends, family members, place of employment, hometown, etc.
There will always be the users who seek escape or a chance to be playful, but I think the trend seems to be that we are moving away from the Internet as reflective of the "disembodiment hypothesis"--this idea that when we go online we shed our corporeal self.
Just googled and found this article that says something similar to what I'm saying.
http://www.bodyspacesociety.eu/2010/10/15/a-history-of-virulence-the-body-and-computer-culture-in-the-1980s-part-1-2/