2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

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S o c i o l o g y almost mandated if a player of one group encounters a player from another. It is from these two ethnic groups that such PvP matches are formed, pitting Alliance and Horde against one another in such games as capture the flag, and king of the hill. Yet when all is said and done, little actual enmity exists between the two groups. Rather, the Player Versus Player aspects of any game more closely resemble inter-fraternity hazing than actual racist behavior. It is understandable that the conflict is a major part of these virtual societies, but it is, at times, disturbing to realize that legalized racism is the vehicle driving that conflict. Indeed, concepts such as racism are an interesting anomaly where MMORPGs are concerned. While MMORPGs have many similarities to real life societies, they also have a few unique positions on several major cultural issues. One of the most prominent of these is the issue of gender. In the virtual world of a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, there is no such thing as gender difference. Gender is not only a choice, it is only an aesthetic choice, as there are no real differences programmed into a characters abilities that are tied to gender. In World of Warcraft, a female Orcish fighter is as likely to crack a head open with her axe as a male, and a gnomish man can craft beautiful jewelry as well as any woman. In this way, gender issues become almost non-relevant. In fact, players of many MMORPGs acknowledge the heated gender issue of the real world by indulging in humorous emotes 9 . These include amusing lines that players can cause their Avatars 10 to say, such as the minotaur like people known as Tauryn from World of Warcraft, who spout pick up lines like, “Homogenized No way, I like the ladies!” and “You know, older bulls only have one function.…” There are also equally satirical physical actions, such as the famous Night Elf female dance emote, in which the scantily clad Avatar gyrates around on screen. It was once thought that every mailbox in World of Warcraft should have a dancing elf girl on it. Such parodies of real world stereotypes help to alleviate gender tension in the game world itself. 9 3 W r i t i n g A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
R e s e a r c h P a p e r The issue of gender is confused further by the fact that an elfin female is as likely to be played by a 35 year old man as it is a 18 year old girl. This absence of reliable gender information breeds a largely androgynous society where people are judged more on their merit than on their appearance. Though it is interesting to note that the Avatars are still subject to many sexist dogmas, such as the elven female’s breasts or the orcish male’s washboard abs and gruntingly limited spoken emotive options. There is also a lack of discernable age groups online. A 13 year old boy may be playing the game with a 41 year old mother of two, and a college student may be playing with a professor. But due to the society’s lack of physical reference points, again, a player is largely judged by his or her behavior and NOT their appearance or any preconceived notions of that status. In effect, the primary status of any given player is achieved and not ascribed. Some real world prejudices do still hold sway in MMORPG worlds. Though it is much more likely to be accepted, homosexuality is still considered by many players to be aberrant behavior. In fact, Blizzard, the creator of World of Warcraft, recently suffered a lawsuit levied against them by players who had tried to form a gay friendly guild in the game and were banned due to the number of complaints about the guild. So while the society’s of Massive Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Games are not idyllic, they are unique. Deviant and criminal behavior is another aspect of MMORPGs that can seem almost archaic at times. While one doesn’t think about it, the option to ignore a person who offends you by their alternative behavior, such as using internet jargon or participating in a practice called spamming, is in effect giving people the impunity to kill another person. In reality, an execution is the ultimate way of separating an unwanted element from society, but MMORPGs give this power to each individual citizen. The game also reserves the right to revoke playing privileges for violations of the ToS, which is the same thing as permanently executing someone and removing their influence from the entire society at large. There are few grades of punishment in the MMORPG world; only harsh, unquestionable consequences. V o l u m e I V : F a l l 2 0 0 8 9 4
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2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)

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