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1 P M J O U R N A L O F D I G I T A L R ESEARCH & P UBLISHING The interaction between technology, people and society ——In the case of Happy Farm By Chen Chen UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Abstract Since the popularization of computer, online game became ubiquitous around us. It was currently an essential part of our life. Although it appeared that these games were constructed by all kinds of technologies, as a constituent part of the society, it can not avoid being affected by other social factors. B+$*&3>6$5#%&3$0%8&67&%P'#7>%&+7G&*75$%69&%P%>6%8&3"&$"C(%"5%&7"&6%5+"7#7,9&*(5+&3*&570'(6%>&,30%*& and how these technologies exerted a reaction force. Taking an emerging and very popular online game Happy Farm as the case of analysis, this article tried to research the interaction among technology, people and society. It sought to answer following questions: is there a mechanism among technology, people and society? How this mechanism worked? Keywords 3%../'6%*5','-0&"0+'#%5+','$+(30-&-#/','4-("+$/','.+-.&+ !"#$%#&'()%*+%,"--)%."/0% Happy Farm was an online social game developed by Five Minute Company in 2008. In this game, players played the role of an owner of a farm. In the farm, players can experience the whole process from buying seeds, cultivating, watering, applying fertilizer, spraying insecticides to harvesting and selling products to the market. By working hard virtually, players can feel a sense of accomplishment brought by the growing of their own crops and operating of the farm. Happy Farm has gained a huge market success based on following features: 1. Interactivity. On the one hand, the player can water and spray insecticide for their friends. On the other hand, they can also steal the products of their friends. No matter what kind of role they chose to play, they can not play the game individually without any interaction with their friends. VM& ($6*&G%>%&C736$",&3"8&"76& 4P%8M&b#39%>*&039&D%%#&6+36&6+%9&G%>%&8%3#$",&$"&3&>%3#&03>H%6M&`6&G3*&>%3##9&%P5$6$",M 82
1 P M J O U R N A L O F D I G I T A L R ESEARCH & P UBLISHING 3. Personalized decorations. Game developers provided players with colorful decorations allowing them to decorate their farms and build them into an ideal paradise. This realized people’s dream of beauty. According to the latest statistics, the largest number of users of this game was up to 16,000,000. Revenues brought by the game were up to 50,000,000 per month. (Wiki, 2009). After the huge online success, a real version of Happy Farm began to appear. According to a report from Beijing Youth Website, in Beijing people now can rent a small '$%5%&7D&#3"8&$"&*()(>)&G+%>%&6+%9&53"&,>7G&I%,%63)#%*&3"8&C7G%>*M&B+$*&H$"8&7D&D3>0S& which was similar to the virtual farm in the game, was very popular among urbanite. They gradually choose spending weekends on the farm as a major leisure activity. !"#"$%&'()'()*+,,-).+/0 The advantage of Happy Farm was obvious. On the one hand, it was very easy to play and do not need complex strategies and sophisticated weapons. On the other hand, this game was also a good talking topic to increase the interpersonal communication with others. On some occasions if you do not know how to play this game, you will be viewed as an outsider. In addition to the advantage of the game itself, the social factors behind it also contributed ,>%36#9&67&$6*&*'>%38M&`"5>%3*$",&*75$3#&'>%**(>%&'(*+%8&'%7'#%&67&4"8&3"&%DD%56$I%&>%#3P$",& way. In current world, people had to face all kinds of challenges from family, study, and 53>%%>&3"8&*7&7"M&23*6&6%0'7&)>7(,+6&6+%0&+$,+&'>%**(>%M&B+%9&"%%8%8&67&4"8&3&G39&67& relax. Happy Farm was such a good way. In this online game, players can build their own farm. They could grow vegetables, raise animals and then sell them to make a fortune. In this virtual paradise, they would not be disturbed by troubles from real life such as emotional problems and economic pressure. They would be paid as long as they work hardly to run the farm. If they could not solve these problems in real life, they would turn to these virtual technologies for help. EM&/#$%"36%8&$"6%>'%>*7"3#&>%#36$7"*+$'&D7>5%&'%7'#%&67&4"8&3&"%G&5700("$536$7"&5+3""%# According to the latest data from China Internet Network Information Center, 63.4% respondents chose Happy Farm because of their friends’ recommendation (CINIC, 2009). It indicated that friendship plays an important role in the choosing of games. In such 3& *75$%69& G$6+& 4%>5%& 570'%6$6$7"S& 6+%& $"6%>'%>*7"3#& >%#36$7"*+$'*& 307",& '%7'#%& G%>%& become more and more cold. Every person as an individual was easy to be isolated from 83
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