'[J]ust as prisons are there to conceal the fact that it is the social in its entirety, in its banal omnipresence, which is carceral...," wrote Jean Baudrillard, "Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real...." I leave it as an exercise for the reader to guess what insidious purpose Baudrillard will ascribe to the nth-order simulation that is Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, now live in "sneak preview beta" mode (via). Meanwhile, last one into their own private virtual Jungle Cruise safari boat is a rotten avatar! The best way to put the assertion (and this is all it is at this point; and again, please keep in mind that there are a number of familiar exceptions) is that the practice of game software development generates a way of seeing and defining problems (as essentially precise, logical, and algorithmic), and creating solutions (through linear, text-defined code) that makes other ways of accounting for what happens in VWs seem at worst nonsensical and at best irrelevant or quixotic.

This will create strategic problems in completing quests later in the game. One could go on, but it is hardly necessary-the fictional and factional politics of Norrath are clearly envisioned by the game designers as a profoundly Byzantine affair. The best way to put the assertion (and this is all it is at this point; and again, please keep in mind that there are a number of familiar exceptions) is that the practice of game software development generates a way of seeing and defining problems (as essentially precise, logical, and algorithmic), and creating solutions (through linear, text-defined code) that makes other ways of accounting for what happens in VWs seem at worst nonsensical and at best irrelevant or quixotic.

It can feel so cold and lonely. I think that the sound of the wind combined with the emptiness of the desert, lack of NPS and low population overall add to this deep sense of emptiness that it can create – while camps by contrast can feel very homely. Of course, in the classic Terra Nova tradition, feel free to ignore these questions and start a more interesting discussion about Frogloks or something... The best way to put the assertion (and this is all it is at this point; and again, please keep in mind that there are a number of familiar exceptions) is that the practice of game software development generates a way of seeing and defining problems (as essentially precise, logical, and algorithmic), and creating solutions (through linear, text-defined code) that makes other ways of accounting for what happens in VWs seem at worst nonsensical and at best irrelevant or quixotic.

NPCs seem much more robotic. Yet I still get some sense that is greater than the data presented. The only way I individuate these feelings are that WoW has a sense of place whereas SWG has a sense of landscape. On the whole I find much of WoW to be artificial and distancing, many surfaces are so obviously texture mapped and the images seem to be stretched and distorted a little too much. But now I'm discovering new areas the feeling of place is starting to flesh out. Based on my own experiences with WoW, CoH, DAoC, and a few others, that certainly seems to be the case, but my impression is that Shadowbane, Anarchy Online, and some of the other big MMOGs portray fairly factionalized systems of government.

Maybe the issue is the "larger" community. It's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that level. But I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going on. I don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to be. But then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet.

Maybe the issue is the "larger" community. It's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that level. But I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going on. I don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to be. But then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet.

Maybe the issue is the "larger" community. It's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that level. But I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going on. I don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to be. But then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet.

Maybe the issue is the "larger" community. It's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that level. But I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going on. I don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to be. But then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet.

Maybe the issue is the "larger" community. It's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that level. But I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going on. I don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to be. But then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet.

Maybe the issue is the "larger" community. It's always easy to abstract and oversimplify at that level. But I know that on an individual level, there are real conversations and collaborations going on. I don't want this to turn into some rosy "it's better than we think" or "can't we all just get along" thing, but I do think that perhaps the situation is not as dire as it's hyped to be. But then again, I haven't gotte my evals back yet.