by Miguel Padilla
Be it avid sports fan, paintball enthusiast, or aspiring streetcar driver, many of us engage in various forms of play. The term “play” is defined by the Oxford English dictionary as the act of “[doing] things for pleasure, as children do; to enjoy yourself, rather than work.” While the definition implies that “play” is a behavior typically associated with children, participating in “play” continues to prove very much vital to our cognitive, physical and social well being into our adulthood. Play can take on many different forms; be it solitary, social, physical, mental, or so on.
Whether it's rooting for your favorite team, being the person being rooted for, or just putting your hand-eye coordination to use, it's easy to see how games we play factor into our lives through the act of play.
Play: The Evolution of Games
With that being said, games have evolved unimaginably over the course of the previous century. Video games are one such example, with their rise in popularity owed to the efforts of both talented individuals and thriving businesses. The electronic linearity of games like Pong, Pac-Man, and Frogger are now thought of as long distant mementos of a burgeoning electronic age; rightfully so, as the format has evolved exponentially since the 80’s. The modern era of gaming today is no longer restricted by the simplicitous nature of our pixelated past, as linear game design has evolved in a way to accommodate all manner of players.
Video game development costs have gradually exploded into the millions alongside a surging popularity within mainstream cultures, as country-sized populations now into the millions choose to entertain their free-time in euphoric, digital bliss. There have been lengthy strides made in the medium – so much so that consumers can now indulge in fully-realized and expansive fantasy worlds today.
Today's games provide players with a almost inexhaustible amount of virtual content, along with the satisfying feeling of accomplishment. With the ability to replicate social environments and heartfelt connection, players are presented with little reason to abandon online games. Video games have now become the pinnacle of artistic expression, with major titles boasting teams of visual artists, composers, and writers.
The MMO Style
To give a bit of background on the MMO – or Massive Multiplayer Online genre of videogame, it first oversaw a major popularity surge in the early 2000's with the release of World of Warcraft. 2004 was a momentous year for MMOs in western markets, with games like Runescape, EverQuest II, and Guild Wars leading the charge. Smaller, more focused plunges into the MMO market were made that year as well, with Disney’s ToonTown and Club Penguin marketed as kid-friendly MMOs.
(A CGI graphic of a knight overlooking a field, as depicted by the MMO Runescape)
The ability to bring together a large number of players into an interactive, open-world setting is what makes MMOs so appealing. Not all MMOs are created equal however, as some are better than others in areas like storytelling or gameplay.
The Japanese MMO Final Fantasy XIV, for example, boasts a storyline that is arguably unrivaled in length and quality by any other single player role playing game.
One of the most essential aspects of the MMO experience comes from it's character creation, as players attach personalities to the digital identities they create. Developers typically give players the ability to create the visual blueprints for their characters. The inclusion of these tools ultimately provide an extra level of submersion for players. You can create characters similar to how you appear in real life, depending on available presets or in-game tools given. Others instead opt for something more entrenched in the realm of fantasy, because as an MMO player, the power to create your own narrative and visual identity is only limited by your own imagination.
(A female elf-like woman with blue hair is seen above, surrounded by a rugged green landscape. The image serves as an example of the character creation found in the Japanese MMO: Final fantasy XIV)
I find it is important to understand how conceptually significant the genre has become to the gaming ecosystem, for the genre has given people a social space to express themselves as individuals in ways never before seen.
Getting to Know an MMO Player
As local college student Robyn Chapman explained to me, Final Fantasy XIV has given her a sense of overwhelming camaraderie unmatched by anything found in the real world. The MMO genre, according to her, excels as a type of third space. As societies have rapidly evolved alongside tech (with mobile smartphone adoption and social media usage becoming the new norm), civilization as a consequence has devolved in a way to drop the third space. The third space is seen a social space where free-time is spent outside the home. You can think of it as a neutral ground, where individuals from diverse backgrounds can gather and interact in a comfortable and welcoming environment (i.e. the library, mall, or arcade).
With some minor rewording on my part, Robyn stated, “I think you can look the spaces, environments, communities built within MMO’s… a lot like you would look at the groups of people you would find at the mall, or groups of people you might find at a community center 30-40 years ago. Third spaces in our real world environment – they don’t really exist anymore. There’s not a whole lot of places for people just to be, without the expectation of spending money. Yes, you have to pay for a subscription for an MMO, but the price of the subscription is super cheap comparatively… You can spend an entire month there and do nothing, or do everything, and you’re going to find somebody who wants to do that with you.”
(A staircase leading to the entrance of a house surrounded by vibrant plant-life is shown above. It is an example of player housing that can be purchased with currency earned in the MMO: Final Fantasy XIV)
With that being said, some find community and forging online friendships to be an integral part of the MMO experience. The experience is essentially shaped by the amount of effort and dedication one is willing to invest, as is often the case with most things in life. There will always be a subset of an MMO’s player base that completely ignores the social components of the game. They often find fulfillment in gameplay elements instead. Many may choose to collect items, craft, or quietly continue the main story. Some participate in raids, which often present the most intense of challenges to players who have reached what is known as end-game. End-game is best described as the state of a game reached after completing the main story along with various milestones, as a games player base readies themselves for a major continuation of in-game content.
The genre's appeal is rooted in its ability to cater to various playstyles, but there's more to it than that. The genre provides many with a temporary escape from real-life social responsibilities.
As Robyn put it: “There’s also the idea that if something goes wrong socially, like you make a comment that is way out of pocket, you can conceivably disappear… I can still show my face here, but I don’t have to see specific people anymore. So there’s a little bit of a lessening of social stakes, the peer pressure is not there. It allows people to be a little bit freer with what they want. If they want to role-play, or want to pretend they are a totally different character, then that’s fine. If you want to focus on crafting, you absolutely can. If you want to focus on main story completion, you absolutely can. As opposed to real world spaces, you have to learn to interact with other people and you have to be socially acceptable, whatever that happens to be in that group. If you happen to move outside of that you get ostracized, it’s often crippling. So for people like me with social anxiety, it’s a relief... to be able to get that social interaction inside an MMO, where the peer pressure is not as hard.”
As we navigate through a mostly online world. I find it interesting to see how much of our in-person selves are blending now into the digital. With the advent of online spaces, and the subsequent rise of the MMO, I sometimes ask myself who are the ones that gravitate to these types of social spaces.
Speaking on behalf of this, Robyn chimed in by saying “there is a certain subsect of our population today, especially in western culture, that struggles with social situations, that struggles with finding people of like-mind in the real world. It’s a lot easier to find people of a like-mind in the digital world, especially one where you have an avatar you can run around as. You have this new, third location type of space... MMOs are important for everyone, regardless of age, social background, race, religion, sexual orientation, everyone. Even if you have someone who’s like ‘I’m a social butterfly I have no problem making friends,’ I think even those types of people would benefit from playing MMOs to some degree.”
There is a separation between those who have the opportunity to participate in third space environments and those who do not – as physical and social competencies factor into our lives. If those physical or social prerequisites are unfulfilled, barriers can build imposingly around us. Barriers that prevent us from forming connections with others; where loneliness rears its ugly head in response.
MMO’s cut through much of that strife, giving people a platform to vacate societal expectation and obligation while staying true to game design. The freedom, liberty, and complete lack of obligation from players in an MMO environment is nothing short of incredible. The real-world social situations we often find ourselves in favor variableness, while in in MMOs, we remove much of the randomness through community.
As an active MMO player myself, and as someone with social anxiety, I too have benefitted from MMO social environments. Joy is often shared in equal measure with others in these spaces, as is sometimes frustration. These collective moments of triumph, or defeat against a greater evil elevate the experience into something worth experiencing.
The Moral Dilemma in MMOs
The moral implications given to us through MMO's are equally as intriguing, as the stories often present character’s with path-altering decisions that may or may not influence the fate of the world as we know it.
In our waking lives, many of us have very little influence over our environment. The sense of empowerment and self-significance that these games provide is yet another factor to consider in their appeal. There are often choices presented to us in these games that are not easy to make. Even if a story draws inspiration from a protagonist who is morally good, sometimes, even the morally 'good' choices present players with the lesser of two evils.
The choices we make in these virtual realms can have a significant impact on our thoughts and actions in the real world, leading to anxieties to form among players. In Final Fantasy XIV, you grow alongside a cast of characters that are presented with world-altering dilemmas time and time again. Even as a plot thread reaches its inevitable conclusion, we still find there are subtle (and not so subtle), consequences for even the most reasonable of outcomes. Quality in-game storytelling can offer us profound insights into our own reality, as many game narratives tackle topics and themes relevant to our lives.
When asked about the potential impacts of MMO storytelling, Robyn stated that playing FFXIV has caused her to reflect on her own moral choices.
Robyn stated, “If something catastrophic happens... like a tornado randomly takes out the school here. I can’t say for sure I would run into a collapsing building to save other students. I can’t say that I would do that. I would think that I would, but in reality, who knows. In a game, absolutely… Final Fantasy XIV makes you play out scenarios that you might otherwise choose not to partake in. It can be something as simple as an item got stolen from this random vendor. If something got stolen from the kiosk at the mall, I’m not going to chase down the thief, but as the main character of an MMO you’re going to chase down the thief!”
It appears that MMOs and role-playing game, in general, excel at bringing our fantasies to life. The fear associated with losing your life by following your morals or intuition is no longer there. Even if you do, resurrection is only a button’s press away. In the world of MMO's, we learn to be more transparent and authentic, unafraid to express ourselves fully.
Robyn adds: “I’m not risking my job, I'm not risking my life, it’s a bit of code. Most people are not going to choose to open those dangerous chapters in their life. They’re not going to choose to uproot their lives, move halfway across the country, with no job, no money, no prospects. Nobody would choose to do that voluntarily. Some people are forced to do it, but… in an MMO that’s a choice you make as it’s the ‘right thing to do.’ You cannot make the right choice in our society, you have to make the safe choice. You have to make the choice that will benefit you specifically. As a society, we do not allow for any other choice to be made. There is no margin of error, because we are all in survival mode. You could be making 6 figures and still be in survival mode, that’s our society today. That’s why videogames – MMOs, that’s why they're so popular.”
The fantastical as the scenarios in MMOs may seem, it's still possible to draw parallels between them and the everyday challenges we encounter in real life. We're drawn to MMOs because they provide us with the chance to live out the experiences we long for. Our character’s are impervious to pain, impervious to the societal strains placed upon us in our everyday lives. When obligation and pain is forfeit, all is good. The beauty of the MMO is that it gives us the opportunity to step into a world that is entirely separate from our own, a place where we can leave behind our worries and responsibilities and instead focus on the adventure ahead. Thankfully, fierce competition in the market provides gamers with the flexibility to select the game that caters to their preferences. Our experience is further enhanced by this influence of individual taste.
MMOs: A Post Mortem
It became clear to me during the interview that much of ourselves are carried through these games. It feel it would be an injustice to not touch upon the more sobering side of MMO’s, as the genre has gained a bit of infamy over the years with stories of players being consumed by the fantasy worlds of these games.
I would hear about it growing up, not through any personal experience of mine, thankfully, but through word of mouth and observation. People who spend their entire life-savings on these games; of a tragic story involving a South Korean couple who neglected to feed their child in favor of raising their virtual one; and in the odd Dr. Phil episode I would catch walking by the living room television, where the MMO-obsessed, basement-dwelling geek becomes a burden to their family. Addiction, loss of what is real, and unhealthy prioritization are all synonymous with the genre.
When elements of your identity are closely linked with those of your character, it's possible to blur the lines between your reality and theirs, which is obviously concerning. Those who are prone to developing addictive personalities, meaning those who find themselves hooked easily on behaviors due to genetics and a variety of other factors, can find themselves hooked to the MMO formula as well – as it encourages reward acquisition. Other factors, such a family history of addiction, unhealthy friend groups, and poor social support circles – all contribute to potential dangers of MMOs. That being said, these type of unwell players only comprise an small percentage of the player base.
A Final Thought
In my opinion, massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) will continue to pave the way for the future of gaming as we know it. We see MMOs continuing to evolve and expand in scope today, growing alongside player bases that have adopted the genre wholeheartedly. I love that the MMO continues to provide secure and inclusive spaces for individuals. Many of those games are bastions of comfort amidst a world too complex, speaking out of personal experience. As Warrior of Light, Arks Defender, Operator, or Adventurer, the boundless expanse of the digital space awaits you.
I believe MMO’s have given us a framework for the future, a future that more than ever finds interconnectedness through online spaces. Why not venture into the world of MMOs? You may just find your perfect virtual refuge.
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