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a-plus-project · 8 years ago

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The Role of Onlookers in Arcade Gaming: Frame Analysis of Public Behaviours By Holin Lin and Chuen-Tsai Sun

In our current day in age, the phrase ‘gaming community’ is generally associated with online gameplay. However, before there were online games or even console games altogether, there existed gaming communities that thrived off of in person, face to face relations and exchanges. These communities could be found in video arcades. In these arcades people could gather to play pinball and joystick style games, and a very distinctive environment eventually formed that involved interactions between both players and spectators. It’s these unique player/spectator interactions that Holin Lin and Chuen-Tsai Sun have chosen to examine.

Video arcades are interesting in that they facilitate opportunities for social interactions and making connections. These interactions often will affect a player’s style, choices and actions in their gameplay. For example, a novice player in the presence of a large audience might perform beyond what they usually would with an audience behind them that they’d like to impress. Alternatively, a very experienced player will generally underperform with an audience because they’re more likely to be self-conscious and to self-evaluate, both of which can interfere with gameplay that would otherwise come naturally to them. However, it is important to note that these scenarios are only true when the participants are playing simple games such as pinball. In cases of more complex games, Tetris for example, all players tend to perform worse in the presence of an audience.

Because of the onlooker aspect found in arcades, some games can also be used as a means for a player to express themselves. The 1998 game Dance Dance Revolution is a prime example of this theory. While there are many players who are considered technically good at the game, the ones who draw large audiences are those who are both technically and stylistically adept. Stylistic players are those go beyond the foot movements that the game requires one to perform. Often they incorporate their own unique upper body dance moves, will directly face their audience, and “purposefully express their own artistic styles in order to create extra excitement”.

Lin and Sun were also able to generally categorize arcade goers into four categories: pure onlookers, novices, apprentices, and master. Pure onlookers are by far the smallest category, and they’re usually only there when accompanying a friend who belongs to one of the other categories. Novices play games purely for recreation, and are generally unconcerned about their performance. They tend to spend only a little bit of time at many different machines. Apprentices are those who are trying to master certain games. They’re usually nervous and self-critical in front of audiences, and tend to sigh or shake their heads when they make a mistake. Masters are the most confident players and tend to visit arcades during peak hours in order to show off their skills. They usually prefer to play in front of large audiences, and this pressure rarely affects their performance.

“Alone Together?” Exploring the Social Dynamics of Massively Multiplayer Online Games By Nicolas Ducheneaut, Nicholas Yee, Eric Nickell, and Robert J. Moore

Online gaming communities are a relatively recent construct, and didn’t become hugely popular until the early 2000’s. These communities are unique in that all interactions are at least in part influenced by a certain amount of anonymity. Interactions are not face to face, they involve made up usernames, and the person with whom you’re interacting could be from most anywhere in the world. Even so, the popularity MMOG’s (massively multiplayer online games) is fueled by their largely collaborative nature and the potential for shared experiences as well the opportunity to develop an in world reputation. As our authors put it, “it’s the people that are addictive, not the game”, and perhaps the most addictive of these games is The World of Warcraft. It’s this digital world that our authors examine and use as an example for how online gaming communities function today.

To begin to understand how these MMOG communities function, we must first understand the various ways which players can communicate with each other. First we have private chat which is used for one on one communication, generally with between two players who are familiar with each other. Next there’s group chat and guild chat, both of which are also generally used to communicate with other players you are familiar with, or at least those with whom you share common goals. There’s spatial chat, where only those within a certain radius around you can see what you’ve typed. Lastly we have zone chat, which all players in your zone can see. Having these multiple channels of communication adds an environmentally unique aspect to player communities in that they allow for one to pick and choose who to include or exclude. However, this propensity for exclusion is perhaps a necessary evil as each WoW server can host as many as 20,000 individual players. These are qualities that are obviously unattainable by in person communities such as those found in video arcades.

Traditionally, RPG’s (role playing games) have been solo play and story based as opposed to open world. WoW tries to counter this stigma by including several game aspects specifically designed to encourage community development. The first of these is the invention of character classes that complement each other. Players will often team up with others whose character’s strengths compensate for their own character’s weaknesses. WoW also included in-game quests that are too difficult for any one player to beat on their own. To beat them, players will form raiding parties that can consist of as many as 40 individuals. These community building strategies have been shown to be largely effective; the amount of time users spend in groups positively correlate with player level. Because of these factors, players will often develop connections out of necessity, connections that can in turn form purely online friendships.

While certainly not uncommon, players don’t always socialize in order to form lasting friendships, or even at all. However, when asked why they enjoy the game, most of these users include the “social factor” as a reason. This is because of a phenomenon that can be described by the phrase “alone together”. Other players are not only there to socialize with, they also provide an audience, a spectacle, and a social presence. For example, having an audience is one of the main reasons players strive to obtain unique and powerful armor sets and weapons. Even if they aren’t talking, they’re able to show off simply by walking around. In this way, online communities can be very similar to arcade communities. In fact, our authors themselves even us the analogy “playing WoW is therefore like playing pinball in a crowded arcade, where spectators gather around the machine to observe the best players”

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