Sitting on the table area outside of the library, I have a good view of a large part of campus. The lake stretches out before me, the light reflecting off the surface of the water a reminder that is was a good idea to wear the sunglasses perched upon my nose. The commons stretches on to the left of me, and I can make out the dining hall and perhaps a hint of Gottwald. The geese which have taken it upon themselves to annex the closer side of the lake occasionally anger the passing motorist who has to yield to their slow waddle across the tarmac. One could wonder how a virtual world could recreate this.
And yet, when we look at game technology, we realize that this world isn’t far from being perfectly replicated in stunning 1080i. Games such as the upcoming Battlefield 3 already are visually breathtaking. True, virtual images of mountainous terrain will never be as stunning as the real thing. But we will get very, very close. Even the academic brick architectural theme of this campus matches a distinct visual style that certain games are known for. While virtual world may not actively engage all five senses, the ones they do choose to stimulate are strikingly realistic.
And yet, there is a key difference between these two environments that I noticed: the behavior of the residents of this campus are nothing like those that one may find in WoW. Looking around at those around me, some were alone, many traveled in groups, yet the social boundaries that people had regarding their interaction with each other were set. People didn’t suddenly join up and create new groups ad hoc like the norm in virtual worlds. Rather, we have substituted long term relationships and interactions rather than the fleeting ones of cyberspace. Plus, nobody ran around the campus and insulted each other. The trolls depicted in books such as Castronova’s Exodus to the Virtual World were seemingly absent as people had to be accountable for their actions in this campus’s social culture. Actions seen by the lake today would be remembered by everyone tomorrow.
The class itself covered a myriad of topics and made me think about technology and cyberspace in a completely new light. I never thought of the social and political ramifications that technological developments had. While the course itself did seem to be saturated this view of technology, I was disappointed by the lack of evaluation of the actual technology that we covered. This may be the programmer in me talking, but I really wanted to explore more what actual technological developments led to certain changes and specific advancements that made the world the way it is today. That is why I was actually very excited when I heard one of the Vice-Presidents of EA may be addressing the class at some point, as the view of someone directly influencing the technology and the industry that we were talking about would have been riveting. Overall though, this course made me think of the terminal that I’m sitting behind now to type this blog in a completely new way, and for that I am glad.
Getting Eric Piccone to campus would have been a great coup for me, but UR has never really helped me with that particular venture. I'll try again next year. He's more than willing to come to campus and if we get him sponsored, I'll be sure to let you know.
ReplyDeleteI do wish we'd spent more time evaluating tech, and perhaps we can add a project in future where each student will look at a game, a tablet, a different hardware or software communications tool, or other Internet technology in depth.
I like that idea a lot and will file it under "next time."
As for Battlefield and your remarks about the groups we form in games vs. on campus: excellent points. Two issues stand out. First, it sounds as though you argue that online engagement desensitizes us to trolling.
I wonder if some of the mayhem we have on weekends, fueled by alcohol, is also not abetted by practice "being mean" online. If so, it's a powerful argument against realistic games like Battlefield with lots of violence. Might they not desensitize us to violence in real life?
I do not have the answer to that one, but a great deal, socially and economically, hinge on the answer.