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The next time you are in WoW, type /panda to order Chinese food from Panda Express.  I actually fell for this until I realized what day it was.
This afternoon's gender exercise seemed to go more smoothly than the previous experiment, though there were still some limitations due to the artificial nature of the activity. It was odd that all of the questioners ended up being men, and this surely distorted some of the questions that were asked.
I had expected more questions that would require gender-specific cultural knowledge, but there weren't many of those this afternoon. The following list of questions, reproduced from a site on "detecting gender deception," is supposed to be helpful in determining a player's true gender, but I am not convinced.- What is the difference between "junior" and "misses" sizes?
- What sizes do pantyhose typically come in?
- What is the difference in how flushable and non-flushable tampons are made?
- What size ring do women usually wear?
- When coloring hair, how long is the dye usually left in one's hair?
- What is the average range of sizes for women's underwear?
- What negative effect may antibiotics have on a woman?
- On what day is flow the greatest?
- When during her cycle is a woman most likely to become pregnant?
I can see how women would be more likely to know the answer to these questions, but it seems that most sexually active straight men would want to know the answer to the last question -- if only out of self-interest!
Images from the exercise are appended to this message. Thanks, Katie B, for taking these snapshots!
The following passages are excerpted from a paper on gender identity that was presented to the International Communication Association several years ago. If anyone needs the full citation, just let me know.
In recent years, experts on gender identity disorder have created instruments that can be used to identify its more specific behavioral manifestations. In 1993, Sandberg et. al. developed a Childhood Behavioral Attitude Questionnaire (CBAQ) to screen for the presence of gender disturbances among children between the ages of 6 and 10. As with the DSM-IV guidelines, the CBAQ’s repeated reference to the opposite gender reflects an unquestioned belief in sexual dimorphism and gender duality. For boys, disturbing behaviors include doing things with female relatives, imitating female television or movie characters, using feminine hand gestures, dancing, enjoying fairy tales, or playing house. For girls, being called a “tomboy,” playing sports with boys, displaying an interest in automobiles, and reading books about dinosaurs and space are all identified as atypical behaviors. The CBAQ genders the private sphere in its characterization of “house” as girl-typical, and it explicitly discourages girls from pursuing an interest in science. It also denigrates friendships with peers and adults of the opposite sex, thus pathologizing cross-gender solidarity at an early age.
Children who flunk these tests are typically referred to special clinics for behavioral modification. While admitting that at least 25% of children display some gender-atypical behaviors in a three month period, the authors warn that “the child who frequently and persistently expresses many such GAB’s relative to little gender-typical behavior needs to be evaluated for a gender-identity disorder” (p. 312). One of the leading experts in treating gender disturbances is Dr. George Rekers. In 1977, he reported findings from a study that used reinforcement control to suppress feminine behaviors in a seven-year-old boy who was referred to his care. The child was led into a room and presented with a table covered with toys.On one side of the table were ‘girls toys’ associated with maternal nurturance: i.e. a baby doll in a three foot (.91 m) crib with sliding slide, a baby bottle, baby powder, and a Barbie doll with two sets of dresses, shoes, hats, and other clothing . . . On the other side were boys' articles associated with masculine aggressions, consisting of two dart guns with darts, a small target, a rubber knife, plastic handcuffs, a set of 42 plastic cowboys and Indians , sex-typed as masculine. After introducing the boy to the table full of toys, the researchers exited the laboratory, leaving him with the injunction: “Even though you will not see me, I can see you play.” In the second stage of the study, a therapist joined the boy in the room and only provided positive reinforcement for the use of masculine toys. The therapist was instructed to “extinguish feminine play behavior” by reading a book and ignoring the child whenever he reached for a feminine toy.
Rekers (1979) later used similar techniques in his attempt to teach a feminized boy named Kraig how to increase his “repertoire of aggressive and assertive responses to the level of his peers.” In this experiment, the reinforcement control strategy was to give Kraig a blue token for each positive behavior and a red token for each negative behavior. When Kraig seemed unimpressed with the semiotic value of the tokens, researchers decided to up the ante so that “each red token was subsequently exchanged for one mild ‘swat’” from his father. Responding to feminist critics who questioned the desirability of deliberately fostering masculine aggression, Rekers defensively asked “what percentage of boys who play with dart guns or handcuffs grow up to be law-abiding hunters or the members of our police force or military?”
Rekers’ studies were conducted more than two decades ago, and one might hope that the use of such techniques would no longer be widespread. Yet Burke (1996) documents that children continue to be referred to gender identity clinics for behaviors as innocuous as an interest in arts and crafts. In many of these clinics, children are subjected to intense behavioral modification techniques and forced to take psychoactive anti-depressants.
 Yesterday afternoon, TL Taylor led a fascinating discussion about women, gaming, and the ethics of on-line research. TL is an Associate Professor in the Department of Digital Aesthetics and Communication at the IT University of Copenhagen, and she is actively involved with the Center of Computer Games Research. In addition to her well-known work on women and gaming, TL has written about the social impacts of design decisions (PDF), the motivations of power gamers (PDF), and the challenges of conducting research in virtual worlds (PDF). She is also a co-author of "The Sopranos Meets Everquest: Socialization Process in Massively Multiplayer Online Games."
Screenshots from the event are included in this message, but I am saddened to report that the transcript of the chat log disappeared when I exited Second Life. I will see if Linden Labs can access their logs, but suspect that the log has vaporized for good. In order to preserve some record of the activity, it would be great if students could post what they remember as key ideas and viewpoints that emerged during this discussion.
TL speaking with the class. What's up with Terbo?
A different view of the proceedings.
Thanks to Dez for taking pictures of the event!
 According to Terra Nova, Richard Bartle has been named the first recipient of the Penguin Award by the International Game Developers Association. The award "celebrates the courage and bravery of a developer who is the first to test the proverbial waters, in the face of uncertainty of success or failure."
From the press release:
IGDA to Honor Richard Bartle, Founding Father of MUDs; Sheri Graner Ray, a Women's Advocate; Founders of Interactive Media Artists Group, Blast Theory; With Choice Awards
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) will give special recognition to an academic, an industry professional and the founders of a media artists' group whose contributions have been invaluable to the evolution of interactive entertainment, during the 5th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, Wednesday, March 9, 2005, at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco. Recipients include Richard Allan Bartle, Ph.D, founding father of Multi-User Dungeons (MUD), who will receive the First Penguin award; Sheri Graner Ray, a revered advocate of women's interests in game development, the Community Contribution award; and Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr and Nick Tandavanitj, the founders and leaders of Blast Theory, an internationally renowned interactive media artists' group, for the Maverick award.
First Penguin Award
The IGDA's First Penguin award celebrates the courage and bravery of a developer who is the first to test the proverbial waters, in the face of uncertainty of success or failure. Receiving a "penguin" serves as an inspiration and lesson to the community. Richard Allan Bartle, Ph.D, who has been at the forefront of the online gaming industry from its very inception, embodies the spirit of this award. As co-creator of the first virtual world MUD's in 1978 he paved the path for many of today's massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) and persistent-world games.
"I'm touched the IGDA thought of me for this award," Richard Allan Bartle said. "The fact that MUD's have a direct connection to the imagination is what hooked thousands; computer games will always innovate, as long as people have imagination."
More than 20 years have passed since Bartle fired the first neutron and the chain reaction shows no sign of stopping. With more than 1,670 MU* games in existence, Richard continues be an important player in the industry.
Bartle is currently a visiting professor in the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering at Essex University, Essex, United Kingdom. He is also a highly acclaimed writer on all aspects of virtual world design and development. He authored "Designing Virtual Worlds," which rapidly became the standard work for anyone developing persistent world games. His current musings can be viewed at his popular research blog Terra Nova.
Wed, Feb. 23rd, 2005, 04:16 pm
Tomorrow afternoon, T. L. Taylor will meet with our class in Second Life. We've already read and discussed her article on the pleasures of gaming. You can find more of T.L.'s work linked to her CV and on the web log Terra Nova.
This should be loads of fun!
Tue, Feb. 8th, 2005, 08:40 pm
Nick Yee
This evening, Nick Yee paid a virtual visit to our class, talking about his past research on MMOs and some of the work that he is doing with the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford. He touched on many interesting issues, but I was particularly intrigued by his comments about the responsibility of researchers to the communities that they study.
Nick noted that his work has been well received by Everquest fans because he has traction with the community; he has not been doing "hit and run" research. He mentioned that many virtual world researchers conduct scattershot surveys, never returning to share their findings with the people that they studied.
This brings up the notion of participatory research methods. Are the people with whom we interact in the gameworld simply "subjects" and "respondents?" Or are they actively helping us to construct meanings out of the experiences that they willingly share? Why should they trust us, and why should they participate in this project? This is not an issue of semantics or political correctness. The way that a researcher answers these questions reflects his or her respect for the community being studied, and it also affects the level of support that the community will express toward the researcher.
We will discuss this further in two weeks when we talk about methods, ethics, and informed consent. For now, I just wanted to get the class thinking about how we can collectively explain our project to the broader World of Warcraft community. One possibility is to create a class web page that links to completed papers and research presentations at the end of the semester. In the meantime, we might want to come up with a page that provides a broad overview of our research in progress.
Nick speaks to the games class.
At the end of the evening, we danced.
Web log assignment :: Due by end of the day on Monday, February 7th
In the “Trolls vs. Orcs” exercise, two teams battled to acquire experience points and loot. Based on this experience, and based on your other collective experiences within the game (including guilds), write a medium-length posting (three to five paragraphs) that speculates about the nature of collective action in virtual worlds. To what extent might the game’s interface and design characteristics inhibit or encourage group activity? What types of issues arise when a virtual group must map out strategy and decide what course of action to pursue? Do you agree with Yee’s suggestion that these games can teach leadership skills that are transferable to the real world? Can you imagine any real-world institutions that might find value in team-building exercises that unfold in the virtual world?
If you participated in the Ironforge activity during today’s session, your homework is to visit the lab and spend a few hours in the game world. During this time, join a group (either by inviting people or by accepting invitations) and experience team play with complete strangers. Then, in your web log posting, reflect on the questions listed above.
Wed, Feb. 2nd, 2005, 05:13 pm
Another interesting thread on Terra Nova discusses the infamous /played command in World of Warcraft. Dmitri Williams notes his surprise when he discovered that he has devoted 296 hours to his primary character since the game was released in November. One of Dmitri's friends has spent 672 hours in the game during the same period. Should we be troubled by this, or does it simply indicate that players are having fulfilling experiences in virtual worlds? Samantha LeCraft argues that it is not a problem. "Personally," she says, "all that time spent in WoW has been a wonderful experience for me. My guild consists of real life friends who I rarely got to talk with before we created the guild, but with whom I now speak nearly every night. My husband and I play together, so I can look at my /played time as twelve and a half days we've spent enjoying each other's company. One man's culture-destroying phenomenon is another's relationship-building godsend." It is important to remember that the typical American watches 3.75 hours of television per day (A.C. Nielsen, 1998). Why is television viewing more socially acceptable than MMO playing?
A terrific entry by Ted Castranova in Terra Nova describes a fascinating series of events that unfolded on the Argent Dawn server of World of Warcraft. Dozens of players gathered in front of the Auction House to protest persistent problems with the Warrior class. Incarnated as gnomes, the players expressed their outrage by stripping off their clothes and jumping up and down.  Representatives of Blizzard responded by ordering the crowd to disperse and threatening the unruly players with account termination.  Fan reaction has been divided. While some have characterized the player actions as "a form of terrorism," others have written "it's about time some people got together and united -- even if they were gnomes." Get the full story, with dozens of screenshots, from The Cesspit.
This story appeared on the Computer and Videogames site: SAN ANDREAS SCRIBE TO PEN HIP-HOP MMO
DJ Pooh (no relation to Winnie) has signed up with Atlanta-based indie developer 404 Games to write the storyline for their upcoming MMO game. Chances are you know the man's work already - he wrote and acted in Ice Cube flick Friday, wrote, directed and produced Snoop and Dre flick The Wash, and most recently collaborated with Rockstar on the storyline for GTA: San Andreas.
According to 404 Games, the plan is for Pooh to create "the many stories that will define the hip-hop urban based MMO," using "his many years of urban story telling talents."
The unnamed game is 404 Gaming's first project and has yet to be signed to a publisher. Getting Pooh on board is an encouraging sign, though, since his catalogue of work is both extensive and impressive. He's also undoubtedly informed on the subject matter having been active in the west coast hip-hop scene since the mid-eighties, collaborating with everyone from LL Cool J to Snoop Dogg. Since most 'urban' games seem to be put together by a bunch of chubby white guys wearing suits, this is a good thing.
No actual gameplay details - or what platform the game will appear on - are offered by 404, but it's certainly an interesting premise. San Andreas' Los Santos section made an enjoyable foray into the world of urban gang warfare, with hand signals and graffiti tags marking territory - and an AK47 taking it over. The prospect of something similar in MMO (or should it be MMYO?) form is pretty exciting.
Of course, it could have more to do with hip-hop itself. Imagine, if you will, an MMORPG where you beat down NPCs and other players not with a sword or mace, but a sharp rhyme spat from your gums. It'd be a bit like 8 Mile, and we're informed that something like that could well be the 'shizzle'.
From CNN:Governor bans video games from prisons
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Governor Matt Blunt banned video games from the state's prisons Monday, a month after a newspaper reported some of Missouri's most violent inmates were allowed to play games simulating murders, carjackings and the killings of police officers.
Blunt, a Republican who took office two weeks ago, called video games "a luxury that inmates should not be allowed to enjoy."
"Our penitentiaries are punitive institutions where those who have committed crimes against society are sent to pay for their actions. They are not meant to be arcades," Blunt said in a statement.
The ban applies to all video games -- violent or not. Blunt said state tax dollars -- as well as employees' time -- should not be spent determining which video games are violent.
The Corrections Department already had removed 35 violent video games from the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center as The Kansas City Star prepared to publish a story about the games in early December.
The games, which were paid for with profits from the prison canteen, included titles such as "Hitman: Contracts," in which players use everything from meat hooks to silencer-equipped pistols to carry out contract killings.
In prison, inmates should "pick up skills and abilities that will allow them to go back out into society and be productive citizens," Blunt said. "Playing video games doesn't have anything to do with either of those objectives."
It's unclear how many states allow video games in prison.
Courtesy of Boomtown and Terra Nova: "A Japanese woman was arrested for wiping her boyfriend's save game data.
The jilted girlfriend, said to be in her thirties, logged onto her ex-lover's Lineage account with his username and password. Once there she deleted his game data including all the items, weapons and clothes he had collected.
Although the boyfriend did not suffer financially he reported the misuse of his account to the police. Police then reported the woman of Toyama Prefecture, to the Fukushima District Public Prosecutors Office accusing her of violating a law banning illegal access to someone else's online accounts.
The woman has admitted the crime. "I did it as revenge for breaking up with me," she told police.
The couple actually met through playing the game, love blossomed in the online RPG and the lovers soon met up. However the relationship did not last long and thoughts turned to revenge.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun"
Objective
Become familiar with the World of Warcraft interface and game mechanics.
Task
Create a new character (either a dwarf or a gnome) and enter into the game world. As you play the game, you should learn how to:- move your game character throughout the world,
- target and attack monsters,
- view items in your inventory,
- view and modify your character’s equipped armor
- open your quest log,
- control your camera (zoom in, zoom out, frontal view of character),
- join a group of other players,
- send a private tell to another player,
- take a screenshot (at end of the day), and
- dance.
Things to think about as you play the game
If this is the first time you have interacted in a massively multiplayer online game, what are your initial reactions? Does the interface strike you as friendly or difficult? What aspects of the game confuse you?
If you have played other MMOs, how does your experience with this game compare to those virtual worlds? Compare the environments in terms of game interface, game mechanics, graphics, in-game culture, and any other criteria that you believe are relevant.
Web log assignment (Due by end of the day on Monday, January 24th)
In a short (2-3 paragraph) web log posting, discussion the above questions. Feel free to add anything else about your in-game experience that you feel is relevant.
Your web log entries do not need to be dry and academic in tone, but writing mechanics are important. Please be sure to proofread your entries before posting.
Great news! We've tracked down copies of the game for almost everyone in the class, and new copies have just materialized at an undisclosed location near the Trinity campus.
Yesterday, fourteen Trinity students incarnated as dwarves and gnomes in the snowy mountains of Dun Morogh. During the next few days, students will post their initial reactions to the game in their web logs.
Snapshots of the group photograph can be seen below. Citto-the-obsessive-dueler and Tegs graciously agreed to have their pictures taken with us. Special thanks to Electre (17th level rogue) for contributing pictures of the gathering.
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