MMRPG

(1) Do you play or know people who play multiplayer games online? Some of these games are massive multiplayer role-playing games. Others are multiplayer versions of standalone computer games. Explore one of these game types. Describe in your write up the ways in which the game creates online (and off line) interaction between players; whether players form a community or a group; and how conflict is managed within the context of the game.

I play Everquest.

This game is all about interaction. In fact, for the most part, it is very difficult, if not impossible to play the game alone. Players need other players.

First of all, the game is designed with a number of different classes, or types of characters you may choose to play, and each class has their own specific advantages the others do not. So, for example, there are classes of characters that are like an army tank, they are slow, but well protected, and when they do hit another creature, they hit hard. When you play Everquest, you need one of these "tanks" to stand in front and get beat up.

You also need someone who is able to heal all the damage this tank is absorbing. Without someone to heal the tank, the tank will eventually fall in battle, and with him, the rest of the group.

So, each class has abilities and advantages the others do not, and in order to be successful, you need a healthy mix, which forces players, of necessity, to group together and play cooperatively.

Within the game, there are a numbers of ways to interact with others. When you are grouped with other people, you may communicate to them as a collection using groupspeak, sort of like a conference call on the telephone.

You may also communicate with all the players in your general area, regardless of whether they are in your "group" or not. Imagine, you are at a bar with friends, and you're snuggled up on comfortable stools, talking to one another. You are speaking to your friends, but anyone in hearing range might also hear what you say. This is analogous.

Another way to interact with others is by writing to everyone who is in the same "zone" as you. This is like your high school's morning announcements. Everyone in the school hears them, and, I suppose, if they chose, could respond. So, this means a player can communicate with all players who share the basic virtual location as another, sort of, I suppose, it would be like if one could broadcast messages to everyone in a particular city you happen to be in.

One may also speak privately to other individuals.

All of these items combine to form community within the game. The ease of access makes it easy for relationships to develop, and the basic nature of the game forces one to develop these connections.

In terms of conflict, the largest means of control is community policing. That is, if someone gets out of hand, starts making inappropriate comments, the other members of the community will chastise them hastily. The social mores of the game are not published, but they are broadcast and enforced whenever someone crosses a line and one often learns by these examples.

If that doesn't work, Sony Online Entertainment offers an avenue for players to contact them directly to complain about unruly players. If those players are found guilty of an offense, they are barred from the game, their account is frozen, and they will no longer have access.