Practices of playThe collective re-scription of

the online game World of Warcraft

Kristine Askwww.kristineask.com

Understanding play

• Definitions of play: – “The Magic circle”: not

serious, immersive, secluded, rulebound and unproductive

– Commonly understood as• Opposition to work• Children’s play

• Can play be productive?– If so, how is it done?– If so, what do players make?

The magic circle crumbles• Learning:

– Gee (2007), Steinkuehler (2004)

• Expertise: – Chen (2009), Reeves et al (2009)

• Cheating: – Consalvo (2007)

• Emergence: – Karlsen (2009)

• Work: – Yee (2006), Silverman and Simon

(2008)

• Etc etc…

Lesson learned: Must study play empirically

Methodology

• 1 year ethnographic study of a player community in World of Warcraft (WoW)– Between 25 and 50 hours

play pr week

• Interviews with 19 WoW players at varying levels of progression

The Game in question:

MMORPG

Virtual world

Up to 30 000 players

Avatars used to interact with the world

A game platform of many subgames

Primary game: Killing monsters

Raiding•Large groups of players fighting challenging

monsters

•From emergence to mainstream

•Set times•Team effort•Complicated•Little reward for much input•Organized

Scripts and user-scripts• A semiotic approach to user/technology

relationships

“A large part of the work of innovators is that of

“inscribing” this vision of a the world in the technical object.”

Akrich 1992: 208

Scripts in raiding I

” You don't have to adventure alone in World of Warcraft. In fact, the game can be more fun when you join with other

players. Quests that are too difficult alone can be surprisingly easy to accomplish when you group with other players. If you group with other players frequently enough, they might even

become regular adventuring companions and friends.” From Blizzards official ”Game Guide”

Design• Difficulty: Cannot be done alone• Size: 10 or 25 players• Continuity: Resets weekly• Community: Anyone can create a guild

Scripts in raiding II

• Organized: synchronous world, stability in the group

• Time intensive: Even when ”on farm” it takes hours to clear

• Expert play: Complex fights with high requirements to coordination of players

• Re-scripting raiding: material, social and symbolic

• Not a monogamous relationship between player and game– Addons– Logs– Databases– Guides– Strategies – Forums, blogs etc

Material re-scription I

Material re-scription II

• Delegation of complexity • Increased possibility of surveillance• Precise • Sharing and storing of expertise

VS

Social re-scription I

• Guilds are structured and formalized playergroups– Application process to join – Member requirements– Keeps track of attendance (addons)– Keeps track of performance (logs)– Divide up goods (DKP)

Social re-scription II• Formalized play• Commitment

Symbolic re-scription

• A game about numbers

• Performance oriented

• Expert oriented

Discussion

• The most basic aspect of raiding stays the same= large group killing digital monsters

• Mastery is not just mastery over digital monsters: – Tools– Norms– Playing by numbers

Play as productive

• A minority of the players actually create tools or new types of knowledge

• ”Everyone” uses it• New players are

introduced to a network of technologies, norms and practices

• Re-scription of gaming as ”work”