Identity tourism: Essay + video

When I was a kid, I used to want to be a lot of things; an archeologist, a pirate, or even a viking princess. I used to play games with my brother and pretend to be somebody or something totally different. Pretend to have this exciting life, full of adventures that I would carry out with extraordinary friends. We've all experienced that.

A. Krotoski cites Sheryl Turkle in one of her articles; «Play has always been an important aspect of our individual efforts to build identity". I found this interesting because nowadays, even as adults the internet is not just a 'playground' but a place where we can continue exploring our own identity, and learn important lessons that can be transferred to our offline lives.

Our group video explores the idea of identity tourism in an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) such as World of Warcraft. How people create new personas for themselves and get involved in an online parallel life.

WoW is one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world. It is made by Blizzard Entertainment and has now existed for more than ten years. Based in a fantasy world, it has its own mythology. And much like ours, different races/species inhabit it, with their own lands, styles and languages.

Players first need to choose their avatar; who they want to be. Once the race is chosen, they need to add gender and start customising their character's appearance. They will then give them a profession and place in this world. Finally they will send them on extraordinary and usually heroic quests.

Nick Yee, a research scientist at Ubisoft, studying gamer behaviour, explains on his online survey 'The Daedalus Project', the demography, motivations and relationships encountered in these types of game:

First of all, surprisingly, the types of people playing these games are very diverse. He talks about the average age of MMORPG players being around 26. With people from totally different backgrounds and ages. This obviously entails a vast spectrum of players, who will have different motivations and tactics in the play. Each player will choose a particular avatar for various reasons, depending on their own temperament; « Introverted players tend to create characters that are projections or idealizations of themselves, while extraverted players tend to experiment with new identities through their characters […] Players driven by achievement focus more on the power and effectiveness of their avatar’s equipment, while players driven by socialization or immersion are more focused on their avatar’s appearances.»

Gender also plays an interesting role, as female players will apparently tend to choose characters such as priests, or druids. Men on the other hand will generally choose warriors for e.g. What we choose to be in these games seems to generally be a direct reflection of our character.

However, some players are more adventurous and choose avatars that on the contrary do not. There is a lot of what is called 'gender bending' in MMORPGs. Yee, talks about half of all female avatars actually being played by men, and oddly enough usually for tactical reasons. Male players are apparently more generous with female characters, and tend to come to their aid more wilfully. It seems that women and men's stereotypes are amplified in games like WoW. It is strange to see that, as I understand it, sexism is still very much present and more obvious during play. For some reason, 'female players' (who evidently once out of twice are men) are considered weaker than their male counterparts. There are also talks of sexual advances, which I find very hard to understand, especially in games based on anonymity.

Amy S. Bruckman while talking about earlier MUDs (Multi-user dungeon) gives us the testimony of an online gender-bender :

"Back when I had time for MUD, I, too, played female characters.  I found it extraordinarily interesting.

It gave me a slightly more concrete understanding of why some women say, "Men suck." 

It was both amusing and disturbing."
However, some time has passed since then, so hopefully it has changed!!
 Another thing that is interesting about MMORPGs is that you can actually be whatever you want

to be. Whether you are a 13 year old boy, or a 50 year old woman, there are no limits to what you can 

achieve and become in the game. 
Yee explains that « MMORPGs offer [for example] teenagers a safe space for

identity and role exploration. Where else can a teenager lead a group of players who are most likely all 

older than him? More importantly, these environments can empower players in ways that transfer to 

the real world, and not only for teenagers. »
He also talks about trust between players. About how sometimes people confide in each other more 

easily than in real life. Maybe because of anonymity at first but also because of their shared experience, 

and the respect they have for each other in the game. WoW is a roller-coaster of emotions that can be 

transferred as Yee says into real life. People connect in situations like these even if after all none of 

their adventures are 'real' (part of real life).
However as for most things there is a dark side to MMORPGs such as WoW. One of the main 

characteristics of games like these is the fact that they are ongoing. You need to play on a regular 

basis in order to keep your character evolving and getting better. Apparently 50percent of players 

consider themselves as addicted, and if unable to connect can suddenly become depressed, anxious 

or enraged.
 In conclusion, we all pretend or pretended at some point or another, to be somebody else. 

MMORPGs are just another platform where we can explore yet another of our masks. And if done 

correctly, with moderation, can even help with our personal growth.


 

Reference list:

Nick Yee (no date) 'The Daedalus Project' Available at http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_intro.html (Accessed : 12/12/2012)

Aleks Krotoski (2011) 'Online identity: Can we really be whoever we want to be?' The Guardian, 19 june, [online]. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/19/aleks-krotoski-online-identity-turkle (Accessed : 12/12/2012 )

Amy S. Bruckman (1993) 'Gender Swapping on the Internet' 

Available at http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/gender-swapping.txt (Accessed : 12/12/2012)

And here is the video!