Team Team - identity in new media

Team Team: Identity in Virtual Reality
Article: Live in your world, Play in Ours, by Sheila C. Murphy, in Journal of Visual Culture
http://home.utm.utoronto.ca/~adavids/CCT%20300H%20Blog.pdf


Alain:

In the excerpt Leaving Reality Behind: Entering Virtual Space, it states that one focal point of cyberpunk/digital culture is that of leaving the mundane of reality behind and create alternative identities in a virtual world.

Games like Tony Hawk Pro Skater uses an avatar which players control, and actually become virtual representations of them. Even though a player is using Tony Hawk it is their virtual self because they are the ones that are falling and learning to pull off the moves, if it were the actual Tony Hawk they would skate through the game effortlessly pulling off all of his signature moves.

Theories surrounding Identity in virtual spaces are oversimplified and in danger of falling into the same traps as “universal subject” in film studies that did not factor that film can be viewed in various contexts. In forming theories for digital identity is important to understand the deep connection between the actual indentity and the real identity.

Ashley:

Manovich, author of The Language of New Media (2001), criticizes existing research on new media and interactivity, claiming this work mistakes physical interaction for intellectual, thoughtful interaction. He speaks of the old Cartesian mind vs. body trap. Manovich’s text doesn’t really touch on how identification functions in new media, but does declare that “Interactive media ask us to identify with someone else’s mental structure” (page 61).

Data released by the ISDA (Interactive Digital Software Association) showed that 62 percent of PC gamers are male, and 60 percent of them are under 36 years old. They also showed that more and more women are playing ‘interactive games’ (both video and PC games) – 43 percent of players are female. This data is important because it shows that most people who are playing with video game identity are young men. Priorities of gamers and game designers are revealed, when we see how gamers play games and interact with the identities they embody. Control within games and the controllers used to play the game are very crucial factors in facilitating a gamer’s identification with an avatar. It is important in establishing a connection between the gamer’s physical body (in front of the screen) and one’s body and identity within the narrative game world.

Many contemporary video game controllers feature “dual shock” or “vibration feedback motors”. These are used to make the gamer feel repercussions for their actions within the game. When Nintendo introduced this technology in its N64 gaming system in 1997, they said it ‘physically responds to the action in compatible games, immersing you in game play’. If the avatar loses or is hit, the user will also experience the consequences as the controllers vibrates wildly in the gamer’s hands. The article states “lived space is saturated with and changed by the events occurring within a game and to my avatar”. Games don’t leave behind reality, but re-format it. The game’s input devices are essential to allowing users to identify with their avatars. Many players admit to physically “dodging” attacks or bullets in a game. Players are enacting and reacting to these avatars simultaneously.

Trung:

In the virtual game world, gamer have control to create their own world or
environment as they wishes. Gamers have the power to control and manipulate
their character as their preference own identity. Just a symbol click to
the game control button, it allows the gamer to be in control of their
virtual world. New developed games such as Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City from RocksStar, these game offered enormously
expansive and responsive landscape which is much better than the old shoot
game. In game world, programmers designed to maximize the sensory experience
of the gamer based on upon how much sensory information can be conveyed in
each sensory channel such as visual and sound effect.

AVATAR FUN
www.avatarity.com – a database of tons of avatars
http://avatars.yahoo.com – create avatars and interact with friends
http://www.hotavatars.com/ - an avatar forum
http://icons.deviantart.com/avatars/ - an online avatar gallery

Critical Analysis

Ashley:
As you can see, avatars do affect people’s real lives, and both the hardware and software are designed to do this. People really do start to “become” their avatars. In an article I read about the Psychology of Avatars, there was an Avatar code of conduct (http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psyav.html). It outlines how to be courteous while you are “in character”, there were rules included such as:
- No “sleeping”: users leave the game but fail to take the avatar out of the game. Other users are trying to interact with the avatar but it doesn’t respond. This is considered to be rude.
- no “flooding”: people sometimes make constant rapid changes to their avatar, and large avatars can flood the servers, causing a delay in game play or chat rooms
- No “imposters”: it is a no-no to steal someone’s avatar and represent you as that character. The article even goes as far as to say “You are abducting their entire identity”!
This is incredible, it shows there avatars are really a part of users, they represent them, they have a reputation as a certain character, and take pride in their mediated identities.

I do agree with Manovich’s statement about “Interactive media ask us to identify with someone else’s mental structure”. We are bound to the limits of that avatar. In human life, we can express ourselves countless ways, and it’s our bodies and minds that limit us. Avatars work differently. Although we may feel like we are in control of them, they are limited by what they have been programmed to do, there are only so many possibilities an avatar can carry out. The programmer has constructed it to what they deem representative as a character, but cannot possibly represent the wishes of every user out there.

I was also interested in his comment about the mind/body split (Cartesian philosophical theories). If I may have a small philosophical argument about this, I must agree with his claim. The Greeks saw the mind/soul as a complete split from one another. “When a member of the body--an arm or a leg, for example--is cut off, there is no loss of part of the soul as a consequence because the soul is unitary and indivisible. It then occupies what is left of the body.” (http://custance.org/old/mind/ch2m.html). So, if the body is just a tool and is not representative of our minds, then avatars are just as good at representing gamer’s, and can sometimes even perform tasks that we cannot with our real bodies (like flying or having super powers).

Alain:
Everquest aka Evercrack has brought to light the relevance of identity in virtual spaces. There have been two reported suicides related to Evequest and its online community. Sheyla Morrison and Shawn Woolley both became so immersed in their digital identities that when their digital identities were threatened they felt it was necessary to end their lives in reality. In these cases their virtual identities became more important to their real identities, as their actual lives were not to their liking. The video game was their escape and they were able to create an identity in a fantasy virtual world. As video games become more immersive and interactive we need to ask ourselves how will this impact society, and if actions in the virtual world are carrying over to reality then should there not be better policing of these worlds than the “moderators” that are currently in place.

http://jsonline.com/news/state/mar02/32535.asp

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/11/21/virtual_suicide/






Questions:
Do you believe in the mind/body split theory? Do you believe avatars can represent users as accurately as their bodies?

Do you think some people rely too heavily on their avatars to represent themselves? Does it ever get to a point where it is too much?

How conscious are you of the person that you portray in virtual spaces, and
does it differ from how you behave in reality? Is there a difference between
how you interact with strangers in virtual space and your friends?

Have you participated in any online games even simple games like Yahoo!
Pool? How serious do you take it, are you concerned about your ranking, have
you disconnected in the middle of a game?

As people are becoming fully immersed in these virtual worlds that become
more and more realistic and interactive, how do we ensure the safety of the
gamers, does there need to be some sort of actual policing beyond
moderators?