Model in a game to a person in real life. (Game Culture Watch)

We all know the idea behind avatars, at least most of us anyways. I do agree with gee notion's model theory. For one thing players or users like the idea that they are using a character or in this case a model. It is a way to do things in game that you would not normally do in real life. Lets take Grand Theft Auto for example. The player is able to get away with murder, run over cops, and even in some cases go on killing sprees at hours on end. There is no “model” in real life that can actually do that. There is one model or well game I would like to mention though. This model is Mario. Mario is one characters in which everyone knows is separate. The character Mario will always stay the same and there really is no customization to this model. In that sense what you do with this character is still reflected upon you. However lets take a character in which you can actually choose what the or she looks like. This kind of character or model is still considered separate from you. When you turn off that game what you did with that character won't matter in real life. Much like i mentioned before with grand theft auto. A model in the game is separate that a person in real life. Just because you killed someone in a game does not mean it will reflect your actions in real life.

A new kind of gaming (game for game culture watch)

So I decided to go a little off topic on this one and actually talk about a game that will be coming out soon as well as what it has become over the last year. This game also known as Guild Wars took a risk by making a free MMO. What this means is that there are no monthly payments. Although it isn't exactly the same as an MMO the similarties make it fall under that catagory. That wasn't the only risk that took place. They also were competeing with World of Warcraft.

However Guild Wars pulled it off. A million players and up have bought the game. Now this isn't anything compared to the ammount of players World of Warcraft has, none the less it is more then what was expected.

So what is Guild Wars actually about?
Guild Wars was able to successfuly take the view of a hero and work it into an already progressive story line. What makes the story line unique and interesting is that there is an entire passed history to the world the player is in. They were able to build up scenario's that included "gods" and "goddesses". An entire relgion was created, in the game of course. With factions coming out there is no real clue to how much larger guild wars will become.

There is a few reasons I wrote about guild wars.. One being is because now that our final projects are coming up. I thought it would be interesting to take a different look at the gaming aspects. Although there is your typical hero scenario, they were able to add some twists. In my opinion they successfully made it clear to the character that they have full control over their avatar. With that in mind the player was able to make a avatar that was in their mind. Factions comes out the 28th and it will be interesting to see what success comes with it.

Reading Response

Communication has grown more advanced over the years. It has gotten advanced at an extremely fast paced that some still haven't seen the technology and new ways to get in contact with people. After reading the chapters assigned it is clear that during the time when chat rooms and “muds” first began that it brought a whole new meaning behind communication. The entire theory behind a chat room in my opinion is that it is live. It takes place in real time with real people anywhere in the world. If a person is to really think about it, it actually is mind boggling. Simply because you can be whom ever you want on the Internet. I guess this is why so many people say chat rooms are dangerous. There is one company in mind which took full advantage of the rising popularity of communication over the Internet. This company is AOL. One of the primary foundations around chat rooms, instant messenger, and email. As time progressed more instant messengering programs and various communications popped up. Such as ICQ, (which is now owned by AOL), MSN, or the latest is Google Talk. All of these programs have something different about them, but overall the most similar part about them is the messenger system /chat room effect. Muds gave a way of playing a roll in which you cannot do in real life. The same goes with any chat source of the Internet. I don't think Muds, chat rooms, or any other form of communication over the Internet will ever actually parish. They may of course not become as popular. The fact that you can be anyone you want or be able to communicate with someone, and then not have that shy quality you would over telephone or in person will always be there. The biggest or well newest trend that seems to be taking place is web cam. This does of course go way out there from what the reading describe. Web cam takes the idea of live chat and mixes it with talking in person. Whether the person is thousands of miles away you can actually see their face through your monitor and they can do the same and see you. You can in fact have a live chat right through the interest as if they were standing right next to you. Of course this isn't as advanced yet, but I am sure much like how chat rooms and muds first began that improvement isn't far away.