Assignment 1:
Gaming face-to-face and gaming in the relative anonymity of the internet provide very different player experiences -- and elicit very different player styles and responses. Board games provide a great method of social interaction, but they cannot provide the same level of escapism and immersion that online gaming allows.
In class, I played both Set and Scrabble. Neither is a game that forces direct social interaction -- no trading, no bargaining, no bluffing. Yet by virtue of shared presence and a common interest (the game), social interaction is inevitable. The rounds of Set we played were somewhat slow and stilted, as all of us were somewhat new to the game. Social interaction was particularly low for that game, as most were frustrated by the somewhat steep learning curve. Other times I've played Set, or seen it played, it has typically been a much more quickly-paced game, with the greatest frustration being a cheery one levelled at the player who just disrupted your next set. Scrabble provided a much more entertaining experience, as the sole rules question was quickly referenced in the rules and gameplay continued. Clever placing of words and unique words were commended by the group, and discussions over acceptable words (could 'damn' be legitimately extended to 'goddamn'?) caused everyone to dissolve into laughter. (As a sidenote: Thinking back on some of the words we created, it would be interesting to see the players create a story out of the words on the board at the end of a game.)
I logged into LambdaMOO and found a very different experience. Silence. I wandered around the area for over an hour, tried talking to the very few people I ran across, but found nearly no social interaction. Tried creating objects and manipulating them, but quickly grew bored there as well. With that in mind, I'll speak generally of MUDS. MUDS rarely have goals in the sense that board games do. MUDS involve player interaction, often the creation of a community with its own history and drama. MUDS allow players to take on any number of personas and try different styles of social interaction with no direct repercussions. In the relative anonymity of online gameplay (anonymous typically to other users, at least), any irredeemable social mistakes can be corrected by a simple change of user name. This allows for a freedom of expression that there is no real parallel to outside of the game. In standard social interactions, there are consequences for behaving badly or strangely. Unless a player has invested a good deal into creating those same types of relationships online, the player would not need to feel bound by those societal expectations online. This freedom can result in good or ill, depending on the player. Either way, the overall social experience in an online setting has the potential to be (and usually is) radically difficult from dealing with people face-to-face.