Taylor
I thought that Taylor’s reading was very interesting on many levels. Taylor discusses the fact that the final product of the virtual environment is ultimately determined by the programmer and designer. So although many online games appear to be heavily influenced and altered by the players, the players’ abilities are ultimately restricted by the parameters set by the programmer and designer. The programmer and designer determine how much freedom the players will have through their vision of the virtual world. For instance although a designer and programmer may create a virtual world that allows building additions and a broad range of identity, the creativity of the players is still limited by the overarching programming and limitations. Taylor also discusses that the game designers are very adamant about establishing values such as diversity, personal responsibility, or class that they wish to implement into the game. I also found it interesting that at times, decisions about the game are only semi-collaborative and somewhat impulsive. It somewhat relates to my team’s dynamic because at times we cannot all attend the meetings, so therefore the teammates present may develop or fine tune certain ideas. Before reading Taylor’s article, I always believed that final decisions were completely agreed upon. I also found it interesting that although a designer may not be satisfied with a finalized game decision, the game will not be altered due to financial restraints. Taylor also states that “while both designers and customers…acknowledge the limitations of…this …world, the product continued to generate revenue and so the concern did not fall into the make or break category”(27). Therefore, revenue becomes a priority over game quality and customer satisfaction, which surprised me. Taylor also discusses the introduction of change into a game and how although it may appear to be necessary, it disrupts the game mechanics for the players. Taylor states that players become emotionally involved in the virtual world as they would in real life. Although the players’ avatars exist virtually, they are not open to change because in real life people like consistency and stability. In regards to immersion, designers are very concerned on developing means for players to create a stimulating social environment. For instance in Second Life, an avatar can request another avatar as a friend. This allows each person to locate the other each time he or she signs on, which allows further interaction and allows people to develop lasting relationships in the virtual world. In addition, Second Life encourages social gatherings by creating places such as the orientation area, clubs, and stores. Although there is not an active governmental body of avatars within virtual environments, the game itself acts as a governing influence through the limitations set by the programmers and designers. In regards to identity, social responsibility, and legitimacy, these issues are crucial in real life as well as in virtual worlds. Personal identity is important because it represents the player as an avatar. Similarly to real life, avatars will first judge one another based on appearance. Therefore the amount of freedom given to players to design their avatars will heavily influence social interaction. For instance in puzzle pirates, players have very little freedom when choosing their physical appearance. On the contrary in Second Life, players have freedom to choose physical aspects such as eight, complexion, weight, hair color, apparel, etc. Although players have few limitations in avatar design, Second Life does not impose a sense of personal responsibility in regard to physical identity changes. A player can change his or her avatar’s appearance as much as he or she desires. I am not sure about name changes. I also thought is was very interesting that in some games people would have to pay to changer their names or personal identity to prevent reckless behavior and to promote personal responsibility. Although it seems fair, this “law” mimics reality in the sense that at times money gives certain people the power and opportunities that others may not have. A lot of times in life people can buy their way out of certain situations. In regards to diversity within a game, I believe that it is difficult to ensure diversity within a game because it most likely depends on the ethnicity of the players. For instance, many people may try and model their avatars after themselves, so the ethnic ratio may heavily depend on the players. This does not rule out the possibility that people may not design their avatars to be that of another race, but it is probably not common. In addition, Taylor speaks about the implementation of the Rastafarian character, which is supposed to represent the African-American male. Although it creates diversity, it also reinforces a stereotype and is extremely limiting. In real life, a Rastafarian is of Caribbean decent and lives a certain lifestyle, meaning that there is much more to being a Rastafarian than appearance. In Second Life, there is a category called “African-American hair”, which is an afro. Although afros are associated with African-Americans, we wear our hair in many styles and have various textures of hair. I do not wear my hair in afro, but Second Life has not created a hair type that looks like mine, so I have to use what I am given. In addition, Taylor says that she was told that, “our biggest problem with racial-oriented heads or racial-oriented partners…is getting across to them the fact that color makes men”(32). Taylor also states that some designers believe that facial characteristics would not have much influence. For instance, Christian identifies as Cuban and African-American. In Second Life, his avatar is light-skinned because he is light skinned in real life. In real life another person may be unsure of his racial identity, and in Second Life one may assume that he is white despite the fact that he has “African-American” hair, an afro. Therefore, complexion does not say it all in a virtual world because judging someone by his or her complexion in real life is not an accurate basis for determining ethnicity. Therefore, facial characteristics could make a difference. In regards to race and racial diversity, I understand that it is important to implement the aspect into virtual words, but the designers seem to meet so many complications. In my opinion race is a very complicated subject because I feel that although race is related to one’s culture and identity, many people are racially mixed whether we definitely know what races can be traced within our family lineage.