ANTHONY JOSEPH ZMODA: March 2008 Archives

This posting is going to delve into a world little known to me; the world of MMORPGs (massively multiplayer on-line role-playing games).  These types of games have a huge fan base, which is expected to exceed 15 million in 2009.

Two websites, PlayOn and The Daedalus Project host two extensive MMORPG research initiatives.  PlayOn states that a majority of the MMORPG community is male.  There is a range of 65 – 78 % majority on each server.

 

They also show that there is a distinct difference in the type of character that males and females use to play as well.  Only 10% of the dwarf population is female, while 40% of night elves are female.  There seems to be a direct association between the look of the user’s character and traits of the user.

 

The average amount of time spent playing for males and females when starting at level one is about 750 minutes and increases up to about 2500 minutes after reaching level 60.  The amount of players leveling is consistently increasing as well.  From July 2005 to January 2006, the ratio of level 60 characters went from 8% to 21%.

 

So why do people play this game?  What causes people to pour hour after hour into a virtual world that is the subject of many controversial addiction cases?  The Daedalus Project breaks the motivations down into three major catagories:

 

Achievement – leveling up, becoming powerful, making progress

Social – making friends, communicating with others

Immersion – role-playing, exploring, escaping real life problems

 

Is the research credible?  Most likely.  The web pages have been studying this MMORPG user interactions for the past few years, and trends are now even being predicted.  They use large survey samples that minimize the standard deviation.  What’s the point of studying these trends?  There’s no argument that if you utilize the game effectively, you can market to a ton of people.  As a matter of fact, Toyota has used the game engine to market their trucks.

 

 

 

Stereotypes of the users

 

People that devote hours and hours to this virtual world have developed a certain image about themselves.  People assume that MMORPGers are all male, are anti-social, and after a few extreme examples, that they are not able to perform daily tasks and care for responsibilites.  The research supports the fact that there are a large amount of male players, but there are a significant number of women playing as well.  And as for the fact that MMORPGs get in the way of other responsibilites, that may happen for some people, but most exercise enough self control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week got off to an interesting start.  It was cool to meet all the kids that came down to Biloxi with me.  You could make friends with someone from every corner of the nation, with every interest and every nationality.  We began the day with a catered breakfast, and were separated up into smaller, manageable teams of 10-12.  After doing the usual, typically corporate (kinda lame) ice breaker activities, we took buses out on a tour of the surrounding area.

Driving through the night before didn't give me a good look at exactly what condition the community was like, so I was eager to explore.  Driving up along the coast, right next to the beach, we could see remnants of destruction everywhere.  There were some large commercial hotels and casinos that were rebuilt, but anything that was more private seemed to still have trouble getting back on their feet.  You couldn't go more than a block without seeing empty lots with only the concrete slab that the original structure stood on remaining.  Out on the water, you could see pier after endless pier that had only posts, and no slabs remaining.  Storm surges from Katrina rose up to 30 feet above sea level, traveling miles onto land, flooding almost everything.  A lot of the community was out of a flood zone, and was not required to purchase flood insurance.  Therefore, many were left homeless and stranded.  We drove past churches with walls crushed in and schools that were closed and boarded up.  It all made everything seem very real.  I was pretty upset with how after two years, only small steps have been made to get this area back on it's feet.  Little coverage still remains in the media about the fact that these people still need a lot of help.  The only way to find out was to come down and experience it for yourself.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Katrina Kafe, which opened its doors as a food shelter for many of the victims.  We got to hear the owner's story of her Katrina experience.  The recollections and anecdotes of all the victims we heard are still vivid and explicit.  They were all polite and friendly as anyone I have met.  There doesn't seem to be any bitterness or remorse.  It must be that southern hospitality.

So, I eventually made it to Biloxi, Mississippi. The flight down was an absolute NIGHTMARE. I am going to avoid traveling out of Philly Airport ever again. As I stated before, I got delayed three hours in Philly because there was snow in Atlanta. As it turned out, we were allowed to board our plane at 1:30 pm, which was an hour an a half late. After getting onto the plane, we sat a the terminal for a little longer than usual. Something was up. The pilot announced to the passengers that there was a mechanical error with the black box. We waited for a mechanic to fix the problem.

The mechanic couldn't fix the problem.

Everyone was instructed to get off the plane because a part had to be flown up from, ironically, Atlanta. The flight was canceled, and we had to rebook. After waiting in a line of about fifty people, I foutd out that I could catch a later flight to Atlanta at 3 pm. However, the rest of the flights from Atlanta to Gulfport International Airport (my intended destination for the evening) were booked. I could have waited on stand by, get put in a hotel in Atlanta for the night if I didn't make a flight, then leave for Gulfport the next morning. I called my recruiter and she said to fly into either New Oreleans, Louisiana, or Mobile, Alabama, and I would be picked up there. Cool, two states that I've never been to before at least. So I switched my flight out of Atlanta to Mobile, AL.

As I was getting ready to depart at 3 pm, the new flight to Atlanta got delayed until 4:30 pm. Yahoo. I finally got on board the plane and we left the terminal to make our way to the runway, when it began to rain. Heavily. Departures were delayed once again, and I finally got in the air at 5:15 pm. After an uneventful flight to Atlanta, I raced to the next terminal to hop the plane to Alabama. After I got into Alabama, I had to register my lost luggage which was sent to the original, Gulfport, Mississippi airport. I am sick of this story. To finish up, I met up with seven kids that had the same sorts of things happen to them, got picked up in a bus from Deloitte, drove past Biloxi to Gulfport to get our stuff (an hour and a half) then back to the Biloxi hotel for a reheated dinner of black-eyed peas, collard greens, and beef at 10:30 pm. All this took me 14 straight hours. Bullshit.

Updates on how the actual spring break is going soon...

Well, Spring Break 2008 is finally here. It was very much needed after eight weeks straight of interviews, exams, homework and organizing the Future Forum committee. So here I am, waiting for a flight to Mississippi, and I am still doing work for IST 431. At least I have something interesting to write about and some time to kill.

Since I spent all my money traveling to Quebec and London over Christmas, I needed to find a way to do something fun and cheap over Spring break. As it turns out, I noticed in an email sent to the students in IST asking for volunteers to participate in an Alternative Spring Break (ASB). (Fuck...they just announced that my flight got delayed an hour because of the shitty rainy weather by the way.) Anyways, the ASB was sponsored by a partnership between Deloitte and United Way. They were going to take 80 kids across the nation and a couple dozen recruiters to Biloxi, Mississippi to help rebuild a town that is still devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Everything was going to be paid for including the flight, the housing, the meals and the transportation. This seemed right up my alley. I could go to a place I've never been before, meet 100 new people, give back to the community and not have to pay a dime. Werd to that.

From looking at the website and doing a little research, Biloxi looks like it got some work done on it by Katrina. (FUCK...my 10:00 am flight has been delayed till 1:00 pm. Will I ever even get there??? Turns out that it is snowing in Atlanta, where I have to transfer. I guess they are freaking out a little bit. How often does it snow in Atlanta??) There are three different “action teams” that the students are on. One had to do with community development, ones doing like surveys and recommendations or something, and my team is doing straight up house building. I am really happy about this. I use my head enough during the school year so I am trying to get my hands a little dirty.

We are staying a hotel right on the Gulf of Mexico, and that will be nice. I've had a few friends do ASB's like this before and apparently they had to sleep on the floor of YMCAs. Alright, well I am almost out of battery on my laptop and I guess I have to figure out what to do if I miss my flight out of Atlanta. I'm gonna get on the horn with some of the Deloitte recruiters and see if they have any suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes.

There is a vast community of online dating services available. Are these websites a legit way to meet people or are they nothing more than a money-making scam? After researching a top dating sites, and delving into a couple review sites, I've complied a few pro's, con's, and safety tips, (along with a little dirt).

Dating site reviews state that “online dating sites can be a great tool to help you find romance, love, a few friends, (and) long-lasting relationships...but the operative word is 'can'”. According to dating websites' testimonials, it's true that people have been able to use dating sites to find anything from hookups to long-term love. Also, Online Dating Magazine states that “more than 20 million people visit at least one online dating service a month,” and that “there are more than 120,000 marriages a year that occur as a result of online dating.”

The first online dating service I looked into was eHarmony.com. This site claims to be one of the best matchmakers on the internet. The reason they are different is because while other dating sites evaluate users based on short-term goals and needs, eHarmony emphasizes long-term relationships. With 7 million users interested in a committed relationship (16 million total), it is easy to see why they have a decent number of marriages occur after their matchmaking process. This is also one of the only dating websites that can claim over half of their users are female.

So what are the downsides of eHarmony? It turns out there are plenty. One of the reasons that may attribute to the high match-to-marriage rate is “pre-user screening." The founder of the site, Dr. Neil Clark Warren (the one on all of the commercials) is actually a rather religious dude, and doesn't take very well to gay or unhappy people. Nice.

There is evidence that eHarmony has rejected over a million visitors who were interested in making an online profile. I guess, according to Doc Warren, unending bliss isn't for everyone. Also, it takes forever to make your compatibility profile, featuring 29 different compatibility aspects about you, and asking you over four hundred questions in all. Wow, after doing all that I doubt I would have the energy to pay upwards of twenty dollars a month (sixty for the first one) to actually use the service.

But they say the compatibility report is free!

Yea that part is free, but until you start paying, you don't get to communicate with any of the other members. This is beginning to seem that only a very select demographic can benefit fully from the site.

So what are the other risks involved with the online dating community?  A main issue that is running rampant is the use of fake profiles.  Datingsitesreviews.com defines a fake profile as one which "inaccurately represents the person (and) misleads other members of the dating service."  They also divide fake profiles into three categories.  On some of the "sleazier" date/hookup sites, many of the profiles were fake people that linked straight to pornographic websites.  Damn.

And what about the people that you finally have to meet?  They may come across truthful and clean through phone calls and emails, but it can be easy to hide many unwanted traits and characteristics.  Desperate members of the dating community can easily turn to harassment because of a few unreturned emails. There were over 350 registered cases of cyberstalking in 2006.  Not really something I would want to deal with.  However, there are a few ways to protect yourself if you are willing to take the chance.

Another aspect of dating sites that most people look over is the fact that once you meet your "soulmate," physical relations may ensue.  Hey, thats great but you know what? risks always accompany that.  An article on CNN.com reveals that dating members looking for sex are more likely to have an STD and have an inflated amount of previous sexual partners.

To sum up, it looks like online dating is here to stay.  Personally, I would rather meet someone at a party or in class than take a chance with a bunch of randos on the internet.  I have no idea what kind of smut is out there.  If I found someone that was potentially my soulmate online, I would probably be a nervous wreck by the time I met them anyway.  That awkward situation is never fun.