I recently got my paladin to level 70, he's still my highest level toon (character) and were it not for the new expansion raising the level cap to 80 he would have been my first max level toon. This past week I spent time in game getting my toons to higher levels. To a certain extent I need to do that with my characters if I want to compete effectively on the battlegrounds. Since battleground instances have a level range of about ten levels ideally I should be the highest level possible in my level bracket, I'm not sure if I will do that for all my toons since it can be time consuming.
I had intitially considered only writing based on my experience with one toon but I think that using several toons might be handy simply for the variety of possible experiences open too me. Also using experiences from a variety of toons could make it easier for me to conceal my identity as a researcher. If I choose to focus exclusively on one toon it becomes about how much time I officially give to that one character which could become onerous and possibly color my experiences.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
What's in a toon?
At first when I thought about this project I imagined relating the experiences playing only on one toon or avatar, but I'm not sure how effective that will be. To truly be good at PvP one has to be both prepared to die a lot but also to learn about the powers of one's class. This week I have not played that much WoW, or maybe more precisely I did not do much PvP, I had to deal with the demise of one of my guilds. It was a pretty quick process, all the people int he guild that I really liked with one exception (the guild leader) quit the guild over the period of the past few weeks. I was conflicted about it, I guess I had missed all the drama or not noticed it but I was sad because of its consequences and all of this timed to provide a perfect distraction from my semester. I'm not even sure why I am discussing it here. The point I guess is that I'm still trying to work out some little details on my approach.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Moon Coins and meditation.
Today I spent an unproductive day traveling across Azeroth meeting ancestors and getting coins from them on my highest level avatar, a level 69 paladin. Yes I know if I were really an avid WoW player I would have an 80 buy now but I don't, I don't even have a Death Knight and I got the new expansion about a week or two ago. I had planned on spending the day doing academic things like reading for class and that other stuff but over this week end I only did readings for one of my classes so far. That is not to say I won't do the readings or the work but that but that I've been having motivation problems. As embarrassing as this is to admit I have been having trouble getting into the swing of things this semester and I'm not entirely sure why. My current theory is that I am putting too much pressure on myself to perform well and that I am kind of stalling myself in the process. Take this blog for instance I want it to be original and insightful but I also want everybody to be able to understand me so I take on a very formalistic tone and I probably lose my readers in the first few sentences. I know I did not enjoy writing it. So I've come to a decision I will simply relate my experiences and provide clarifications as I deem them necessary or as my readers ask for them.
In any event today I spent the day riding around on a Horde paladin visiting elders and collecting coins during the Lunar Festival. The festival like most WoW world events last about a week or two and during that time I have to accomplish as many event related goals as possible or wait a year to get to do them again. Fro the most part I tend to do a few of the easier event related goals and then go on questing but today I decided to really work on getting those ancestor coins. I was going for three achievements: to get all the coins on the continent of Kalimdor, to get all the coins in the Eastern Kingdoms and to get 50 coins. I got 30 coins so far (I spent 5 on a reward but they still count for the achievement) and I did not manage to get all the coins in either Continent but it was fun. Some of the coins were in Alliance controlled territory and that meant having to get flagged for PvP and coming into conflict with NPCs in the places I was. Whenever I could, however I skirted the town guards and NPCs so that I would avoid conflict, this was not always possible. One of the coins that I got was in Stormwind City, that is one of the Alliance capital cities, it's swarming with powerful guards, NPCs and players. Just entering the city flags me for PvP combat and so I am fair game for anybody who wants to attack me. My first few steps into the city I was cut down brutally by the level 75 city guards. I died a total of four or five times getting to the ancestor and I was not finished. I also wanted to get the coin in the Dwarven capital of Ironforge, yet another Aliiance capital city and the easiest way to do that was to use the tram connecting Stormwind and Ironforge. I can't remember if I died more than once getting to the tram but I had managed to find an effective way to travel through Stormwind while avoiding the guards, NPCs and other players. In Ironforge I died only once to the city guards while trying to get the coin (after I got the coin they killed me) but I chose to resurrect at the graveyard and spare myself the pain of being killed trying to escape Ironforge.
I got one more coin from an alliance town after that but was not flagged by it. Having played the game long enough I know what Ally players probably saw when I penetrated deep into the heart of their territory and wandered through their capital city. Their local defense channel was probably warning then that I was in their city (potentially attacking them). Even if this was not the case these messages can be something of an annoyance as they are repetitive and obnoxious. More annoying is that when high level players attack the towns and cities of the opposing faction they kill vendors and other useful NPCs that players of the faction need for various reasons e.g. completing quests, repairing their gear, buying items or new gear. In fact what I did is seen as a nuisance by players, even though I did not kill any NPCs causing the local defense channel to start spamming warnings is annoying but whether or not they approved of my actions I had fun. There is something amusing about riding through a dinky little Alliance town like Astranaar or Goldshire wearing no gear (all avatars wear default underwear) ignoring the guards wailing on me while I complete whatever quest I am on. There is even something exciting about trying to run through a capital like Stormwind attempting to avoid the city guards and higher level players while looking for the ancestor spirit with the coin I need.
Today I did not raid any settlements, that is attack and kill NPCs but I did set off a few Local Defense channels and I was attacked by several guards, NPCs and players. I also got the coins I wanted, the only big city I have not entered for a coin is Darnassus, I will have to try that one later. There is something exciting about the possibility of PvP, even if I am not specced for it and even if I am not a particularly good player something about the illicit nature of my activities made them seem more fun. I would not run around through Stormwind, Ironforge or Darnassus everyday because the repair bill would kill me but still it makes one think. I used to feel like people invaded the space of the opposite faction simply to be annoying but now I don;t think that way any more. When, on my one of my Alliance toons I heard somebody remark that the Horde did this stuff during events, I pointed out that they probably had their own agendas and that annoying us was rather low on their to do list. I know that I did not want to annoy peopel when I entered Stormwind as a member of the Horde.
In any event today I spent the day riding around on a Horde paladin visiting elders and collecting coins during the Lunar Festival. The festival like most WoW world events last about a week or two and during that time I have to accomplish as many event related goals as possible or wait a year to get to do them again. Fro the most part I tend to do a few of the easier event related goals and then go on questing but today I decided to really work on getting those ancestor coins. I was going for three achievements: to get all the coins on the continent of Kalimdor, to get all the coins in the Eastern Kingdoms and to get 50 coins. I got 30 coins so far (I spent 5 on a reward but they still count for the achievement) and I did not manage to get all the coins in either Continent but it was fun. Some of the coins were in Alliance controlled territory and that meant having to get flagged for PvP and coming into conflict with NPCs in the places I was. Whenever I could, however I skirted the town guards and NPCs so that I would avoid conflict, this was not always possible. One of the coins that I got was in Stormwind City, that is one of the Alliance capital cities, it's swarming with powerful guards, NPCs and players. Just entering the city flags me for PvP combat and so I am fair game for anybody who wants to attack me. My first few steps into the city I was cut down brutally by the level 75 city guards. I died a total of four or five times getting to the ancestor and I was not finished. I also wanted to get the coin in the Dwarven capital of Ironforge, yet another Aliiance capital city and the easiest way to do that was to use the tram connecting Stormwind and Ironforge. I can't remember if I died more than once getting to the tram but I had managed to find an effective way to travel through Stormwind while avoiding the guards, NPCs and other players. In Ironforge I died only once to the city guards while trying to get the coin (after I got the coin they killed me) but I chose to resurrect at the graveyard and spare myself the pain of being killed trying to escape Ironforge.
I got one more coin from an alliance town after that but was not flagged by it. Having played the game long enough I know what Ally players probably saw when I penetrated deep into the heart of their territory and wandered through their capital city. Their local defense channel was probably warning then that I was in their city (potentially attacking them). Even if this was not the case these messages can be something of an annoyance as they are repetitive and obnoxious. More annoying is that when high level players attack the towns and cities of the opposing faction they kill vendors and other useful NPCs that players of the faction need for various reasons e.g. completing quests, repairing their gear, buying items or new gear. In fact what I did is seen as a nuisance by players, even though I did not kill any NPCs causing the local defense channel to start spamming warnings is annoying but whether or not they approved of my actions I had fun. There is something amusing about riding through a dinky little Alliance town like Astranaar or Goldshire wearing no gear (all avatars wear default underwear) ignoring the guards wailing on me while I complete whatever quest I am on. There is even something exciting about trying to run through a capital like Stormwind attempting to avoid the city guards and higher level players while looking for the ancestor spirit with the coin I need.
Today I did not raid any settlements, that is attack and kill NPCs but I did set off a few Local Defense channels and I was attacked by several guards, NPCs and players. I also got the coins I wanted, the only big city I have not entered for a coin is Darnassus, I will have to try that one later. There is something exciting about the possibility of PvP, even if I am not specced for it and even if I am not a particularly good player something about the illicit nature of my activities made them seem more fun. I would not run around through Stormwind, Ironforge or Darnassus everyday because the repair bill would kill me but still it makes one think. I used to feel like people invaded the space of the opposite faction simply to be annoying but now I don;t think that way any more. When, on my one of my Alliance toons I heard somebody remark that the Horde did this stuff during events, I pointed out that they probably had their own agendas and that annoying us was rather low on their to do list. I know that I did not want to annoy peopel when I entered Stormwind as a member of the Horde.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
parts of the beast
World of Warcraft is a game which actively encourages both PvE and PvP play and to that end it establishes systems of points and rewards specific to both kinds of play. Paricipating in PvP allows players to get in game achievements and gather tokens and points that can be redeemed for rewards. Players can get get titles, gear and rewards from PvP and that's not counting status inside player communities.
PvP occurs at several levels in the game. The most basic level of PvP is the duel, any player can challenge another to a duel, the duel lasts until one player brings the other almost to the point of dying. There is an achievement badge for winning a duel but dueling is largely outside of the honor points system which is one of the official mechanisms by which the game encourages PvP.
As I have said before players are members of on of two warring faction Horde or Alliance, players get honor for killing members of the opposite faction, players and certain NPCs (Non player characters). There are restrictions, one gets honor from killing appropriate level opponents. The honor points system is evident at the levels of instanced PvP and world PvP.
Instanced PvP happens in instances called battlegrounds, players compete in a game, capturing some sort of objective, that causes them to fight. Basically members of both factions work to kill each other while accomplishing a goal and the reward is honor and tokens that can can be redeemed for rewards. Each battle ground is different and each one has different level requirements but the premise is the same, in order to win the BG (battle ground) one has to fight with and defeat members of the opposing faction.
Killing a player of the appropriate level gives one honor, this honor can be redeemed for rewards (I believe) and players also gain reputation with PvP factions fo NPCs. The better one's relationship is with a faction the better items they can trade to you will be, so gaining reputation (rep) is an interesting proposition. In a BG all players are flagged for PvP, but outside of PvP servers one can choose to be flagged or not flag, being flagged for PvP means that members of the opposing faction are free to attack you. Outside of PvP servers where one is automatically flagged one can choose whether or not to participate in PvP.
World PvP happens in the world in general, unlike BGs which are instanced world PvP can happen anywhere. There are zones with world PvP objectives and in the capital cities of the opposing faction are NPCs that are worth a lot of honor. Killing the leaders of the opposite faction by rading their capital cities is an example of world PvP, another example of world PvP is capturing towers in the Plaguelands.
Outside of these more official forms of world PvP there is a less appreciated form or raid where members of one faction attack settlements of the other faction, almost all NPCs are flagged for PvP, those of neutral factions are hostile only if you are at war with them, those of the main player factions are hostile to members of the opposite faction and there are some factions that are hostile to nobody. While NPCs won't randomly attack each other hostile ones will attack players on sight but they don't generally provide honor.
Last but not least there is the arena, the Arena is a place where there are more organized forms of combat, players form teams and compete against each other, players can also engage in free for all battles, winning means getting arena points, which can then be exchanged for gear and other items, and the best ranked arena teams can get rewards for their performance.
PvP occurs at several levels in the game. The most basic level of PvP is the duel, any player can challenge another to a duel, the duel lasts until one player brings the other almost to the point of dying. There is an achievement badge for winning a duel but dueling is largely outside of the honor points system which is one of the official mechanisms by which the game encourages PvP.
As I have said before players are members of on of two warring faction Horde or Alliance, players get honor for killing members of the opposite faction, players and certain NPCs (Non player characters). There are restrictions, one gets honor from killing appropriate level opponents. The honor points system is evident at the levels of instanced PvP and world PvP.
Instanced PvP happens in instances called battlegrounds, players compete in a game, capturing some sort of objective, that causes them to fight. Basically members of both factions work to kill each other while accomplishing a goal and the reward is honor and tokens that can can be redeemed for rewards. Each battle ground is different and each one has different level requirements but the premise is the same, in order to win the BG (battle ground) one has to fight with and defeat members of the opposing faction.
Killing a player of the appropriate level gives one honor, this honor can be redeemed for rewards (I believe) and players also gain reputation with PvP factions fo NPCs. The better one's relationship is with a faction the better items they can trade to you will be, so gaining reputation (rep) is an interesting proposition. In a BG all players are flagged for PvP, but outside of PvP servers one can choose to be flagged or not flag, being flagged for PvP means that members of the opposing faction are free to attack you. Outside of PvP servers where one is automatically flagged one can choose whether or not to participate in PvP.
World PvP happens in the world in general, unlike BGs which are instanced world PvP can happen anywhere. There are zones with world PvP objectives and in the capital cities of the opposing faction are NPCs that are worth a lot of honor. Killing the leaders of the opposite faction by rading their capital cities is an example of world PvP, another example of world PvP is capturing towers in the Plaguelands.
Outside of these more official forms of world PvP there is a less appreciated form or raid where members of one faction attack settlements of the other faction, almost all NPCs are flagged for PvP, those of neutral factions are hostile only if you are at war with them, those of the main player factions are hostile to members of the opposite faction and there are some factions that are hostile to nobody. While NPCs won't randomly attack each other hostile ones will attack players on sight but they don't generally provide honor.
Last but not least there is the arena, the Arena is a place where there are more organized forms of combat, players form teams and compete against each other, players can also engage in free for all battles, winning means getting arena points, which can then be exchanged for gear and other items, and the best ranked arena teams can get rewards for their performance.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Servers
Like most MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games) WoW is played on servers, that is instances of the game world. With over nine million subscribers there are may WoW servers or as WoW calls them Realms. There are basically four different kinds of Realms: normal realms designed to be realms for players who are mostly interested in PvE play, Player versus Player realms designed for players interested in PvP play, RP realms designed for players interested in role playing and RPPVP servers for players interested both in RP and PvP.
for more information http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/realmtypes.html
In reality, however, distinctions between realm type are much less evident than they may originally seem and the boundaries blur. Realm type does not restrict game play and players are free to RP, PvP and PvE in their realm of choice. I will be conducting my study of PvP on a non PvP server simply because that's where my characters or avatars are.
I'm not a player who PvPs much, I'm not particularly good and it and I've never found it all that enjoyable. To be honest there are moments when I look down on PvP and I don't always have nice things to say about players who enjoy PvP. Stereotypically players who PvP are immature jerks yet I have heard players that I respect and admire speak very eloquently about PvP. There is a very competitive edge to PvP that does bring out the worst in some but it also brings out an impressive degree of creativity. I was told more than once that to PvP effectively one had to know one's character well, and that the unpredictability of human opponents made the experience potentially more stimulating than PvE play. My goal is to get a better idea of what PvP play is like in order to get a better idea of what it can mean to players.
The project as I am currently thinking about it will be largely auto ethnographic, that is to say it will be about my experiences participating in a less familiar aspect of a world I am already more or less familiar with.
for more information http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/realmtypes.html
In reality, however, distinctions between realm type are much less evident than they may originally seem and the boundaries blur. Realm type does not restrict game play and players are free to RP, PvP and PvE in their realm of choice. I will be conducting my study of PvP on a non PvP server simply because that's where my characters or avatars are.
I'm not a player who PvPs much, I'm not particularly good and it and I've never found it all that enjoyable. To be honest there are moments when I look down on PvP and I don't always have nice things to say about players who enjoy PvP. Stereotypically players who PvP are immature jerks yet I have heard players that I respect and admire speak very eloquently about PvP. There is a very competitive edge to PvP that does bring out the worst in some but it also brings out an impressive degree of creativity. I was told more than once that to PvP effectively one had to know one's character well, and that the unpredictability of human opponents made the experience potentially more stimulating than PvE play. My goal is to get a better idea of what PvP play is like in order to get a better idea of what it can mean to players.
The project as I am currently thinking about it will be largely auto ethnographic, that is to say it will be about my experiences participating in a less familiar aspect of a world I am already more or less familiar with.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Welcome to World or Warcraft!
Azeroth and the Outland, the fictional world that is the setting for World of Warcraft. This is a world at war, a world where two factions the Horde and the Alliance vie for wealth and power. It is a world of dungeons and dragons, paladins and wizards, magic and might. Azeroth is a large world of many graphically rich environments, rich and complex lore, and much content.
The game takes place ten years after the demons of the Burning Legion and the undead of the Scourge tried to take over Azeroth and remake it in their image. The conquest of the world by the forces of evil was stopped by an alliance between all of the races of Azeroth but now that alliance has all but broken down. The Orcs, and their Troll allies, the Tauren, the Blood Elves and the few Undead not aligned with the Scourge (the Forsaken) have formed a faction called the Horde. The Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, Dranei and Night Elves form the Alliance, the rival faction that vies for power with the Horde skirting outright war by the thinnest of margins.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Preliminaries
This is to be the story of an attempt on my part to better understand player versus player practices in the game World of Warcraft and thus the first question is immediately obvious.
The broad question: What is Player versus Player(PvP) play/content in World of Warcraft (WoW)?
The answer to this question is a lot less obvious because of the complexities of . The broad question must ultimately be broken down into component parts. Some of these questions are technical in nature (questions about game content and mechanics), others are more psychological (questions about user motivation), and yet others are more sociological (questions about social norms and values).
Technical questions(examples)
What forms does PvP content take in WoW? How does one PvP effectively in WoW? How do game mechanisms frame PvP?
Psychological questions (exampless)
What motivates players to PvP? How do player motivations inform their practices?
Social questions (examples)
How do players understand the PvP? What social conventions are associated with PvP? How do player attitudes frame PvP practices?
These questions are by no means an exhaustive list of but they provide the beginnings of a frame with which I can begin to think about my project. As I examing my fieldsite and I research my subject I should find more specific questions that I will be able to address directly in my work.
Caveat: Finding an exhaustive answer to these questions is beyond the scope of my project. As an anthropology student I know that the study of culture provides only partial truths. My project will be about what I learned in my time on the field, it will thus be a truth grounded in a very specific context.
The broad question: What is Player versus Player(PvP) play/content in World of Warcraft (WoW)?
The answer to this question is a lot less obvious because of the complexities of . The broad question must ultimately be broken down into component parts. Some of these questions are technical in nature (questions about game content and mechanics), others are more psychological (questions about user motivation), and yet others are more sociological (questions about social norms and values).
Technical questions(examples)
What forms does PvP content take in WoW? How does one PvP effectively in WoW? How do game mechanisms frame PvP?
Psychological questions (exampless)
What motivates players to PvP? How do player motivations inform their practices?
Social questions (examples)
How do players understand the PvP? What social conventions are associated with PvP? How do player attitudes frame PvP practices?
These questions are by no means an exhaustive list of but they provide the beginnings of a frame with which I can begin to think about my project. As I examing my fieldsite and I research my subject I should find more specific questions that I will be able to address directly in my work.
Caveat: Finding an exhaustive answer to these questions is beyond the scope of my project. As an anthropology student I know that the study of culture provides only partial truths. My project will be about what I learned in my time on the field, it will thus be a truth grounded in a very specific context.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Types of play
Few things are as controversial among gamers as discussions of types of game play. Most gamers will agree that there as two broad categories of game content, PvE (player versus Environment/Enemy) content which pitches users against their virtual environment and PvP (payer versus Player) content in which users compete with each other. What makes discussions of types of gamer play so controvertial is the ways in which broad categorizations is the way they are inextricably bound to player experiences and motivations. While broad categorizations can help one begin to identify patterns on gaming practices they are generalizations and thus ultimately not reflective of any particular reality. To really get to the bottom of what gaming practices are one needs to examine them in partcular contexts, getting the lived experience of users in order to understand how their practices may fit into broader contexts.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Touch my PvPness!
Waiting on a queue for a battleground I wonder why I am even bothering, my avatar is too low level to perform correctly, I don't know my class well enough, I will be a burden for the other players, and I HATE waiting. Eventually an instance of the Warsong Gulch battleground becomes available, I enter; much of the time I get killed by other players when I fight , in fact, because of my low level players go out of their way to attack me, but when the Horde wins Warsong Gulch yet again it feels like a victory.
Setting: World of Warcraft http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml
For those of you who have never heard of it World of Warcraft is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), that is a computer game that people all over the world play on the internet. Perhaps the easiest way for me to describe it would be a computer game with a complex chat room attached. Though these are virtual worlds they host complex social realities that users navigate through as they play the game.
My project: to get an insider's perspective on what it means to play WoW, more precicely to better understand Player versus Player (PvP) practices in World of Warcraft.
Setting: World of Warcraft http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml
For those of you who have never heard of it World of Warcraft is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), that is a computer game that people all over the world play on the internet. Perhaps the easiest way for me to describe it would be a computer game with a complex chat room attached. Though these are virtual worlds they host complex social realities that users navigate through as they play the game.
My project: to get an insider's perspective on what it means to play WoW, more precicely to better understand Player versus Player (PvP) practices in World of Warcraft.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
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