Virtual game space is home and refuge to many online game players. According to the reading, The Gathering of Uru, TGU, was once small when it first released its beta version, then it grew big about 10,000 users, forming a big virtual game space community until TGU shut down. I never knew what TGU was until I read the article by Pearce, Celia "Identity as Place". Thus it was really hard for me to understand the bond between TGU users and the game. After reading the article it made me think the importance of virtual game spaces for many people. According to the reading, “about three months after the server shutdown, expressed this sense of losing one’s homeland, a sentiment that many TGUers shared. Users deep attachment to Uru as “homeland,” and the implied ethnic identity that goes with that, is clearly expressed in this text.” Like what the reading emphasized, game space is very important to game users because it allows them to communicate with one another, make friends, spend time together, and last but not least have fun together. I was very impressed by the poets written by TGUers because it implies the depth of users’ attachment to the game and truly believe that TGU is their refuge.
Another argument discussed within the reading was where to migrate or substitute for Uru. Since TGU’s users already built up very strong attachment to the game, it is extremely difficult for them to find a new place to reside on. According to the reading, this debate revolved around two areas of world design: avatar expressions and navigation. Because the avatar serves as the representation of player identity in-world, players have very strong feelings about its expressive features in each of the worlds being considered. In the end, the members of TGU community decided to patiently wait for Uru to come back, but the problem was that if Uru takes too long to get back, the members might fall apart.
Two key members, fuelled by this anxiety, set up his first There.com account after meeting other TGUers in real life. Then he began working on new vision of Uru with 3-D world-authoring environment. He was extremely motivated that he would learn new sets of skills in order to create something that could serve as a home for his community. After a while, he first released his version of small Uru virtual world, consists of fountain courtyard and other areas of the hood.
This reading really shows the beauty of the contemporary virtual game society. I believe most of non-game players cannot understand the gaming world because there is a big gap that differentiates the actual world we are living in and the gaming world that is only access to those who are part of it. One of the reasons is that our society today has a biased view towards the game users and cannot understand virtual game space events such as funeral, wedding, etc. However, the game society is indeed important part of our gaming society today.
Q: Do you know any games that released the beta version but later it shutdown like TGU? What would happen if WoW must shutdown tomorrow?
what a great post, Seung. and what a great question. You did a nice job describing how "world-like" this game had become for people, and how they took their choices re: hardware and software platformming very seriously as an issue of culture and belonging.
ReplyDeleteIf WoW were to shut down tomorrow and people knew in advance, many email addresses and chat usernames would be exchanged. Many forums like Koalanet would be created for guilds. Many people with strong bonds would try to stick together and play new MMOs.
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