The aim of the project is to introduce the problems of Social Hierarchy in MMORPG’s and how this affects Social Networking and the integration of new players into the online community.
From a research perspective, Social Networking tends to focus more towards Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and Twitter and Virtual Worlds like Second Life. Although these are all adequate areas of discovering how users network via various mediums, there is still much, if not more so, to be learn from MMO’s (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) such as World of Warcraft and Eve Online. Although signs of networking aren’t immediately present upon firstly entering the game environment, they become apparent very quickly and consequently can positively or negatively affect the ways in which a new player integrates into the game world. Focusing specifically on games such as World of Warcraft whose user base now reached around 11 million, this essay aims to highlight what rich research area’s online games are, especially when taking into considering the affect that their social hierarchies have on networking.
As a result of MMO’s being specifically designed to accommodate a large amount of players, the gameplay needs to be built around this accordingly – favouring large groups rather than single players. One of the main elements of this is to encourage players to communicate with each other frequently, creating the basis for relationships to be formed as well as strengthening obligations towards them. One of the ways in which this is done is through presenting the player with a number of situations or “quests” which they will be unable to overcome or accomplish on their own. The inclusion of group questing and team based activities such as PVP (Player versus Player encourages players to pitch their skills against one another in either a battleground or an arena environment) and raiding is an easy way for the game developers to ensure that the players are going to communicate with each other. Without sufficient communication it is relatively easy for a quest to fail since most rely on particular tactics which need to be discussed by the group members prior to execution. To further encourage this, game developers such as Blizzard Entertainment (the developers of World of Warcraft) provide them with tools such as chat logs and voice communication, allowing them to communicate efficiently without relying on other software such as IRC and Ventrilo. Rewarding the player for harder group based quests with “loot” (Armour, Weapon and Trinket upgrades for their character) additionally creates a reason to communicate with people for even the most unsociable player since loot is an indication of both experience and status within the game world. Although at this point, Social Networking still may not be immediately apparent, the communication encouraged through group work, trading and general help, creates a basis for in-game relationships to be cultivated and strengthened.
Further on into the game when players have had experience of communicating and grouping up with other players, relationships are formed and as a result of this, Social Networks. Unlike Social Networking Sites, MMO’s such as World of Warcraft function through Guilds. These normally consist of large groups of players (more than the generic 5 man party used in group quests) that usually form as a result of knowing each other previously or questing with each other on a regular basis. Upon forming a Guild, the nature of the players changes completely from being generally accepting of new players and able to quest amongst people they hadn’t previously to questing and communicating only with their fellow Guild members. In addition to this, upon creating a Guild, members are able to design and wear a tabard displaying their Guild logo; this alone gives reason for them to have an increased sense of status within the game world.
For new users who have recently begun playing, the existence of Guilds can act as a problem which can potentially hinder their progression for a large chunk of the gameplay. When joining a virtual world in which the majority of people already know each other (servers are relatively small and players tend to recognise each other by their character’s names alone), it becomes easy to be ignored and ostracised by other players, purely because the user isn’t regular. Unlike early on after a games original release, players tend to communicate outside their Guild circles less and less, making it difficult to embed oneself amongst a network of regular users without being immediately cast out again.
Some of the higher level Guilds are to an extent, more sociable, although tend to only network amongst other exceptional Guilds on the server as a way of trading and passing experienced and well geared players back and forth. These particular Guilds of experienced and competitive players tend to network heavily with Guilds of the same calibre via the game itself and other mediums such as forums, websites and IRC. The main reasons for this is as a way of discovering what tactics they use for a particular boss fight or how well they are progressing within the game content. More competitive players tend to keep a close eye on other Guilds either by communication or by checking updated content and videos that they may have posted on their websites. It is also a good method of “Guild hopping” (the notion of swapping Guilds frequently in order to gain more experience and loot), allowing players to easily analyse which Guild would be a good place to go next in order to progress. Equally, social networking provides an excellent basis for “poaching” players from Guilds, allowing Guild Masters to use other mediums such as websites to attain more information about members in competing Guilds which they could recruit for their own purposes or as a way of sabotaging others.
In addition to this, social networking is equally important for trade and economy within MMO’s such as World of Warcraft. Since high level players who take part in end game content such as raiding dungeons tend to collect more rare recipes for creating armour and weapons, Guilds rely on networking in order to discover who has them and more importantly, acquire said items. If two or more Guilds are on relatively good terms with each other, networking has its benefits and expensive crafted items can be offered to players at a discounted price. In the same way as crafted items work, Guilds tend to rely on networking in order to attain particular items which another Guild may have an abundance of. An example of this is in World of Warcraft in which a 25 man raid boss; Mother Sharaz, required the player to attain a particular set of Shadow Resistance Armour which could only be crafted via a particular item which dropped from Enemies within the dungeon. In order to progress past this particular Boss was to use social networking to allocate which Guilds possessed these items and were willing to trade them for in-game currency.
The social networks which run throughout MMO’s are very tight, but are completely necessary to progress within the game world; this however, has multiple effects on players who have only just joined the game environment. Firstly, without a Guild, a player is seen as having no status, it also brings into question for other players why they don’t have a Guild to begin with. This can automatically bring up the assumption that the player doesn’t know how to play the game or are terrible within a group situation, rather than that it is too early for them to join a Guild or they would rather not due to their obligations. Those players who are in successful Guilds can be highly condescending towards players without one, speaking in a patronising fashion towards them, refusing to offer help or ignoring them completely. As a result of this, it is hard for a new player to build up any strong social networks immediately, having a strong effect on how they progress within the game world.
Secondly, not only through Guilds does a does a social hierarchy emerge but through the gear which a player owns. In most MMO’s the armour and weapons attainable are set out into different categories; common, rare and epic, and greatly affect how a player who wears a particular set of gear perceives themselves. Those who have epic gear tend to have an enlarged ego and a feeling of status since it is through extensive progression and experience within the game world which has earned it for them. In many cases these players tend not to communicate with others as they see as being “below” themselves, which for a new player with little to no experience or gear, makes it increasingly difficult to communicate with other players, whether it be for help through a dungeon, directions or merely saying “hi”.
Ironically, much like real life you are required to cultivate and use social networking skills in order to progress within the virtual world and with little or no status it is difficult to do so. With a tight social hierarchy based around an individual or group of players’ experience and aesthetical appearance, it is a hard society to integrate into.
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