Playful Misconduct and the Value of Mischief in Games

Playful Misconduct and theValue of Mischief in Games Ben Kirman ben.kirman.org | bkirman@lincoln.ac.uk | @benki

WarningThis Presentation contains:Comic MischiefStrong LanguageStrong Sexual ContentSuggestive ThemesKnob Jokes

New Social Frontiers• Games bring millions of strangers together around the shared experience of play• The environment of games defines a new social environment – In some games, murder is socially acceptable – The customs, norms and taboos must be redefined within this context• Mixed with different expectations and cultures brought from the “real world”, online games are a new social frontier

Social Norms are in Flux

Anti-Social AcceptableBehaviour BehaviourFuzzy Boundaries of Social Acceptability

Value in the Boundary• Between Anti-Social and Acceptable Behaviour exists the fuzzy boundary – Where social expectations of players clash – …and where policing allows – Players can experiment and play with social expectations• This is seen in emergence and mischief

Performance as Mischief• Exploiting mechanics to confound expectations of co-players• Rejecting strong stereotypes enforced by game mechanics – A Pacifist Warrior – A Sceptical Wizard – A Blacksmith who only works wood• e.g. Transvestism and Trans-speciesism – In Diablo 2, all Warriors are Men – In Ultima Online: Rennaisance, all players are Human

Abusing Mechanics for PerformanceUltima Online players cannot choose to be Orcs, but they abuse the mechanics and content to allow this performative play

Farm TownFreedom in Crop Placement creates opportunities for creativity http://www.farm-town.com/farm-town-farms-barack-obama

Serendipitous Mischief• Exploiting mechanics to create confounding experiences• Leaving mischievous “traps” for other players to discover – Where tools of creativity exist, players will create these experience

Creativity in Spore• You “evolve” a creature and add features as needed – Claws allow you to attack – Legs allow you to run, etc.• Passively Multiplayer – Creatures created by players automatically inhabit other players’ worlds over the Internet• This encouraged players to be mischievous with their creations…

“Sporn”• (((video unavailable on Slideshare)• See here for many examples: – http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/06/18 /nsfw-a-beginners-guide-to-sporn/ http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/nsfw-horny-game/

Invasion of the one-eyed monstersUnexpecting players may end up exploring brave new worlds populated by dancing penises

Also in LittleBIGPlanet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adkm-eHZ0uk

…and Second Life You can get a free, cute baby unicorn. But first…

Second Life…you must meet the Unicorn King. Don’t worry if you are male, since “Unicorn seed is magical” http://alphavilleherald.com/2007/09/afternoon-delig.html

World of WarcraftSince corpses are persistent, “Corpse Graffiti” emerges. http://www.virtualeconomics.co.uk/2009/11/the-growing-value-of- urls-you-can-easily-spell-out-in-dead-bodies.html

Mischief and Playful Misconduct• The tools of the game are used to create unexpected and surprising experiences• Sexual and Scatological themes are prevalent – Reflects western cultural obsession with knob jokes – Harmless and “cheeky”, only mildly offensive• Importantly the *intent* is playful – Compared to griefing and trolling as genuinely antisocial/sociopathic behaviours.

Anti-Social Behaviour• Still Very Common – Racism – Sexism – Homophobia – Abusive Behaviour – Scamming/Thievery (in a real world sense)• Policing this is a priority for communities – Penalties for ASB, such as banning/imprisonment – Limits to anonymity to discourage ASB – Limits to interactivity to prevent abuse – Community enforcement via guilds, reporting

Laissez Faire ApproachEve Online has a famously vicious and cut-throat community

Anti-Social Acceptable Behaviour BehaviourLaissez Faire Policing

Constrictive PolicingClub Penguin can restrict user chat to predefined phrases

Acceptable BehaviourConstrictive Policing

Danger of Over- and Under- Policing• When under-policed, cultural norms expand past mischievous play – If it is ok to bully, murder and mentally abuse one another, then there is no “boundary” to play with.• When over-policed, cultural norms prevent any deviant behaviour – No distinction between play where the intent is harmful or just mischievous

Anti-Social Acceptable Behaviour BehaviourThe edges between expectations allow for positive playful experiences

Importance of Mischief• Games are in social flux – Real-life expectations are confounded – New cultural norms are negotiated within the context of each game• Mischief plays with these boundaries – Playful intent, testing the established limits and creating serendipitous social experiences• Mischief is fragile – it is a valuable source of play but must be protected when policing truly sociopathic behaviour

Thank YouFull paper on this subject:Ben Kirman, ConorLinehan and Shaun Lawson (2010) On the Edge of Good Taste: Playful Misconduct andMischief in Online Games, chapter in “Exploring the Edges of Gaming” Editors: KonstantinMitgutsch, ChristophKlimmt, Herbert Rosenstingl. Vienna, Austria ISBN 978-3-7003-1758-6 Authors’ Preprint PDF Download: http://bit.ly/sls8jC Ben Kirman ben.kirman.org | bkirman@lincoln.ac.uk | @benki

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Playful Misconduct and the Value of Mischief in Games

by bkirman on Oct 27, 2011

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Playful Misconduct and the Value of Mischief in Games Presentation Transcript