11/11 Readings
This week I read the article on the evolution of virtual worlds. It was surprising to learn that some of the games that I’ve played and still play have roots going back as far as 1979. Today, most people are familiar with games such as Second Life or World of Warcraft. These virtual worlds have grown into spaces where millions of people not only play but have the ability to create, interact, and communicate. From text based multiuser games to virtual societies that are completely open ended, the online gaming world has been changing for decades into a very complex system.
From my early teen years on I’ve been playing online games. I never really got into World of Warcraft or Everquest but I can remember a time where I spent entirely too much time on games such as Phantasy Star Online and Counter Strike. While these aren’t the most well known online games, they are still online interactions that have directly stemmed from the early MUDs and MOOs. While reading the article I couldn’t help but think of all the services that have benefited from these early forms of virtual worlds. It could be argued that games such as Ultima Online and Everquest that brought subscription services and in-game transactions were the forerunners of Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and Nintendo’s Virtual Console.
I wanted to post this video for two reasons: 1) Kind of explains the kind of games I’m talking about. 2) It’s totally rad and makes me feel old.
Interestingly, today virtual worlds aren’t limited to medieval adventures or futuristic questing. Second Life and games like it offer blank slates for users to create any type of experience they wish. Even some of the worlds most famous corporations and politicians have used the space to expand their marketing reach. These worlds are always expanding, and with the growing number of people who aren’t afraid to jump online and experience new things, show no sign of slowing down.
The fact that all of these games allow for such freedom of experience is definitely helpful if it is utilized correctly, but I still can’t help but being intimidated by sites and games such as Second Life. Whenever I play videogames such as the newer ones described in these articles I usually get bored easily because there is no set destination, there is no real goal. I still feel like a game with a quest is much more fun than one that is more ambiguous.
It would be really cool to see some kind of video game family tree, going all the way back to the text adventure games, to visually see how they became what they are now.