IntroductionIdentityCommunityLike MUDs, online games create the opportunity for the formation of online communities and for the creation of identities. The creation of online communities and identities has been another positive attribute associated with online gaming.
Identity In MUDs, one has the opportunity to create a detailed character identity by writing a personal descriptive paragraph. After the descriptive summary has been written, a name is carefully selected. This name and description can be very symbolic and tell a lot about the person who controls this character. Online gaming also allows for this possibility of creating online user names which can be very symbolic of the player, however the descriptive summary is not available in online games. Some such online user names which have been found in the online gaming world are Thresh, Reptile, Demonspawn, StarSurfer, Secret Squirrel, Muhahahaha, and Die Scum!. This online identity has even been taken further with the new Quake engine. With this engine one can change the physical appearance of their online character. This is still a very uncommon event however, for most online game servers use the default character and different users are distinguished by different colors.
Community
Communities have also grown to be an important part of the online gaming
experience, just as they are important in MUDs. “Most people are looking for a
‘home base’ - a place they can grow comfortable with, a place where they will
become known (and hopefully, admired and highly ranked) (Kim 1998).” These
subcultures contain their own value systems as well as player-generated governments, often
evolving as real societies do. In these communities it is important to strike a balance
between competitive and cooperative activities, and to communicate this balance throughout
the environment.
As in any robust, thriving community, there are always some members who have the time and
interest to become community leaders. Also, as with all communities, there is the
potential problem of "bullies" and the community must find ways to control these
"bullies".
These communities often have a prescribed set of rules or a certain etiquette that is
expected to be followed by the online gaming members. In nearly all online gaming
communities it is deemed improper to kill someone who has just entered a zone. Those
opportunists that target these weak players are labeled in a negative way and it is not
uncommon for the veteran players to gang up and kill such players. These forms of online
gaming communities very closely follows those that are found in MUDs. It is also
considered improper etiquette to take advantage of a newcomer in a MUD, and when a problem
arises the leaders of the communities (wizards) get together to decide upon an appropriate
action to take in dealing with these problem makers.