Libraries and online gaming

When I first started to consider which topic I would like to cover in my blog on libraries and technology, gaming immediately came to my mind. Why? Well, my name is Jody Bailey and I am an online gaming addict. There, I've said it. Most people would probably not think I am an online gamer since I don't fit the gamer stereotype of a teenage boy, probably rather geeky. I am a woman, somewhat of a rarity in the online gaming world, but becoming less so, and am far from being a teenager. I have played computer games since they first became available (e.g., I am old enough to remember Pong). I am not, however, old enough to remember the very first computer game, The Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device, for which a patent was issued on December 14, 1948 (source: Wikipedia, "History of Computer and Video Games"). When one thinks about the development of modern computers and their origins in the 1940s and 1950s, it becomes clear that gaming and computers have been intimately interwoven since the beginning.

Today, computer and video games are extremely popular among technophiles and techno-neophytes as well. From my own personal experience, I don't know anyone in the former category who does not play some sort of computer or video game, and many in the latter category who are just starting to explore computers (and who are, most likely, older people) are most comfortable starting by playing solitaire. Games are a fun way to pass time, but they can also be so much more. They can be learning tools and powerful entryways to places that many people spurn as "boring," for example, libraries.

Before discussing how mixing gaming and libraries can be of mutual benefit to the general public, it might be useful to consider exactly what is entailed in playing a popular online game, namely World of Warcraft (WoW), developed by Blizzard Entertainment. I chose this game as an example because it is one of the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), with more than 8 million subscribers worldwide as of January 11, 2007. I also happen to be one of those subscribers. Simply put, WoW is an online version of the old Dungeons and Dragons dice game, made much more complicated by the number of players and the addition of a rich graphical interface. The goal of the game is to create a character (often referred to as a toon by gamers) that starts at level 1 and, through a series of adventures and battles, to progressively build on the character and his or her abilities until s/he reaches level 70. A complex system of acquiring more powerful armor and weapons is entailed in this progression, and players can choose professions, such as blacksmithing or leatherworking, to craft armor pieces that they can use to barter with other players for goods or services, such as enchanting their armor or weapon. Players can opt to barter directly with one another, or they can use the in-game interface of the Auction House, a WoW version of e-Bay, through which players buy and sell useful items. The game includes a complex economic system that has spilled over into the real-world economy, with entrepreneurs paying people real money to play WoW and collect WoW gold, which the entrepreneurs then sell for real money (a search on Google for the phrase "WoW gold" returned 1,960,000 hits, even though this practice of buying WoW gold outside the game is specifically prohibited by Blizzard's end-user license agreement and can result in account termination). Social interaction is a necessary part of the game, as it is near-to-nigh impossible "to level" a character to 70 without grouping with other players to achieve common goals. These groups have evolved over time into guilds, which are formal groups that players can initiate and manage as they wish. Guilds can become highly structured and "hard-core"; some of them become like jobs in that there are strict attendance policies and other rules, which, if flouted, can lead to one being "kicked" from the guild.

Although this summary of this one MMORPG may seem long, it is only a very brief introduction to WoW, and WoW is only one among dozens of MMORPGs, which is only one subset of hundreds of types of online games.

Another type of online "game" is Second Life (SL) and Teen Second Life (TSL). I don't consider Second Life to be a true game because the developers of SL and TSL do not set goals for the players in this virtual world, who call their online characters avatars; instead, "Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents" who number almost 2.7 million (source: "Second Life: What is Second Life?") and who control and shape their world. Like WoW, SL and TSL have thriving economies and strong social networks.

How can these online games and social environments serve as learning tools and how can they help "to make libraries a destination and not an afterthought"? (source: Sarah Houghton, as quoted by Rachel Singer Gordon in her presentation at Wayne State University, September 29, 2006, available at http://www.lisp.wayne.edu/) I will address these questions in my next blog entry.