MIT CMS. 300 session 12 – identity construction Part 2

Preface ：

Although we are full of cynicism every day, Americans are politically correct , But their social science community has made positive efforts . Of course, whether it works or not is another matter .

Readings

Williams et al. – The Virtual Campus

content analysis (survey of representation, more quantitative)

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444809105354

author Through the large-scale analysis of characters in video games Content analysis , Answer the question about the population of the United States constitute comparison , They are in gender 、 Race and age differences . Research The sample includes one year Issued in Nine Different On the platform Of 150 paragraph game . analysis The results are weighted by game sales , Make the result possible reaction The public actually swim Play proportion . Results show , In video games , men 、 The representation of whites and adults is generally high , women 、 Hispanic 、 Native Americans 、 The representation of children and the elderly is generally low .

Consalvo & Harper – The Sexiest of All

ethnographic study, interviews Female players in 2 MMOs

ethnographic research , interview 了 2 individual MMO（ World of warcraft , Conan era ） Female players in

 

Concepts/Keywords -- ?

Representation imbalance “ Virtual representation ” The imbalance of （ Age 、 race 、 Gender ）

(Age\race\gender)

Goals

Discuss the tools that players are given to play online

Discussion in order to allow players to play online , And the tools designed

Discuss how representation in games affects players' positioning in the world

Discuss how the composition of characters in the game affects the player's position in the real world

        -Groups repeatedly seen will be more accessible and easy to recall (more positive)

         Not just games , In film and television works 、 TV 、 People who appear repeatedly in the media are easier to understand , And easier to recall .（ Therefore, it has a positive effect on their social status , On the contrary, it will be marginalized . Think about how Kennedy won the election through the television media ）

Tools to configure one's character are limited, are designed

There are limited options for setting characters in the game , Is designed to be so

        -World of Warcraft - “ugly” males, not able to change body shape

         World of warcraft - Male characters are usually more “ Ugly ”, And you can't change your posture

The Sims(medieval) – offers a lot of flexibility, but also situated  (players can't wear modern clothes)  Simulated life （ the medieval times ）– Provides greater flexibility , But there are limitations （ Players cannot wear modern clothes ）

As we saw, we can use games as extensions/reflection of who we are (Turkle, Consalvo & Harper also mention it)  As we can see , We can use games to explore / Reflect who we are

Our presence in the Virtual World is not trivial, ones appearance and acts define us in front of others, i.e. attitude, achievements, level, etc.

Our existence in the virtual world is not insignificant , role Of Appearance and behavior stay Other players The front defines us , such as attitude 、 game achievement 、 game Level, etc .（players see acts freedom more important than appearance Compared to appearance , Players pay more attention to the freedom of behavior ）

Example (Consalvo & Harper)  for instance :

·   pretty female characters flirting to get objects rather than obtaining them through skill or work  Beautiful female characters can get things by flirting , Not through skills or work

Problem with representation “ Game representative / role ” The problem is :

        -What is represented is “normal” (dominant)

         Most of the characters shown in the game are too “ Ordinary ”

        （ It dominates the social population ： Young white male ）

        -Ignores variety  Differences are ignored :

        ·    minorities don't see themselves represented, make them feel powerless & unimportant

         Minority groups do not see a role that can represent themselves in the game , They feel powerless 、 It is of no importance in society

        ·     people belonging to majorities are not aware of minorities

         It is difficult for people from the majority to realize the existence of minorities （ If they are surrounded by such cultural products ）

        What role they play also perpetuates myths  The role they play further deepens this misunderstanding

Goes both ways – media represent society, society shapes itself according to media

The media yes social Of representative , but social It will be According to the media Come on since I shape

What do games tell about us?  By analyzing the game characters, we know

·    Mostly adult males, in main characters

         Most of the protagonists are adult males

·   females/children/elderly/other ethnicities are less represented

         women / children / the elderly / Other races are less representative

·    black people only good for sportsmanship

         Black people only show their athletic prowess

Possible reasons The possible reasons are ：

1 Consumer/player’s choice consumer 、 Player's choice

2 Mirror of real society A true reflection of society

3 Game maker imbalance The imbalance of game practitioners （ The proportion of Chinese American characters in European and American Games is higher than that of Chinese Americans in the population , And Chinese game producers are also the largest number except white people ）

How do we solve this?  How to solve ？

Try to vary the work force (more female, black, Latino etc.) → otherwise it's a vicious cycle     

Try to change Game industry Labour constitute （ More women 、 black 、 Latinos, etc ）→ Otherwise it will be a vicious circle

Be aware that there are wider audiences that one can appeal to

Realize that except for adult white males , There are other consumer groups

Note audience differences between countries – localization

Pay attention to the differences of audiences in different countries —— game localization