OWNING PLAY

COM 327March 19, 2013

Schedule:

1. QUIZ!!!??!2. Lecture:

- MMOGS & Modders3. Group work

1. What MMORPG did T.L. Taylor study to explore the commercialization of multiuser environments? a) Farmvilleb) World of Warcraftc) Facebookd) EverQuest

2. “The current turn toward privileging __________ above the creative independent and collaborative work of users is setting up worrisome precedents” (Taylor, p. 238). a) ice creamb) corporate interestsc) hegemonyd) gold farming

3. According to Julian Kücklich, “the perception of modding as ____ is the basis of the exploitative relationship between modders and the games industry.” a) easyb) playc) profitabled) rare

4. Kucklich offers a variety of reasons for why the games industry is able to continue to exploit the game modding community. Which of the following is NOT a reason? a) game modding is seen as a form of play, and not a ‘real’ form of laborb) the modding community is too dispersedc) the EULAs for most games specify that game mods are the IP of the company, not the modderd) game modders live without Internet or phones so they can’t communicate with each other

EXPERT GAMER RECRUITMENT

A graduate student in the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media program is conducting research on gaming behavior pertaining to educational video games. If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact her at mshartzo@ncsu.edu for more information.

This study will involve an observation of four students playing a video game then completing an online survey and will take approximately 1-1.5 hours. Your participation is entirely voluntary and it will not affect the outcome of this course. You are eligible to participate if you are an expert gamer and have taken no more than 9hours of course credit in the natural sciences.

Coming up... 1. April 2: Guest lecturer - Merlyna Lim

Science and Technology Studies @ Arizona State

2. April 11: Guest lecturer – TL TaylorComparative Media Studies @ MIT

The directional pad on Nintendo controllers

What do the following have in common?

Playing “mini-games” while your game loads

“Style points”

Controller with vibrating feedback

Directional arrow above car in a driving game

The video game industry & “derivative work”

1. Video game companies are risk-averse; where does innovation come from? (Kücklich)

2. Video games like EverQuest ENCOURAGE players to get deeply involved with the game, but deny that players have any “ownership” over them (Taylor)

Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games & Ownership

• You buy a copy of Guild Wars 2 & install it on your computer• You create an avatar• You name it after your first dog

• You spend 300 hours over 6 months playing with/as that avatar• You meet other people in the game who come to know you through / as that avatar

• WHO OWNS THE AVATAR?

• WHO SHOULD OWN THE AVATAR?

“NC Interactive offers the Game(s) as a subscription-free on-line fantasy role-playing game service…

….you hereby grant (or you warrant that the owner of such Member Content has expressly granted) to NC Interactive and its related Game Content Providers a non-exclusive, universal, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicenseable right to exercise all rights of any kind or nature associated with such Member Content, and all ancillary and subsidiary rights thereto, in any languages and media now known or not currently known. You shall indemnify and hold NC Interactive harmless from and against any claims by third parties that your Member Content infringes upon, violates or misappropriates any of their intellectual property or proprietary rights.”

From the Guild Wars 2 End User License Agreement (EULA)

Who owns fan art based on Guild Wars 2?

Where did Guild Wars 2 get its ideas for a super-intelligent race of annoying little pale, big-eyed, pointy-eared elf-like creatures?

The “original” Goblin King.

The video game industry & “derivative work”

Top-selling game titles for 2012: Pattern?

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)2. Madden NFL 13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, Wii U)3. Halo 4 (Xbox 360)4. Assassin's Creed 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)5. Just Dance 4 (Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PS3)6. NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Wii U, PC)7. Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC)9. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, Xbox 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, Vita, PC)10. FIFA 13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS, Wii U, PSP)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2013/jan/11/us-top-10-games-2012

1. Give a brief description of the game.

2. In what kinds of ways do players contribute to the game (make videos? Game mods?)

3. Find a link to a representative piece of “playbor” (i.e. a Youtube video, blog, etc that illustrates players’ contributions. Example: Skyrim video of My Little Pony mod)

4. What does this work do in terms of Kucklich’s article (e.g. does it extend the life of the game? Create innovations in the game? Fix the game?)

5. Is this “work” recognized or rewarded by the game? How?

Groups of Five

Minecraft (hint: whatever players do in Minecraft)

League of Legends (hint: new Champions)

Skyrim (hint: mods)

Second Life (hint: Content Creation & who owns IP)

Halo (hint: “Red vs Blue”)

GAME OF YOUR CHOICE!!