Fix 5-6

My interview of another player of Settlers online was with a male high school student named Jeremy 917, who had been playing the game for about a month. (On a personal note, I know Jeremy and asked him to play the game.) He was at level 23. One of the reasons he cited for playing the game was that it kept him busy during this winter’s cold weather. He stated that he played on average, 2-3 hours a day and liked that the moves he made were his choice, that it was a “sandbox game”, where it was a wide open world. With the exception of the help chat, he didn't seem that interested in pursuing any social aspect with any of the people he had befriended other than to help him increase his levels. He told me that he has never interacted with anyone on a personal level when online. Jeremy didn't like the waiting, or patience required to level up. He said that he was best at producing the pinewood and wheat. Jeremy has been a gamer for many years. When asked how often he said “All the time”. I asked if he played Halo, he stated that he didn't like it, it was clumsy. This surprised me considering what McGonigal had to say about it until he clarified that it was Halo 1. He had never tried the newer versions based on his experience with the first one. I suggested he look at the video of the Halo 3 museum and check out the website and he said he would. When asked why he continued to play Settlers, he told me that he was really enjoying it and was glad that I showed it to him. Jeremy has gotten some of his friends at school to try it out, too.

Settlers Online is an enjoyable game for me to play. That being said, I am not a person that would seek any social contact with anyone in a virtual world except as necessary to play the game. Belonging to a guild helps with this, mine is its 5 o'clock somewhere. I have not engaged in any communication with them outside of guild quests. I prefer face to face interactions, I don’t even like to talk on the phone and email has become a necessary evil. I am clearly an introvert when it comes to the virtual worlds, not so much in the real world. I can see however, that for many people (read younger than me) the ubiquitous use of social media has given rise to a freedom to interact in a way that I am not comfortable doing. McGonigal refers to a stronger social connectivity when games are played and interaction during play builds our social networks that increase “pro-social emotions (pg.82)”. From the games of my youth I know this to be true. The author also speaks to “happy embarrassment” (pg83), something I refer to as trash talking. I too have engaged in this behavior, but only when an established friendship is present. I think a fine line exists between happy embarrassment and bullying in the real world and some may push the boundaries in a gamer’s world due to the absence of personal familiarity. I like McGonigal’s idea of Ambient Sociability or playing alone together (pg,89). This allows me to be a part of something that my friends and I can relate to in a real world context. McGonigal uses words like “epic” and awe to describe the experience of gamers when they have collectively accomplished some feat. Even though I am not a gamer, I understand these feelings as being the same or similar to those I get when I read a good book or watch a movie that inspires me. Finally, I can appreciate what these gamers are accomplishing for themselves, absent real world experiences, but I can’t make comparisons of the feeling of awe from a game to that of seeing the Grand Canyon, Yosemite Valley or man’s walk on the moon for the first time.