After reading and responding to "The Radicalization of Zeke Spiers", I was hit by the fact that the description of the close knit groups portrayed as political groups in the article could be applied to multiple gaming entities that have been created in this layer of cyberspace.
First of all, Clans. This is the most common name for gaming groups and one might here about them in the context of the popular games Halo and Counter Strike. They are groups of people who hang out with each other and engage in clan battles with other groups. They recruit over the internet and at tournaments, usually highlighting the unique social groups that each might represent. A player would find one that they feel comfortable with and go from there. This is remarkably similar behavior to the political groups who attract people at conventions while the people go about and find which one they fit into.
Next, my own personal 'gemeinschaft' is a corporation in the massive multiplayer game EVE Online. Instead of clans, different corporations exist in EVE that are entirely owned, run, and financed by people who spend their playtime for the sake of corporate advancement. My own corp is less than a dozen people, most from Lehigh, who all play for fun instead of the corporate warfare that most deal with. Anyone reading this play EVE or any other MMO?
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Interesting comparisson. I can definately see the simialarities between the two when you mention the recruiting for the game and how players find a group they feel comfortable with and go from there. I can also see how this is similar to how political groups attract people and how we as the public decide how to best categorize ourselves.
ReplyDeleteKevin, I think it’s great that you are connecting the article with a real life experience. I had never heard of EVE before you mentioned it, but based on your description I can absolutely see the similarity. In my opinion EVE seems to more directly relate to the article about our friend Zeke than a game such as Halo or Counterstrike, because rather than simply coming together due to a common interest, the people who are a part of EVE use cyberspace to facilitate advancement in the corporate world. Basically there is a cause and a group of people who believe in that cause and work towards a specific goal, just like Zeke.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the corporate world of EVE is insanely deep, and each usually have their own aims. GoonSwarm just wants to have fun and mess things up, Band of Brothers wanted to rule the galaxy (before they were disbanded), while there are a ton of regional corps for nationalities like Russian since EVE is a multinational game.
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