Games As the Great Unifier 104
OGX writes "In this racially divided world, who or what can step up and bridge the gap among people? Oddly enough, the answer comes from pop videogame technology. The anonymity of online gaming has made personal characteristics secondary to a game skill set. Michelle Dalrymple explores how online gaming vaults the issue of race in this editorial at OGX." From the article: "The computer/video console acts as a filter, extracting out any issues of race and placing emphasis on how quickly one can respond by selecting the correct button. Let's take a look at how this plays out in the online gaming world. As with any MMOG - character selection is core to the game play, and while one may have a skin color choice, usually appearance is tied to some imaginary 'race,' an arbitrary figure generator pulled from fantasy and folklore. It gives the idea of race a whole new meaning. What do fellow gamers care what race you the player really are, as long as your elf ranger or human mage can complete the task?"
Still far to go (Score:3, Insightful)
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ob Penny Arcade (Score:1)
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Simple realy.
It rarely actualy has any relation to sexual orientation anymore, especialy online and in other casual situations.
"Don't be so gay", "that was gay", etc etc, are rarely even attached to something that is stereotypicly a homosexual action. After all, I don't realy think gays are well known for spawn camping, usi
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Like, let's say we decided to use the term "Thansal" as an insult. If we got fragged due to lag, we'd say our internet connection was "acting like Thansal". Of course, if you got offended, we'd argue that we of course don't literally mean that our internet connection was acting like you...it
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Seriously, language evolves, and a word that used to be used to refer to a group of people negatively may over time no longer have anything to do with that group. I personally use the word "gay" to mean "lame" sometimes, especially when I want to annoy the professionally offended, but I'm honestly not thinking about homosexuals at all when I do it. The problem here isn't that using "gay" to mean "lame" is automatically a slur agains
the internet presents people as "ding an sich" (Score:2)
In that sense, it reinforces theory of implied social contract; without the immediate coercive ability of the group (through the simple mechanism of individual recognition and following consequences),
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-Eric
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If in real life, practicioners of a certain profession who are of a certain race have two magical skills unique to their race that members of other races cannot learn, is it racist to make hiring decisions based on those magical skills?
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On a serious note, I don't think your example of picking dwarfs over night elves even comes close to being a case of racism. Just because someone picks dwarfs over night elves (or vice-versa) doesn't mean that he/s
I disagree. (Score:4, Funny)
anonymity can be bad (Score:1)
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I said no such thing. I would agree that it affects all countries. But of course, me being an American citizen, My main concern is and should be the patriotism of my own country.
this decrease in patriotism that you are percieving isn't necessarily a result of information abundance
I also said no such thing. Information abundance is not an issue. The idea that you are on this anonymous tool (the internet), and you don't have to share your backgr
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After starting your first two points with "I said no such thing", you follow up with this.
If only we could convert irony into electricity. That comment alone would keep L.A. lit up for two weeks.
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I made my reference to information abundance after reading your "increasingly beco
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Bravo, AC, bravo.
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If somebody threatens your country or fellow citizen, sacrifice your time to contront them, and prevent the threat from being followed thru.
If somebody harms your country or fellow citizen, sacrifice your time to capture and bring to justice the guilty party.
With no sacrifice, we have no sense of one-ness. We see that today with many examples because it seems like if our country or fe
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"One-ness"? Uh...
Too bad you didn't cite any of them.
Huh? 'Defamed' is nothing, 'threatened' is something for authorities to look into, as is 'harm'. And, unless I'm mistaken, The United Stat
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"One-ness"? Uh...
Did you not just prove my point?
Too bad you didn't cite any of them
Groups protesting an American soldier funerals instead of paying their respects. Immigrants burning our flag at rallies in San Fransisco. American citizens calling for the assasination of our president. Slashdot posters constantly making references / jokes about moving to Canada. I guess I just see the examples and you don't.
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"Paying respects", like, not flying the flag at half-mast? Or "paying respects" by not giving them proper equipment in combat? How about "paying respects" by sending them into a war without a clear, if not totally false, reason to? How exactly do you want people to "pay respects"? Perhaps some people are focusing on the fact that these soldiers died invading another country that had not, would not, and could not make any s
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Re:anonymity can be bad (Score:4, Insightful)
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I'm not discounting patriotism, but
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but your sig says...
You seem a little confused. I think your another crazy redneck who jumped on the "I love America! Never talk bad about our President no matter what he does" bandwagon. Think for yourself. America is supposed to mean freedom (although its really just limited priviledge) which means I can choose for myself whether I want to be anonymous
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It's funny how I've never really been referred to as a "redneck" except for on
I do believe I'm thinking for myself, unless of course you're blaming GW for brainwashing Americans, which I wouldn't put past you.
Since when did it become a bad thing to jump on the "I love America!" bandwagon? I guess I'm supposed to buy into this global, we're all h
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And you believe it's ok to destroy an entire country killing millions of people over a small percentage of that country? Using this mentallity, America should have started a war with Montana because a terrorist lived in the state.
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Then, GWB sends in a) the National Guard, or b) the Marines. In Afghanistan, he sent both. In Iraq he sent bombers first, then marines and army, followed by Nationa
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The most crucial differences I have seen is what people in these groups are afraid of. Conservative Christians are afraid of Muslim terrorists and declining morality; young liberals worry about gl
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It also seems that the type of anonymity you are thinking of is concealing your actions behind a screen, rather than screening things that causes prejudice from your actions.
Re:anonymity can be bad (Score:4, Interesting)
Similarily, extended families became less and less important with the industrial era.
Before that, the hometown/village.
Before that, the clan.
Each been the central social group everyone identified themselves by, each had seemed a natural constant in the lives of people and still each was replaced by the next. Currently, nation states are being replaced by continent-size cultural zones; most obviously so in Europe and South America.
You can call this unfortunate, like you can call any natural process unfortunate. Or you can realize that identifying yourself as a citizen of your country is a cultural habit, not a necessity, so the value you are losing was virtual in the first place. Other social reference groups (say your family, or your race, or mankind) may be used interchangably. And some choices give you more options than others.
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Unfortunately claiming to be a "citizen of the world" doesn't seem to help when trying not to pay taxes.
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You say that like it's a bad thing. People shouldn't be willing to blindly sacrifice for their country (whichever country that happens to be) they should be willing to sacrifice for what they believe is _right_. Most people are citizens of a particular country entirely by accident - it's where they happened to be born. Why should I hold any specific allegience based on a geographical and biological coincidence?
Hypothetical example
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I thought the supremely American definining characteristic was diverity itself.
We are a nation of immigrants from across the globe.
And what binds us? Well the defining binding document of the United States is the Constitution... and the most revered part of the Constitution being the Bill of Rights. And the very first thing the Bill of Rights does, the highest thing it stands for, is for protecting and revering a
In-game racism (Score:2, Funny)
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You obviously haven't been to a LAN party. *grin*
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At last, a level playing field! (Score:3, Funny)
Disclaimers:
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Heh... but it's actually true. I just don't have very good gear. :)
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What, you don't like Soylent Soap?
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The real problem is that it tastes so good that I go through it too quickly.
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/cry
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Nothing THAT new really (Score:1)
I just fail to see the significance of this in regards to games online. I would venture to say it is a non issue because:
1) You know the person as they present themselves to you online and
2) It does not matter since you are judging by s
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Removing race? (Score:1)
There also seem to be a disproportionate amount of schoolgirls...
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Yeah... about those schoolgirls... I met one of them in RL. Jimmy "The Iron Brick" Hoskins is now one of my closest friends - nice gal and all, but she didn't look anything like I expected.
Huh? (Score:2)
Which world is the submitter in, exactly? The one I'm in seems fine.
It's really hard to read and process an article like this when you disagree with the very first phrase in the very first sentence...
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Well Said (Score:2)
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Then your life is sheltered from real racism.
Sorry, I'm not trying to insult you or anything, but if you don't see racism it's because you're just not around it then. I regret to have to inform you that racism is still alive and well.
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I think racism is dead (in the US at least), and the only reason you see constant news stories about racism is because it makes for good news. Tyra Banks can put up makeup and walk around and say "oh wow people treat me so differently!" when she's out of ideas.
Why do gamers feel this (Score:3, Interesting)
Horde versus Alliance (Score:1)
Ira
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(very testy about gnome football jokes)
Ira
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<introspection>WoW e-peen contests? Geez, I'm a grown guy with a wife and kids. What have I sunk to...</introspection>
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The filter works both ways (Score:1)
I don't think so. (Score:3, Interesting)
I've played a few MMORPGs in my time but, generally, my experience is that there are three player types. The offensive, who's lack of identifiability makes them think they can do what they want.
The passive, who keep to themselves or their guild. They tend to accept people who accept them. The vast majority of people lie in this group.
The aggresive. They are active. Tend to help people whenever they can. And they really do find ways to be involved.
The real reason people seem to 'get along' so well? There isn't even a fraction of lifes 'drama' running around in the virtual world. The worst thing that can happen to you within the confines of an MMORPG is that you miss out on some kind of loot, or you're late for/miss an event. If you can get worked up over that then you really must learn to chill out.
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Ok, I have to ask: According to MMO* trolls, what's worse than being a dirty, gay, jew?
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Clean, straight, and Catholic.
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MMORG race human race (Score:2)
#2) Show me a 1/2 elf, 1/4 dwarf, 1/8 orc and 1/16 sprite and 1/16 centaur character and then we'll be a little closer to an apples to apples race discussion. (Is the character stronger because he's part orc or is it just chance?)
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Presumably that would have to have been a female centaur and a male sprite... :-)
Side note: "race" in the context of fantasy games really boils down to what we would call "species" in reality. I suspect the main reason for using the term "race" is because it sounds more old-fashioned and less scientific.
So really, the whole RPG race = RL race (ethnici
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The common definition of "species" merely requires that different species can't interbreed to have kids which themselves can have kids. So the case of a "1/2 elf, 1/4 dwarf, 1/8 orc and 1/16 sprite and 1/16 centaur character", would at least imply that dwarves, orcs, sprites, and centaurs are the same species. If the character in question can have kids, elves join said species.
Larry Laffer, the great uniter (Score:3)
"anonymity of online gaming" (Score:2)
Great... (Score:1)
City Of Heroes is a better example (Score:2)
In WoW, you start by choosing a race. It's race that defines what faction you're aligned with (Alliance or Horde) and what classes you have access to. Even though they're fantasy races with no (direct) relation to real-world ethnicities, you're still forced by "genetics and culture" into certain roles in the overall story.
In CoX, you start with a simpler choice: Hero or Villain. A far more fundamental conflict than anything that arises from ethnicity. From there, you choose your archtype, origin, and powe
"Great Unifier." Feh. (Score:2)
You wanna see great unification? Visit a PvP WoW server. The only great unity is that the hundreds of skeletons laying on the ground after a huge world PvP event look alike (mostly).
Characters die messily and unfairly dozens of times a day because they're the wrong race in the wrong neighborhood. It's no more unified than real-life race relations, except that there's less social inhibition on race murder and hate crime, because "it's just a game".
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Guys play chicks all the time (Score:2)
Heck, many of the female toons you see in games are played by guys who are either A) titilated at playing a female toon and dressing it, or B) tired of looking at a guy's ass in third person view.
So it isn't like this story is anything close to a new viewpoint on the subject.
Oh really? (Score:2)
It is really sad and reduces the quality of gaming.
What a load of malarky. (Score:3, Insightful)
Except the vast majority of gamers are white males. I like how the article writer's counter to this is that IN ADVERTISEMENTS AND MOVIES, there are a lot of non-whites playing video games... interesting metric there.
And except that most online gaming communities are fuller of racist swears than any real-world place I've seen - probably mostly from bored preteens trying to get a rise out of people by saying Something Naughty, but still.
And except that as soon as any actual evidence of race or ethnicity comes into the mix - as soon as people find out someone is gay or female or black or whatever "IRL" - you're stuck with the same old racial stereotypes and assumptions again. Usually amplified because of the aforementioned intolerant attitude of gaming communities.
No (Score:1)
They don't care because the elf rangers and human mages apparently pay $15 a month to be stunlocked for hours at a time.
I honestly cannot understand the fascination with a game where the player is beset with a chronic lack of basic control over their own character.
Faulty Premise (Score:2)
However, the fact that only a small percentage of the country and world are playing video games makes this a very inaccurate sampling of data.
The real dividing line is money. Only those with enough money to afford a gaming system or a PC (plus internet connection, software, subscriptions, etc.) are able to enter this
The Great Unifier? (Score:1)
I'm not quite sure I believe this to be the case as most people have experienced in forums, games, comment threads and other such internet environments, the internet seems to relieve people of their moral burdens. I have been called every name in the book for every race. Some people feel that if they are uncertain of what race you belong to they will call you derogatory names from each race until they get a reaction from you. Its one of the main reasons I stopped going online for Xbox live (Xbox). I got tir