This is a site for discussing roleplaying games. Have fun doing so, but there is one major rule: do not discuss political issues that aren't directly and uniquely related to the subject of the thread and about gaming. While this site is dedicated to free speech, the following will not be tolerated: devolving a thread into unrelated political discussion, sockpuppeting (using multiple and/or bogus accounts), disrupting topics without contributing to them, and posting images that could get someone fired in the workplace (an external link is OK, but clearly mark it as Not Safe For Work, or NSFW). If you receive a warning, please take it seriously and either move on to another topic or steer the discussion back to its original RPG-related theme.

Gamers and their Avatars

Started by Pseudoephedrine, June 17, 2007, 03:35:13 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Pseudoephedrine

I got this link from Mefi. It's side-by-side shots of gamers and the characters they play. It's pretty neat.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/06/15/magazine/20070617_AVATAR_SLIDESHOW_1.html
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin\'s Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
All for S&W Complete
Playing: Dark Heresy, WFRP 2e

"Elves don\'t want you cutting down trees but they sell wood items, they don\'t care about the forests, they\'\'re the fuckin\' wood mafia." -Anonymous

arminius

The first character linked is described as "dwarf warsmith" but is a picture of an anime babe in midriff-baring skirt-armor, a butterfly mask, and kitty-cat hairdo. What the fudge?

Sosthenes

Dwarves have changed a lot, don't you think?

Also funny: "NAME Ailin Graef BORN 1978 OCCUPATION Metaverse entrepreneur"
What is that supposed to mean? Virtual Hooker?
 

arminius

Actually, if it means what I think, those people are scary.

Melan

Quote from: SosthenesDwarves have changed a lot, don't you think?

Also funny: "NAME Ailin Graef BORN 1978 OCCUPATION Metaverse entrepreneur"
What is that supposed to mean? Virtual Hooker?
Stories on her are all over the Internet, and also found in paper news. She's indeed an online entrepreneur who started with the virtual prostitution thing in the "Second Life" game, moved on to virtual real estate management and actually managed to convert her online wealth into paper money. As in 1,000,000+ USD.

Kinda scary when you think about it.
Now with a Zine!
ⓘ This post is disputed by official sources

Sosthenes

Quote from: MelanShe's indeed an online entrepreneur who started with the virtual prostitution thing in the "Second Life" game, moved on to virtual real estate management and actually managed to convert her online wealth into paper money.

Ah, what a wonderful world we're living in. I avoid that game like the plague, as I know that I might not resist the temptation of the 100% working online pipe-dream...
 

J Arcane

Would somebody please tell the mainstream press that nobody actually gives a shit about SL unless they're into furry porn, so they'll stop covering it?

Seriously, that piece of crap gives the whole concept of MMOs and virtual worlds a bad name, and the sooner it drops off the radar the better.  

It already has an actual active user base smaller than most of those shitty freebie Korean games, the only reason it gets the attention it does is that the developers spend more time and money shilling it to every last media outlet instead of actualyl doing any work on the program itself.
Bedroom Wall Press - Games that make you feel like a kid again.

Arcana Rising - An Urban Fantasy Roleplaying Game, powered by Hulks and Horrors.
Hulks and Horrors - A Sci-Fi Roleplaying game of Exploration and Dungeon Adventure
Heaven\'s Shadow - A Roleplaying Game of Faith and Assassination

Sosthenes

Quote from: J ArcaneWould somebody please tell the mainstream press that nobody actually gives a shit about SL unless they're into furry porn, so they'll stop covering it?

Seriously, that piece of crap gives the whole concept of MMOs and virtual worlds a bad name, and the sooner it drops off the radar the better.  

Erm, while I'm not a particular fan of multi-player stuff in general, I still think that the mainstream press (i.e. non-gaming press) certainly has a reason to be more interested in SL than WoW. The latter is "just" a game, while Second Life actually has some interesting new ideas.
 

arminius

Yep. Was it here, or somewhere else, I just recently was linked to a story on how a research project was using it to recreate the architectural layout of Rome in the age of Constantine?

J Arcane

Quote from: SosthenesErm, while I'm not a particular fan of multi-player stuff in general, I still think that the mainstream press (i.e. non-gaming press) certainly has a reason to be more interested in SL than WoW. The latter is "just" a game, while Second Life actually has some interesting new ideas.
Bullshit.  There's no new concepts in SL, only old ones that have been around for at least a decade, paired with half-assed, outdated technology.

The only "innovation" Linden Labs has hit upon is basically nothing more than a combination of the base appeal of "work at home" scams, paired with a willingness to funnel shit tons of money in marketing.  

Plus porn.  Lots of freaky, freaky, badly rendered porn.

The current level of computer technology is already capable of far better than what SL offers, but thanks to their over-marketing, they've managed to take a position in the field that is largely undeserved, and potentially muscles out any hope of decent alternatives being implemented, especialyl since SL itself spends almost no money whatsoever on improving it's own service, preferring instead to pump all it's money into self-promotion.
Bedroom Wall Press - Games that make you feel like a kid again.

Arcana Rising - An Urban Fantasy Roleplaying Game, powered by Hulks and Horrors.
Hulks and Horrors - A Sci-Fi Roleplaying game of Exploration and Dungeon Adventure
Heaven\'s Shadow - A Roleplaying Game of Faith and Assassination

Sosthenes

Quote from: J ArcaneThe only "innovation" Linden Labs has hit upon is basically nothing more than a combination of the base appeal of "work at home" scams, paired with a willingness to funnel shit tons of money in marketing.  

Plus porn.  Lots of freaky, freaky, badly rendered porn.

You say that like it's not worth reporting about. Seriously, this is the important point about that. Once money is made, things get important. And journalists care more about what's done and what's possible doing (and the implications thereof) than whether the technology is out-dated.

Upping the polygon count is a rather geeky matter. What serious journalist will write about advanced LOD schemes and self-regulating server distribution when you can write about a virtual "war" of left- and right-wing avatars?
 

J Arcane

Quote from: SosthenesYou say that like it's not worth reporting about. Seriously, this is the important point about that. Once money is made, things get important. And journalists care more about what's done and what's possible doing (and the implications thereof) than whether the technology is out-dated.

Upping the polygon count is a rather geeky matter. What serious journalist will write about advanced LOD schemes and self-regulating server distribution when you can write about a virtual "war" of left- and right-wing avatars?
Money is being made in most MMOs these days.  The issue of real money trading in virtual worlds is right now the subject of two seperate major lawsuits between developers, RMT sites, and users.  

Linden's only difference there is that they push the issue for the sake of filling user's heads full of ideas of becoming millionaires by sitting on their arses.  It's marketing, and little more.  There's a very small number of peopel who've actualyl made real money at it, and much like real life, it's because most of them had a pretty thick stack of money to throw at it in the first place.

It's not a matter of discussing polygon counts being uninteresting, it's a matter of the game looking and running like shit, and that turning off well morre people than it draws in.  

Virtual reality technology that is fraught with instances of individuals exploiting the concept for some quick cash, doing a shit job of it, and winding up poisoning the well for everyone their after.  From shit like the Virtual Boy, to the age of overpriced arcade boxes where you spend hundreds of dollars to play a game that looks like it was made ten years ago.

This is just another example of the same shit, and it drags down the field and ultimately prevents the subject from making any real advances.
Bedroom Wall Press - Games that make you feel like a kid again.

Arcana Rising - An Urban Fantasy Roleplaying Game, powered by Hulks and Horrors.
Hulks and Horrors - A Sci-Fi Roleplaying game of Exploration and Dungeon Adventure
Heaven\'s Shadow - A Roleplaying Game of Faith and Assassination

Melan

QuotePlus porn.  Lots of freaky, freaky, badly rendered porn.
Quotea virtual "war" of left- and right-wing avatars
I've got your answer right here. Nobody cares about your night elf ninja, but virtual hookers? Politics? Pyramid schemes? That's good stuff! To put it in perspective, my mother knows next to nothing about computer games, but she got interested in at least reading about Second Life.

Betamax, meet VHS.
Now with a Zine!
ⓘ This post is disputed by official sources

J Arcane

Quote from: MelanI've got your answer right here. Nobody cares about your night elf ninja, but virtual hookers? Politics? Pyramid schemes? That's good stuff! To put it in perspective, my mother knows next to nothing about computer games, but she got interested in at least reading about Second Life.

Betamax, meet VHS.
Except the numbers don't back it up.  Despite the hype, the service only has a few thousand actual active members, and the servers would cough up a lung if expected to actually hold even that many people at once.  Subscriber numbers are high, but that's because the service is free, few of those accoutns are actually in active use.  GameSetWatch's former column on SL actually eventually died simply because the writer couldn't force himself to keep playing it anymore.  Warren Ellis has made it clear that the only reason for his presence is that he's getting paid for it.  The much talked about Reuters booth is a ghost town, as are the political campaigns that have attempted to set up shop in the land of badly rendered furry porn.

Meanwhile World of Warcraft is 8 million strong, with players from all walks of life.  One of my fellow line members at the expansion launch was a professional poker player, who got into WoW because he needed something to occupy himself between tournaments.  I've read articles about businesses whose employees network and socialize over WoW raids the way they used to do over games of golf.  The issue of buying virtual currency on Blizzard's servers are at the heart of two major lawsuits just recently filed.  

SL gets the attention it does because they've learned to bend the ear of the right press people, and nothing more.  And they've learned to funnel what money they make towards more marketing gimmicks instead of actually working on their own software.
Bedroom Wall Press - Games that make you feel like a kid again.

Arcana Rising - An Urban Fantasy Roleplaying Game, powered by Hulks and Horrors.
Hulks and Horrors - A Sci-Fi Roleplaying game of Exploration and Dungeon Adventure
Heaven\'s Shadow - A Roleplaying Game of Faith and Assassination

KrakaJak

Wow...J Arcane is a total WoW fanboy.

Second Life is doing very well. So are a lot of MMO's out there. EvE, Everquest, and the like are all very profitable businesses. So while Linden gets a lot of "press" on nerdy websites and MMO only magazines, WoW is on the Simpsons and on Southpark.


Melan has it right. There s actual INTERESTING stuff going on in Second Life, some new ideas are being put into place in a new arena. Second Life has facilitated that, while WoW is just the same old shit that hasn't facilitated anything interesting to those that are not involved .

QuoteMeanwhile World of Warcraft is 8 million strong, with players from all walks of life. One of my fellow line members at the expansion launch was a professional poker player, who got into WoW because he needed something to occupy himself between tournaments. I've read articles about businesses whose employees network and socialize over WoW raids the way they used to do over games of golf. The issue of buying virtual currency on Blizzard's servers are at the heart of two major lawsuits just recently filed.
Recent Headlines "Poker Player playes video-game to pass time" "People discuss business while doing some other shit at the same time" and "Blizzard doesn't want anybody to make mone off of their game but them"

By the way...the 8 Million strong is currently debatable.

Compare "Blizzard put out a new tier of Armor sets for Paladins" vs. "State senatorial candidate pelted with penises while campaigning in a virtual world".

SL might not be better, but it's certainly has more interesting things going on.
-Jak
 
 "Be the person you want to be, at the expense of everything."
Spreading Un-Common Sense since 1983