Potential Concerns: Violence in MMOGs
Levels of violence
Nearly all commercial MMOGs as of January 2006 involve fighting and killing as a key part of game play. Disney has a very simplified MMOG called Disney’s Toontown Online, specifically designed for children. This is one of the least violent commercial MMOGs available.
Children can play cartoon characters that they custom design, and use cartoon abilities (slapstick moves like throwing pies) to defeat evil robots. When the cartoon characters defeat a robot, it malfunctions and explodes. This game has a battle style theme for the basic storyline, with some mini games added for variety. The mini games are more passive and less combat oriented.
Disney’s Toontown Online
is available at:
http://play.toontown.com/webHome.php
Characters who die in MMOGs can come back to life.
It is important to note that “killing” and “death” means something different in an MMOG. Because an MMOG is constantly running online and relies heavily on teamwork, having a character die and start over from the beginning isn’t really as much of an option.
In World of Warcraft, when a player’s character dies, damage occurs to his or her armor (this costs money to repair) and the character’s spirit is released (the person becomes a ghost-like spirit). At this time the player’s view changes to control the spirit (which starts off at the nearest graveyard). The player then has to direct the spirit back to his or her corpse in order to resurrect their body.
Example from World of Warcraft:
Below is an image of what a "Released Spirit" may look like for a human. When a character dies, its spirit is brought back to the nearest graveyard.
The silver arrow on the small map in the top right corner indicates where the character is, and the red and yellow arrow indicates where the characters corpse is.
The player must lead the spirit back to the corpse from the graveyard in order to come back to life.
Another option is to talk with the spirit shown below (the one with wings). She can bring characters back to life at the graveyard, but this causes more damage to his or her armor (which costs money to repair) and the character becomes weak in battle for a certain amount of time.
World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries Time ends up being the penalty for death, as it takes a longer amount of time to resurrect if the player’s corpse is further away from the graveyard. Most instances are fairly far away from a graveyard so players have a direct motivation to avoid having their character die in battle.
In the same way that players can die but also resurrect later on, Bosses, enemies and fellow players lost in battle all can come back to life or “reset” (also referred to as “repopping” or “respawning”) after a certain amount of time.
Level of violence in storylines
The storylines of MMOGs often involve some form of conflict, and thus involve fighting. They may be based on historical civilizations (including wars and conquests) or far-future galaxies where alien civilizations fight for control and freedom.
MMOGs are epic in scope and may have a good versus evil storyline. However, other characters may get involved as well and play more of a neutral role.
In World of Warcraft, a war is going on between the Alliance and the Horde. The Alliance (the “good guys”) consists of the following races:
- Humans
- Night Elves
- Gnomes
- Dwarves
The Horde (the “bad guys”) include the following races:
- Tauren (large cow-people)
- Orcs
- Trolls
- Undead (zombies).
Neutral parties in war
Neutral parties such as the Goblins are willing to help either side for profit. These characters are computer controlled (NPCs).
While cities especially for the Horde or the Alliance exist, Goblin cities are unique in that they are neutral and relatively safe for both sides. They are typically places of commerce (where one can use a bank or auction house) and are a good place to get repairs, quests, and various items.
The goblin city of Everlook, located in the zone of Winterspring, is an example of a neutral city. Both Horde and Alliance can do business in this city so long as they don't gain a bad reputation with the guards (by fighting them repeatedly).
World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries While the Alliance and the Horde are at war with one another, most enemies that players fight are Non-Player Characters (NPCs), created and controlled by Blizzard. However, for those who are interested in fighting against other players, there is a mode called PVP (Player Versus Player) mode, in which a player can fight other players who are in PVP mode. Additional options for fighting other players exist as well, but killing others in PVP mode does not reward the victor with experience in the same way as defeating an NPC boss does.
Player Versus Player (PVP) rules in World of Warcraft
The rules for PVP are different depending on which server you choose before a player creates a character. If your child is going to play World of Warcraft and you do not want them to be fighting other players, it would be a good idea to make clear to your teen that you don’t want them to play on a PVP server.
Players can choose a server based on factors such as where they live, the current population of the server, and what type of server it is. In World of Warcraft, each server is given a name and called a "realm."
The hilighted area shows an example of what a PVP server looks like on the list of servers (or "realms").
World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries Usually some game activities in an MMOG do not involve violence. But most do, including all or almost all quests. The violence that tends to be rewarded in today's MMOGs is violence for sake of protecting one’s people (a race or party, or group). But it is still violence.
Exploring the effects of violence in games on real world violence
Violence in games (and movies and television) is pervasive. Are players able to differentiate game violence from violence in the real world? Most probably are. Does game violence have negative effects on players?
Media violence researcher Craig Anderson and his colleagues note that observed outcomes of game violence parallels findings about violence in other media:
- Aggressive thoughts and feelings increase.
- Heart rate increases during exciting game play.
- Players become desensitized to violence -- violence becomes less shocking, more normal.
- Players may perceive the real world as being a more violent place than non-players do.
www.psychologicalscience.org/pdf/pspi/pspi43.pdf
Most people who play a violent video game do not go out and commit a similar crime. So far, research DOES NOT SHOW that players directly imitate recently played or viewed violent acts.
A recent study of long term exposure to MMOGs and violent attitudes and behavior found no significant differences between players and nonplayers, in their attitudes about violence or in aggressive behavior. The study was conducted by Dmitri Williams and other researchers at the University of Illinois.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/15/video_games_and_aggression/
Extremely rare headline news stories describe a person who played a game and then committed a similar crime. In late summer 2005, a judge rejected defense attorney claims that playing the MMOG Grand Theft Auto caused defendant Devin Moore to kill three police officers.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8889445/
Psychologists Dr. David Walsh was interviewed on 60 Minutes. He suggested that when children commit acts of violence, this behavior is determined by multiple influences. Walsh also believes teens are at higher risk than adults for being negatively effected by playing violent video games, because their brains are still developing.
Read the transcript for the 60 minutes story about violence and video games here:
http://wwjtv.com/rooney/sixtyminutes_story_170194936.html
Despite the huge increases in children and teen video game play, murder rates in the U.S. continue to decline. FBI Uniform Crime Reports show that violent crimes in the U.S. peaked in 1993 and have declined every year even as the population size increased (Disaster Center, 2005). In 1993 there were 1,926,020 violent crimes. In 2004, that number was 1,367,009. During that same period the population in the U.S. increased from 257,908,000 to 290,788,976 people. According to national statistics, violence in schools has decreased dramatically since 1994 (Virginia Youth Violence Project, 2005).
http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/national-
statistics.html
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/national-
statistics.html
A study by Craig Anderson and Karen Dill found that “real-life violent video game play was positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency.”
This result was stronger among males and among people who already had aggressive tendencies.
http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp784772.pdf
Research suggests that particular children may be more vulnerable to negative effects from violence in games and movies. An example is the KIDS COUNT report on Children and Violence. High risk children would be those for who even a small increase in the relative risk of aggressive behavior triggers aggression. These players would be children who are drawn to violent video games because playing fuels pre-existing violent fantasies such as bullies who already have low empathy, low guilt, insensitivity to victims and an underlying view that violence is fun and the right way to solve problems.
http://www.vakids.org/Publications/violence-report.htm
Imitation is most likely when game play or movie closely mirrors the players real life experience. For example, if there were games that take place on a school playground and involve killing schoolmates using a rock, that game would be cause for strong concern. A game that involves killing dragons with laser weapons, games where the situations are clearly fantasy, are thought to be far less likely candidates for imitation.
Violence is everywhere in media, including games. Research has shown that parents can reduce negative impacts of violence in the media by talking with their children about it.
Talk with your teen about the violence in any MMOG they play. Ask about when and why players engage in violence. What are the consequences of violence within the game? Is that violence like the real world? Would that violence be "right" to actually do in the real world? Why or why not?