(Breaking) RULES Com 427 January 21, 2014

1. (Breaking) RULES Com 427 January 21, 2014 EULA

2. QUIZ!

3. 1. Consalvo: “__________, then, are a central component of games, and their significance for cheating (or its various expressions) cannot be understated” A) Rules B) Narratives C) Trolls D) Big corporations

4. 2. Consalvo takes issue with a specific concept from 1930’s social theorist Johan Huizinga. The concept is used to show how games are separate from ‘real life’. What is the name of Huizinga’s concept? A) ilinx B) magic circle C) non-diegetic D) procedural

5. 3. Koster’s article expounds on the "Declaration of the Rights of _______". A) non-player charactersB) gold farmersC) online game administratorsD) avatars

6. 4. The sections of Koster’sarticle in written in italics are: A) totally random B) paraphrased feedback on the “Declaration” from other virtual world administrators and designers C) meant to address shortcomings in different parts of the “Declaration” D) B & C

7. BONUSWhat does MUD stand for? A) mandatory user documentB) multi-user dungeonC) males under duressD) massive underground domain

8. Today’s Plan Upcoming assignments & next class What are rules? What is cheating? Group work: instances of rule-breaking Guiding question: Who owns our games?

9. Administrivia • Online questionnaire • please fill in by end of week. • Worth 2 participation points (2%) • “Exploration of a Toolset” • Write in 2-3 examples of games • Bring HARDCOPY to class next Tuesday • Don’t just look at online help resources – explore them, become familiar with them.

10. RULES ARE TO GAMES AS _______ ARE TO “REAL LIFE”

11. RULES ARE TO GAMES AS LAWS ARE TO “REAL LIFE”

12. “CODE IS LAW” Lawrence Lessig, “Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace” “This code, or architecture, sets the terms on which life in cyberspace is experienced. It determines how easy it is to protect privacy, or how easy it is to censor speech. It determines whether access to information is general or whether information is zoned. It affects who sees what, or what is monitored. In a host of ways that one cannot begin to see unless one begins to understand the nature of this code, the code of cyberspace regulates.”

13. “Declaration of the Rights of Avatars” • Published 2000; work in progress for years earlier • Most Internet communities were text-based • “Rights of Avatars” primarily addressing role-play communities Star Wars: Galaxies (2003) LegendMUD (1993) How should we conduct ourselves online? Who should be in charge?

14. Julian Dibbell “A Rape in Cyberspace: How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society” http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html

15. “And thus, as if against its will, the question of what to do about Mr. Bungle began to shape itself into a sort of referendum on the political future of the MOO (Multi-user dungeon, Object=Oriented)” (Dibbell, 1993, n.p.). • How do we balance expression & freedom from “rl” with safety? • What are the responsibilities of designers? • What kind of laws should be in place?

16. SERENITY NOW Funeral in World of Warcraft http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHJVolaC8pw “A girl who played World of Warcraft died in real life and the friends she had met in the game planned an in-game funeral for her. They posted about the event on the message boards and urged people not to bust it up. I don't think I need to explain what happened; the video speaks for itself.”

17. In games… • Rules are CODE • Rules are SOCIAL • We can change both to create new gaming experiences & new games

18. “The Landlord’s Game” “created by Lizzie Magie, inspired by Henry George, who believed in the abolition of land-ownership and created a powerful movement to make this a reality” Cory Doctorow, “Monopoly was stolen from socialist land-reformers and perverted” http://boingboing.net/2012/11/05/monopoly-was-stolen-and-perver.html

19. “The Landlord’s Game” vs “Monopoly” “In the game’s original version, players could choose to behave like monopolists and drive their adversaries to financial ruin …. or they could agree to cooperate with each other, pay rent into a common pool, and achieve an arguably happier shared prosperity. ” “As the game evolved, though, subsequent iterations cast aside the communitarian cooperative option.” http://www.salon.com/2013/02/09/how_monopoly_turns_us_into_uncreative_capitalist_vultures_partner/

20. “The Landlord’s Game” vs “Monopoly” “In the game’s original version, players could choose to behave like monopolists and drive their adversaries to financial ruin …. or they could agree to cooperate with each other, pay rent into a common pool, and achieve an arguably happier shared prosperity. ” “As the game evolved, though, subsequent iterations cast aside the communitarian cooperative option.” http://www.salon.com/2013/02/09/how_monopoly_turns_us_into_uncreative_capitalist_vultures_partner/

21. NEW MONOPOLY RULE! • 1 player is the “Housing Inspector” • They don’t pay rent when they land on other player’s properties • Instead, the property owner has to do a dice roll to determine whether or not their properties pass inspection • The more properties the player has in total, the higher the roll needs to be. • Fail inspection: they can either give up one of their houses, or they can pay $200 • Players can avoid inspection by paying “maintenance” every two turns How would this change the game?

22. What are PARATEXTS?

24. MckennaCzap Mia Chamberlain Taylor Fox Ivan Halley The Konami code is a cheat code that modifies in-game play. The cheat violates designer rules and gives the player a full set of power-ups which are normally attained gradually throughout the game. The cheat code could give an unfair advantage to players who know what it is. The code is hardwired into the game, so the designer knows people will use it. The context in which the user is playing determines whether it is “unfair” play, it’s a personal opinion. For example it’s not unfair if someone is playing by themselves and not with others.

25. Game Shark 1. How does it modify? -It modifies the method in which the game can be played. Cheat codes are loaded into the game console's internal memory via a external cartridge. The codes are then accessed from the memory while playing a game. For example, in the N64 game, Super Smash Bros., the user can play as certain avatars that are unavailable during regular game play. 2. Does it violate rules? -It violates designer rules because certain avatars, such as master hand, can jump higher, hit harder, etc. than normal avatars and they were never meant to be used in the multi-player mode. Therefore, this modification definitely results in unfair play, unless every player is using modded avatars.

26. 1. It modifies the code of the game which therefore modifies the player community 2. No because WoW openly supports modifications. The only way it could be unfair is if in a battle, one person has it and knows how to use it versus a person who doesn't have it at all. 3. The 'skill' in a game like world of Warcraft is more knowledge based than twitch based. Mods and addons and knowing how to use them are a part of the skill of the game. Alex Watkins Lindsey Nolan Erin Morton Dylan Colomb