Introduction…
When does the imaginary become real? When I was a child I remember playing outside pretending my swing set was a castle and I was the queen. As I grew up I obviously realized that life isn’t very similar to my childhood games, and I was in fact quite far from being a queen, just a college student. But what if for a few hours a day I could be a queen? Virtual worlds are making it easier then ever to make dreams become reality…or at least partial reality. In a virtual world you can join a guild, become something other than human, and attend weddings and funerals. Although those are just a fragment of things you can do (and some you can do offline in real-life) there is one aspect to this game that is bringing people to the real-life bank.
How many people are playing these games ???
More than 100-million people are playing online games (worldwide)
For instance one game World of Warcraft (WOW) generates 6 million players worldwide. The game is primarily most popular in China although it originated in the United States.
In China one out of every four people on the internet use it to play online games that means a whopping 24 million people in that country alone.
In China 100,000 people work full-time as gamers, meaning there main source of income comes from playing online games.
How can you make money playing a game???
Buying and selling virtual real-estate on games like UltimaOnline
Games like World of Warcraft take a long time to achieve the highest level (60). Some people who do not have the time or patience to devote to this game hire people to achieve their desired goals. In this game people also sell their accounts, or avatars that have attained a certain level or status.
Digging for gold (gold farming) is also one way people make money on these games. People in China are paid very little for their labor (online labor) and work twelve hour shifts, but those who do it feel that it is adequate pay (averaging 25 cents an hour) for playing games all day. Many times these arrangements include room & board as well.
“On eBay, for example, 100 grams of World of Warcraft gold is available for $9.99 or two über characters from EverQuest for $35.50. It costs $269 to be transported to Level 60 in Warcraft, and it typically takes 15 days to get the account back at the higher level.” - – David Barboza
Small companies also make money by advertising in these virtual communities.
“The Internet is now filled with classified advertisements from small companies - many of them here in China - auctioning for real money their powerful figures, called avatars. These ventures join individual gamers who started marketing such virtual weapons and wares a few years ago to help support their hobby.” – David Barboza
Some online games like Second Life and EverQuest encourage these new economies…they believe that they will continue and thrive as the online virtual life and real life merge (in a financial sense) Selling virtual goods is a whole new concept, in a whole new economy.
What are some problems that arise with this?
The companies ban these practices: Some people invest a lot of real money into these virtual games. If the companies ban this practice their money is literally lost.
Hackers- Can exploit the selling and buying of goods.
These games are simply that …a game. These are often so time consuming they can cause literal addiction leading to real life problems. When money is into the mix the problems can become more serious in nature.
Some games such as World of Warcraft believe these “new economies” take away from the egalitarian concept of these worlds. They also believe the game should be about adventure and exploration not about money.
Conclusions...
It is really a personal decision whether to participate in these virtual worlds or virtual economies. Although I once wanted to be queen of a castle…this poor college student doesn’t have the time or the money.
Sources
Dibbell, J.(2003). The unreal estate boom. Wired.
Levy, S. ( 2006) World of warcraft: Is it a game? Newsweek
Barboza, D. ( 2005). Ogre to slay? Outsource it to Chinese. The New York Times.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Journalism : a comparison between print and online mediums
When we think of journalism what comes to mind? Is it the muckrakers of the past like Jacob Riis or Upton Sinclair who exposed everyday problems? Is it newscasters like Barbara Walters or maybe your local Spectrum writer? Do you think of truth or sensationalism? The first amendment? Do you think of cheesy celebrity exposés? The truth is all of these things should come to mind because Journalism culminates a variety of writing types, genres, and uses an assortment of media.
So what is journalism????
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary Journalism is...
1 a: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media b: the public press c: an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium2 a: writing designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine b: writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation c: writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest
Generally Journalism has 5 Goals: These are often referred to as the 5 W’s & sometimes include and H as well.
Who? – Who is involved?
What?- What is the situation/event/happening etc.?
When? – When did this occur or will this occur?
Where?- Where did it occur or where will it?
Why?- Why did this happen or is this happening?
How? – How did this happen or how will it happen?
Some mediums include:
Newspapers, Magazine, Books, the Internet, Television, Radio
Many people say that journalism should be based on truth but whether or not this is an accurate statement is debatable.
The current topic I have read about is steroid abuse in sports my sources are as follows:
- Maxim Magazine’s article Steroids: Scourge or Savior?
- CNN.com ‘s Steroids and Sports: A dangerous mix?
Both of these magazines were similar in that they weighed the pros and cons of using anabolic steroids while engaging in sports. Furthermore they explain how this use affects professional sports.
Maxims article is much more colorful and truly illustrates the issue by providing celebrity incite. While they eluded that it is definitely a problem they focus primarily on the fairness issue rather than health. Since Maxim is a men’s magazine that focuses on entertainment this might account for the focus on fairness. CNN’s article touches much more on the health risks concerning steroid use. The online article features a far less attractive format and is rather plain and forth-coming. The online article had many other features; they had a printable format, language change options, as well as links to other similar stories. The online format made it much more interactive and would probably appeal to a larger audience. As far audience is concerned the Maxim article was definitely geared toward a male audience (in fact it failed to mention even one woman). The tone of the online article was very serious and certainly seemed more factual. The print source was comedic and seemed to almost poke-fun rather than seriously inform. In all fairness I really liked the set-up of Maxim’s article because it did offer some good points from prominent sports figures as to whether or not they opposed steroids.
Why internet journalism?
According to Dan Gillmor’s book We the Media one reason the internet has become an increasingly important medium for journalists is because it is important to embrace new technologies as a natural progression into the future where enhanced technology is vital for its survival.
“To understand the evolution of tomorrow’s news, we need to understand the technologies that are making it possible. The tools of tomorrow’s participatory journalism are evolving quickly—so quickly that by the time this book is in print, new ones will have arrived.”
Some other reasons for Internet journalism are
-Cost effective (cheap)
-
- increased feedback
Sources:
(2006). Steroids: Scourge or savior? Maxim, 70.
(2004). Steroids and sports: A dangerous mix. Retrieved
(2007).Journalism . Retrieved
Gillmor, D. (2004). We the media. Chapter 1
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