Onlinespil.

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Online-spil.
Online-games
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Online-game demo
Movie Return to Castle Wolfenstein
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Stats for online-games?
online battle may represent the opening round of
the next console cycle, in which online features
are likely to play a huge - and perhaps
pre-eminent - role. Wired, 2003 DFC
intelligence Online game market will grow from
875 millions in 2002 to over 5 billion in
2008. Estimate that 198 millions will play
online i 2008 with over 100 millions consoles
with online capability. Estimate that the usage
of online games will go from 7,5 billion hours in
2002 to 35 billion hours by 2008, an increase of
450.
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Background
Masters Degree in Psychology PhD Student at
IT-University of Copenhagen, Written two Danish
books and several articles on computer games and
learning. Heavily involved in game community
Digra, Game-studies, Game-research, AOIR, DAC,
IGDA Earlier consulting Framfab, Incircle, EQ,
Game-Research. Still consult on game related
issues. Reports on eSports, online gaming, and
Computer game Risks.
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Online-games agenda
Introducing online games Online-games
characteristics Social aspects of online
gaming Future of online gaming
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What are online-games?
Several perceptions General public
Counter-Strike and Everquest (Dangerous and well
known) Among players Counter-Strike, Quake,
and Everquest (Leading edge) Among
researchers Muds and Everquest (social) Game
developers Quake, Everquest, Age of Empires
(technical) Prophets The Sims Online, Majestic,
or Nokia Game (revolution)
technical
social
Online games
revolution
dangerous
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Facts about online-games
In South Korea hotspot for online-games more than
5,4 millions are active in online-games compared
to 700.000 in US. 100.000 Sims
Online250.000 Asherons Call, Ultima online,
Dark Age of Camelot 300.00 Star Wars
Galaxies450.000 Everquest3.200.000 Lineage
The blood pledge(pay app. 10 a month) Zone.com
have up to 160.000 online at peak hours. 10 of
players in Game-research survey played more than
30 hours a week
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Online-games roots
1995
1963
1972
1985
2000
Action
Air Warrior
Space war
MazeAir Fight
FPS
Doom
Quake
CS
Unreal
RTCW
Classical
Strategy(TBS)
Trade Wars
Star Trade
Empire
RTS
CC
StarCraft
AOE
AOK
Adventure
MUDS
MUD1
Habitat
MMORPG
Meridian 59
Everquest
Sims Online
Simulation
IL- Sturmovik
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Online-games examples
Action
MMORPG
RTS
Age of Empires II
Anarchy Online
Quake III
Unreal
Ultima online
Star Craft
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Genres and development
Massively Multiplayer online games (MMOG)
FPS Fast to learn hard to master, social
through clans and in-game talk. Very competitive.
RTS Medium learning curve, deep, social is
limited.
TBS High learning curve, deep, social a big part.
Killers, Achievers, ExplorersSocializers,
MMORPG Conflict, levels, action in centre,
demand many hours in time not in mastery? social
still important
MUDS Social and role-play crucial!Can be hard
to learn, more control of game
Classical games
Simple, easy, known, fast to play
WordCardPuzzle/Strategy
Classic ArcadeTriviaSports
Casino TriviaClassic Board .
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Online-games agenda
Introducing online games Online-games
characteristics Social aspects of online
gaming Future of online gaming
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Survey on online-games.
The survey was conducted online at
www.game-research.com and was hosted by the web
bureau Framfab. A total of 680 online gamers
took the survey within a period of two months.
One may expect that experienced online gamers
will be more inclined to take such a survey than
newcomers. Thus the numbers may be higher than if
we had access to all online gamers. More
results are available in our reports which can be
bought for 150 Euro through Game-research.com.
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Who are online-gamers?

• Average age for online-gamers are 24 years with
  95 of all online players between 15-31 years
• Few newcomers!
• 75 of online-gamers have played 1-5 years
  online.
• 96 have had internet access more than a year
• 67 have more than 256 kb bandwidth
• 75 have bought online within last 6 month
• 95 have a computer that is less than 3 years
  old.
• Action is most popular

Source Game-Research, 2002
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What are online-games?

• Online-games is kind of social community
• 92 play from at home majority play both alone
  and with other physically,
• Most play both with friends from real,
  acquaintances, friends from online.
• Almost 50 have met people from the in real-life.
• It is a time-consuming and demanding hobby
• 54 play from 0-12 hours online
• 10 play more than 30 hours a week
• 91 play too much online
• 33 play usually or always too much.
• People play significantly longer online than
  offline.

Source Game-Research, 2002
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Online-game addiction?

• Social dynamics You can always play and it is
  easy to switch on the computer, and locate
  someone to play with or against.
• Money You can get in a money jam. It cost money
  to be online however with flat rate, this
  problem is becoming smaller, however other
  incentives are coming.
• Conditioning There will slowly emerge
  conditioning friends will ask, when do you come
  online, shall we play tomorrow, need to get just
  this item, or beat this opponent etc. The more
  you play the more friends you get and the more
  your social life is taking place online.
• Competition and fantasies The dream for
  prestige, higher rating and big money. The hunt
  for the last kill
• Flow There are no breaks and no end in
  multiplayer games one game take the other. If
  you play computer games offline or in LAN you
  will at some point grew weary.

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Online-game demo
Movie Everquest
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Play time online-games
Hours pr. week
Source Game-Research, 2002
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Top 5 problems
To many immature idiots Whinners
Source Game-Research, 2002
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Online-games agenda
Introducing online games Online-games
characteristics Social aspects of online
gaming Future of online gaming
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Social and different
Online-games are to high degree thriving
communities, where a story is constructed in
shared space. The players take the game universe
new places, and attach new meanings. Besides
fighting and levelling up, I kept my dogs happy
and would take them for a stroll on ogre beach
for exercise every morning. I guess they enjoyed
ogre meat rather than the regular meat I got from
the merchants.They would grieve to me how they
lost their money. It was a typical life, after
gaining some levels we would be back in town
talking about our Lineage the bloodpledge life,
and most importantly our real lives
also. ShinobiMage (2001)
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Gender bending
A big issue over the years, and had a surge for a
couple of years in relation to online games 55
thinks there are disadvantages to playing a
female avatar

• Sexual advances, harassments, comments and
  problems causes by above - 45
• Treated like stupid or ignorant because of gender
  - 12
• Gameplay disadvantages in some games - 6

Source Wright, 2001
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Gender bending reasons
Genres for gender-bending RPGs 67Action 53
Fighting games 17 Other 9 Why Males
Play as FemalesGameplay Advantage (60) Adds to
the RPG Experience (25)Gender Exploration
(19)Visual Stimulation (23)Better Modelling
(14)Adds Variety (13) Female Sounds
(6)Amusement (6)Habit (6)
Female Models are Faster Harder to See (19)
Other Players Give you Goodies (16) Better
Skills (14) Psychological Edge (11)
Anecdote about Syrenia DAOC/Ultima Online/Anarchy
Online
Source Wright, 2001
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Social interaction
74 disagreed with the statement that
communication/chat with other players is a
necessary but not appealing part of online gaming
86 agreed that communication/chat is an
appealing part of online gaming 79 agreed that
online games should focus heavily on
communication features enabling cooperation
between players (pooling resources with allies,
teaming up etc.) Smith, 2002
N302,hardcore-gamers
Source Game-Research, 2002
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Gossip and communication
They want to gossip and have more tools for
communication
Source Game-Research, 2002
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Recognizable identity

• Important experiences
• People look or communication/interaction
• People want to recognize each other - persistent
  identity
• Problems in all genres, not just MMORPG!

Source Game-Research, 2002
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Communities

• Communities online
• In connection with the game. Mods, forum,
  in-game, screenshots, game experiments, training,
  eSports, clans, competition
• Around the game not as such anything to do with
  the game.Everyday life, forums, chat.

• Social relations in game betweens avatars,which
  is a necessary part of the game dynamics.
  Alignment, love affairs, role-play.

The new mod Air buccaneer based on unreal engine.
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Ex. of communication in CS
Performance Talk Re-locaters (blaming something
else for a "failed" performance) Competence
boosts (statistics talk, personal boasts and
responses) Vulnerability/confusion/apologies for
failure talk Final showdown talkGame
strategy/tactical talk Team talk  Game
Conflict Talk Camping and Cheating
accusations/disputesAWP Talk (one-shot kill
sniper rifle) Kicking, banning rules   Above
most central
Source Wright,, Boria, Breidenbach, 2002
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Ex. of communication in CS
Insult/Distancing Talk Taunting talk/trash
talk/ritual insults Explicit gendered,
radicalised or homophobic talk (the status of
game player, not just exclamations and responses)
Pissed off talk/exclamations/surprise   Game
Technical/External Talk Ping rate/lag talk Talk
about technical matters and other game/computer
related matters Talk about other games
Creative Game Talk Names, naming and identity
talkJoking, irony and word play Map creations,
map judging, and logo comments and designs
Changing game rules and technical limits
Kilde Wright,, Boria, Breidenbach, 2002
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Online-games agenda
Introducing online games Online-games
characteristics Social aspects of online
gaming Future of online gaming
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Existing MMOG paradigm
51 MMOG today and more than 120 in development
Gameplay in existing28 games with role playing
elements (54 )11 games with real time strategy
game play (26)6 games where game play is
focused on driving a vehicle (12)5 games which
are mainly focused on battle (10)2 games
combine role playing elements and real time
strategy (4)
Source Eladhari, 2003
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Existing MMOG paradigm
Features in developmentCreate objects within
the gameDeeper characterizationDynamic systems
for quest assignments Evolve stories that affect
the world Group dynamics with emergent political
and economic systems Themes in games in
development4 games with historic world themes
(5)24 worlds with a science fiction or post
apocalyptic themes (36)26 worlds with a general
fantasy themes (38)9 games with unique worlds
(14)5 worlds inspired by comics or anime (7)
Source Eladhari, 2003
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Majestic a new genre?
It plays you the suspense thriller that
infiltrates your life throughthe internet, fax
and telephone
Majestic goes across different media and set the
game up in the zone between real and play in a
new way.
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Majestic a new genre?

• In essence, Majestic is being set up to be a
  giant wild-goose chase over the Internet. You'll
  be fed clues through the various on- and offline
  technologies mentioned earlier, and you'll use
  them to progress through the game. Some puzzles
  can't be solved by using the Majestic Alliance or
  the Web site, however. Sometimes, for example,
  you will have to physically call a phone number
  received through an arcane fax or e-mail to
  listen to someone's voice-mail messages

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Majestic a new genre?
The game is made up by a thin client the
interface below.
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What the future holds
Broadband penetration (South Korea 70 vs. 14 in
US/Nordic Countries) Console going online new
generation in 2005 (add-on ? built in) eSports
going on television (Subculture ?
mainstream) Interest for Game cafés on the rise
(draws in new market) Cross media integration
Online games for everybody With the fun and the
perils
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Thank you
Questions, comments or consulting. sen_at_itu.dk or
egenfeldt_at_game-research.com Slides at
www.itu.dk/people/sen
Links www.game-research.com www.itu.dk
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References

• Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon (2003). Online-spil
  Start the game already in Spillets verden. Gads
  Forlag. In press.
• Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Simon (2002). Online Gaming
  Habits. http//www.game-research.com/art_online_g
  aming.asp
• Eladhari, Mirjam(2003).Trends in MMOG
  development. http//www.game-research.com/art_tre
  nds_in_mmog.asp
• Koster, Raph (2000). Online World
  Timeline.http//www.legendmud.org/raph/gaming/mud
  timeline.html
• Morris, Sue (1999a). Online Gaming
  Culture.http//www.game-culture.com/articles/onli
  negaming.html
• Mulligan, Jessica (2003). Developing online
  Games. New Riders.
• Smith, Jonas H. (2002). The Architectures of
  Trust Supporting Cooperation in the
  Computer-Supported Community. Masters thesis,
  Copenhagen University. http//www.gamasutra.com/e
  ducation/theses/20020410/smith_01.htm
• Wright, Kathryn (2001). Genderbending in games.
  WomenGamers.comhttp//www.womengamers.com/article
  s/gender.html
• Wright, Talmadge, Boria, Eric Breidenbach, Paul
  (2002). Creative Player Actions in FPS Online
  Video Games http//www.gamestudies.org/0202/wrigh
  t/