Comments on: Avatars aren’t tokens

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:48:45 +0000

I’d say that if you can customize your avatar at all, you have already, by the very act of customizing it, imbued it with more significance than a mere token.

I’d probably also say that un-customizable avatars (do any even exist these days?) that rely on graphics also are more than simple tokens… Heck, I have a certain (though very small) attachment to the Hat and the Car in Monopoly, and those really ARE just tokens and don’t actually represent a hat or a car.

Obviously avatars aren’t actually people, but in order for a virtual world to work and make any sense at all, I’d say we *need* to imbue those avatars with some significance… otherwise you just have one red dot talking to another red dot. Sure, my tiny, pudgy, short, male, white-haired gnome warrior in WOW may really just be the equivalent of a tiny red dot to the system running WOW, but to everyone who is *using* those systems, he’s not a red-dot, but a tiny, pudgy, short, male, white-haired gnome warrior.

By: The Grouchy Gamer » Blog Archive » Shut Up We’re Talking #47

The Grouchy Gamer » Blog Archive » Shut Up We’re Talking #47 — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:49:47 +0000

[...] Avatars are not Tokens [...]

By: Michael Chui

Michael Chui — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:36:42 +0000

Goffman was the main textbook in the class I wrote my research paper for. If y’all want more awesome links like the one I dropped a couple days ago, just say so. Most of it’s online anyway.

I just finished reading it today. Your paper’s on my reading backlog; if you’ve got more, I’d be interested.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:28:17 +0000

It depends on the context. In some games, for some players, avatars are just a cursor. In this game http://www.avapeeps.com/ avatars feel like they are just a card in a card game, which is probably less than the game designers wished for. In SL avatars feel much richer, but even there its quite different for different people depending on their in-world activities.

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 08 May 2009 23:11:29 +0000

Goffman was the main textbook in the class I wrote my research paper for. If y’all want more awesome links like the one I dropped a couple days ago, just say so. Most of it’s online anyway.

By: Michael Chui

Michael Chui — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:21:53 +0000

but isnt it more interesting that when we go all the way back…and look at human history and our manipulation of reality/others that its “humans” that are “said” to be the “avatars” of the gods… and not the “gods” that are created by us as our “avatars”?

http://www.amazon.com/Presentation-Self-Everyday-Life/dp/0385094027

By: cube3

cube3 — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:49:17 +0000

the greeks wore masks ..lol

but isnt it more interesting that when we go all the way back…and look at human history and our manipulation of reality/others that its “humans” that are “said” to be the “avatars” of the gods… and not the “gods” that are created by us as our “avatars”?

lots of broken toys unless we grow up WITH our toys.

By: len

len — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:15:23 +0000

Lewis Caroll was a prophet. Alice lives.

By: Andrew Crystall

Andrew Crystall — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:04:07 +0000

Yes, you need add a psychologist to the statistician, economist and the various other scientists you should have on your initial MMO design team. Sure, it’s not cheap, but failing to consider each and every one of these issues can be even more expensive later.

Also, there is probably something in the fact that I allways use female avatars. Heh.

By: cube

cube — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:25:51 +0000

So who born after 1980 ever KEEPS their first “TEDDY BEAR”? or “FAV TOY”? the precentage of the answer “me” answers the future for the quality of life in Metaworlds.

How many Furbys littered the game industries offices in 1999? How many more “Robosapians” died in 2009?

And dont even think about how many dogs and cats live in central california today around Silly valley and unpaid for houses….:)

Or how we “teach the children -well”….joni m.

oh yeah, meta makes it all new and shiny..and we need new laws too…;)

“Hoppi Wakes Up” 2001
LarryR
cube3