Commodities in the Virtual
Interface
(Recreated 'Nuketown' map from Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2)
What if you could an entire map of users on the screen
in front of you? After all we are not the only ones creating a virtual identity
(Van Luyn, 2013). The Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (COD) game menu has a representation of
mapped usage by means of a rotating virtual world globe. Illustrated with
bright orange dots, the globe shows the amount of players positioned around the
world in real time. The countries or areas that have predominate usage are the
United States, Central Europe, Japan, and the United Kingdom. I cannot say whether
this is a true representation; however, the distribution of usage is dominant in
relation to where the game is created and promoted. COD also has a tally of how
many people are in a certain game modes at any given time. Based on this
calculation users can assess the chances of entering a game; large amount of
users makes in relatively easy to enter whereas low numbers make it more
difficult.
The one disruption I found was that the COD game releases
updates which enables the user to purchase and download more stages or ‘map
packs’. It is not compulsory to buy the packs, however, the game has an inbuilt
advertisement (or as it called an announcement) where the latest ‘map pack’ is
described and you are directed to the ‘'store'.
McNeill (2012) states, in his work There is No “I” in Network: Social
Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography, that “We cannot forget
Facebook’s very corporate interest in community (and individual) growth: more
members, and more member activity, mean more opportunities for the site to
increase its market share and global dominance” (p. 15). The COD interface also
allows for an alternate route to joining a game if you have purchased the new
content. Having not bought the latest ‘map pack’, I found that I was limited in
entering any of the original map games because other players were routed differently.
When I did buy and download the new maps, I was amazed by the instantaneous admission
to a game. I liken this process of communication to how Chatwin (1987) described the ‘Dreaming
Tracks’ as “’A song’ he said, was both map and direction finder. Providing you
knew the song, you could always find your way across country” (p. I3). In COD, the song is the ‘map
pack’ and the country is the game and its menu. If you have the correct ‘map pack’,
you can always enter into a game.
The overall message I received from this
experience was that if you do not keep updated, you will be left out.
References
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no
‘I’ in network: Social networking sites and Posthuman/Auto-biography. In Biography,
35(1), 65-82. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au
Van Luyn, A. (2013).
BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place, Lecture 4, Networked Narratives. [Power Point
Slides] Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au
I agree Jess. As an Ex-COD player and someone who has played many games with similar methods, I can sympathize and know how much of a pain in the backside it is to be forced into buying every new 'map pack' or expansion if all you want to do is just keep up with everybody else. These advertisements are extremely effective and almost feel like they fall into the category of blackmail, as those who have bought the game but then don't follow up with the expansions get penalized. Many social networking sites make big business by sending you adds based on your Autobiographical data (McNeil, 2012). However, these online games which involve none of this data are able to do one step better, as every single person playing has one thing in common, the game. They are able to sell unlimited virtual commodity or data which requires no material cost.
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