Personal identity and the massively multiplayer online world

2016

How is that we come to know another person within the confines of a gamic interaction – to acknowledge a responsibility towards them as just that: another person? In having become accustomed to forming and carrying out relationships by means of verbal computer-mediated communication (Walther 1992: 72), a certain measured form of intimacy has arguably come to inform many of our day-to-day interactions, as we purposefully and selectively reduce our communicative faculties for the reach, speed and convenience of new media. But even as we continue to ponder how the paradigmatic efficiency of the media we use to interact shapes the ways in which we relate to one another, little has been made about the philosophical perspectives of online multiplayer games’ oftentimes entirely unique remediations of human communication: How games, as a medium for accommodating that first desire to, in existential phenomenologist Emmanuel Levinas’ words, give and receive “beyond the capacity of the I” (Lev...

Art 2.0 -Identity, Role Play and Performance in Virtual Worlds is a studio based research project positioned within the virtual world of Second Life. Focusing on identity as a key provocation, the project explores new possibilities of the use of virtual reality software in contemporary art through repositioning "in world" performances into physical installations to create mixed reality video and installations. The key difference in methodology is my approach to the work from an installation paradigm rather than code or script based models used by new media artists. The work breaks with traditional forms of visual arts practiceinstallation, new media art, video art, and performance -and attempts to bring them together in one "event". This exploration not only questions the "bastard space" 1 in which this work exists but also the nature of identity in the virtual realm and how the image of identity affects the nature of contemporary art and performance in this new frontier. The project is supported by research on role play and identity and the work of artists and theorists who utilise Second Life as a primary medium. Beginning with an examination of how role play and identity have been explored by contemporary artists such as Tracey Emin, Mariko Mori and Cindy Sherman and drawing on virtual world theorists such as Patrick Lichty, the creative component of this project includes installation, mixed reality performance and machinima. Your Clothing is Still Downloading is a multi dimensional installation which includes a live performance by the real life performers and Second Life avatar performers, pre-recorded machinima and video, a live video stream into Second Life, a virtual build of the gallery in Second Life and live projections within the gallery space. This work -which explores identity and desire -is accessible both in the gallery and via a Second Life portal. The technical demands of this work on the system often results in a major crash, negating the work in its process.

2015

Virtual worlds are becoming more and more recognized for its social capabilities. It's making a splash on the global scale as the use for virtual worlds is surpassing the expected means of the creators. The purpose of this study is to investigate how users in the virtual world of Second Life identify themselves with fellow users through their Avatars through the theory of narrative identity. In the virtual world of Second Life, there are many different avenues that users can express themselves, through the narrative plot analysis these avenues will show the relation to the users and self. .

2007

Using the virtual world Second Life as a case study, the chapter begins a social psychological exploration of how living in virtual worlds may be transforming the experience of the self in contemporary society, from the ‘insider viewpoint’ of virtual world residents. The relationship between the virtual self and the ‘real life’ self is explored using data collected and key themes elicited from 40 textual interviews conducted inworld and inductive thematic analysis. The findings indicate a variety of complex relationships between the self experienced in the physical world and Second Life. First, the degree of similarity between the actual and virtual self varies according to experience. Second, the avatar tends to be seen as a separate entity. Finally, social processes within Second Life affects how the self is experienced, by allowing exploration of aspects of the self not possible in the physical world.

Understanding identity requires understanding the communities to which we belong; virtual communities are increasingly relevant to our personal identity. While many point to alleged differences of behavior and presentation online, these are not as great as first appear; characteristics which encourage antisocial behavior online do so offline as well. Furthermore, while deception and alteration of identity are possible online, they are difficult to sustain and rooted in our understanding of physical identities. Thus while there is space between our physical and virtual representations, the two are not sharply separated. Anonymity is often used to argue for such a separation, however while there is sufficient anonymity to allow for deceptive portrayals online, it is harder to attain than most realize. I discuss ways of piercing anonymity online and possible future ramifications of our increasing ability to do so. Less anonymity will likely lead to greater responsibility for our online actions, but it also will diminish our ability to use virtual worlds for identity experimentation. I discuss positive and negative effects of the increasing connection between virtual and physical identities.

What is the Avatar? Fiction and Embodiment in Avatar-Based Singleplayer Computer Games. Revised and Commented Edition, 2022

What are the characteristic features of avatar-based singleplayer videogames, from Super Mario Bros. to Grand Theft Auto? Rune Klevjer examines this question with a particular focus on issues of fictionality and realism, and their relation to cinema and Virtual Reality. Through close-up analysis and philosophical discussion, Klevjer argues that avatar-based gaming is a distinctive and dominant form of virtual self-embodiment in digital culture. This book is a revised edition of Rune Klevjer's pioneering work from 2007, featuring a new introduction by the author and afterword by Stephan Günzel, Jörg Sternagel, and Dieter Mersch.

2017

In this paper, we address the need for a posthuman account in the relationship between the avatar and player. We draw on a particular line of thought in posthumanist theory that suggests a constantly permeable, fluid and extended subjectivity, which blurs the boundaries between human and non-human. In doing so, we propose a posthuman concept of empathy in gameplay, and we apply this concept to data from the first author’s 18-month ethnographic fieldnotes of gameplay in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. Exploring this data through our analytic of posthuman empathy, we demonstrate the interdependence of the avatar-player relationship. We show how empathy allows us to understand this relationship as constantly negotiated, producing visceral reactions in the interconnected avatar-player subject, as well as moments of co-produced in-game action that require ‘affective matching’ between subjective and embodied experiences. We argue that this account of the avatar-player relationship extends r...

Aloma: Revista de Psicologia, Ciències de l'Educació i de l'Esport

The aim of this project is to study the role that online videogames play in the way people build their identities. More specifically, the project is intended to study how people use online videogames and virtual avatars to explore alternative identities. It is possible for people to manifest entirely different versions of themselves through their virtual characters. Sometimes, those alternative identities may be a projection of what players consider ideal versions of themselves. Several variables may strengthen or hinder this capacity to project the ideal self onto a customizable “virtual self”. Some of these factors are inherent to the individual, while others may be more related to the specific game they play. The repertory grid technique will be used to explore online videogame players’ construct systems and to understand their need to explore alternative identities through their videogame characters. Other instruments will also be administrated to measure the degree of immersion...

2007

Avatars in online games and worlds are seen as players' key representations in interactions with others. It is surprising then that this aspect of game play has not received much attention in research, in particular what concerns playergenerated avatars. In this paper, we investigate the avatar design and identity play within a large-scale teen virtual world called Whyville.net with more than 1.5 million registered players ages 8-16. One unique feature of Whyville is the player's ability to customize one's avatar with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the expressive resources available for avatar construction, individual teen players' choices and rationales in creating their avatars, and online postings about avatar design in the community at large. With the growing interest in playergenerated content for online worlds such as Second Life, our discussion will address the role of avatars in identity play and self-representation as well as the social issues that arise within the game world.