DIGRA paper wrapped and delivered

My paper (“The problem of other players – in-game collaboration as collective action”) for the upcoming DIGRA conference now resides on some benign Canadian webserver. The brief abstract runs as follows:

This paper explores the development in game design of collaborative relationships between players, proposes a typology of such relationships and argues that one type of game design makes games a continuous experiment in collective action (Olson, 1971). By framing in-game conflict within the framework of economic game theory the paper seeks to highlight the importance of already well-developed models from other fields for the study of electronic games.

Videogame doctors

A recent ill-informed CNN money article asked “What’s next: a Ph.D. in video gaming?
Well, duh! – but I started a small count and actually, the number of game PhD’s to be is quite impressive.
Below is a list of people that I can think of, top of my head, who are speeding towards ludic doctor-hood.

But first the ones who made it (strong focus on games only):
– Mary Ann Buckles (see post on Ludology.org)
– Espen Aarseth (no decent link, as Dr. Aarseth believes the WWW thing will blow over)
Lisbeth Klastrup
Jesper Juul
Lars Konzack
Dmitri Williams

En route (in order of randomness):
Gonzalo Frasca, IT University of Copenhagen
Miguel Sicart, IT University of Copenhagen
Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, IT University of Copenhagen
Sara Mosberg, IT University of Copenhagen
Troels Folmann, IT University of Copenhagen
Jonas Heide Smith, IT University of Copenhagen
Chek Yang Foo, Curtin University of Technology
Mirjam Eladhari, Gotland University
– Elina Koivisto, Nokia Research Center (Finland)
Lisa Galarneau, University of Waikato
Constance Steinkuehler, University of Wisconsin–Madison
– Kristine Jørgensen, University of Copenhagen
Gitte Stald, University of Copenhagen
Charlie Breindahl, University of Copenhagen
Anne Mette Thorhauge, University of Copenhagen
– Marinka Copier, University of Utrecht
Christian Ulrik Andersen, University of Århus
Julian Kuecklich, Ulster University
Peter Zackariasson, Umeå School of Business and Economics
Laurie Taylor, University of Florida
Sean Fenty, University of Florida

Okay, this list is hopelessly incomplete. Please tell me some of the names that my tired brain didn’t come up with.

Studying player collaboration

In the very near future I’ll begin work on studying the concrete social interaction of real people playing various types of multiplayer games (games with different patterns of collaboration). The project involves both qualitative interviews and structured observation.

There are many possibilites for (ITU) students to collaborate on this project, so if you are one or know one, with interests running in this direction, get in touch.

The medium is the message

[DANISH] – Here‘s yours truly speaking briefly about the study of multiplayer games on DR’s P1 Morgen (fast-forward to around 17:10). All in honour of Other Players.
The interview was cut a little short, so the public was cheated of some planned thoughtful-yet-humorous responses such as my (probably eagerly anticipated) Tolstoy-Chess analogy.

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So they thought they could mainstream gaming, study it and lay bare all its secrets? Thought they could clean it up and make room for newcomers who would be judged on their merits alone? Well, they thought wrong (‘they’ often do).
As always, the old-timers find ways of remaining exclusive. As is often the case this happens by inventing slang or even entire codes that only the initiated can negotiate safely. Leetspeek had to happen.
Here’s this blog in Leetspeek, courtesy of The l33t Surfer.