Analysis of a Type of Online Game Known as Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM Poker - Literature review Example

Virtual community is a group of people who interact through social networks. In these social networks the interaction is through communication as opposed to the face to face kind of communication. According to Howard Rheingold, people who use computers for communication in most cases form what is known as a community. The friendships formed through communication are the basis of communities. This paper is going to focus on a type of online game known as Facebook Zynga Texas Hold”EM Poker. The main focus is going to be on how this game plays a role in creating a virtual community. The virtual community, in their mode of interaction in this case, online games form a culture. In fact the impact of virtual communities can be felt through the online games. This case study is supposed to create an image of the use of the Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” Poker in creating a strong virtual community. This case study in particular is going to focus in part on the literature review and in part on the Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” Poker game itself. There are many platforms that are used in the social gaming and Face book is just one of those platforms. In this case face book makes the rules and the companies that produce the games have to abide by those rules and the methodology set by the face book platform. Face book has made the Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game to flourish online through its openness that equals more users. This enables the real life friends to experience the more social and connected game play. Koivitso E says that the community formed has some things in common for instance they may have a shared purpose interests and needs; they may also share other things like the information exchange or service that provides reason for community. Koivisto E argues that communities do not exist without communication. In any game there are procedures that define how the game is going to be played. In these procedures it is clear on why it is important for the players to co-operate and compete with one another. These procedures are the ones that create sub-communities in which the players find it useful to be part of. In the Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game a player can create his/her own content. With this kind of support on the player created content the game is actually made even more interesting and the game community is made even stronger. With a flexible environment the game provides settings that allow two or more players to interact and share with their friends in their respective communities that they have formed. In the Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game the interaction among the players has an enormous effect on the individual players themselves. The interaction among the players is the only thing that motivates the player to keep playing the game. Like most other online games the player may be addicted to this game and this is very dangerous. The question that has been asked by many critics is that this can present the society with grave social matters to deal with. There are other various past researches that have concentrated on the creation of the virtual communities mainly through online communication. According to Goldsworthy K, (2008) there are different types of members in any virtual community that may also apply to the other types of online virtual community. For instance there is the IT staff that is concerned with; configuring and maintaining servers, configuring and maintaining the database, they are responsible for capacity planning and infrastructure and also networking. According to Kathie Goldsworthy (2008) internet makes it easier for people to meet in similar situations than it is in real life. This is very applicable to the Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game; for instance, it is possible for the people who have specialized unique interests in playing online games to interact. The internet has also made it possible for thus community albeit not able to meet face to face as its members are spread across the world and can enjoy and interact through the many-to-many communication that is provided by the e-mail list. Through the internet interaction the members of this community can actually broaden and strengthen their ties. Koivisto M, argues that online games (the Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game) provides the broadest ways of communication. In this community the more the player can actively contact other players the more he is to actively contribute to the game’s social structure. Communication in this community in most cases is non-verbal for instance the player can change the state of the game by communicating indirectly to change the state of the game world. Since the characters in this community interact through face book their conversation can be asynchronous. In this way a member of this community can leave a message in a forum or to a character that is offline. This communication is not only restricted from only one person to another but it can vary that is from one-to-one to many-to-many. The later is more dominant as the game (Facebook Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game) has approximately more than 12,274,689 monthly active users. (Chan L, 2009). This game is found on the games category in Facebook and the application is developed in Facebook. The aim of this game is to actually make people enjoy greater social and connected experiences. About Face book Zynga Texas Hold EM” poker game According to Chan L, 2009, Zynga a face book application game is free to play and so far it attracts more than 12 million users monthly. Through the Zynga platform players from all over the world can actually play the game from the convenience of their homes , through this game they can also win a seat to the biggest poker tournament in the world. The game can be accessed online through face book, my space, Bebo, yahoo, tagged and Hi5. The websites must be able to use the Zynga poker chips that can be bought online. The transfer of chips is instant and can be done by contracting face book poker chips and then opening a private room. In this game one is not restricted to just reading about the game online but one can actually call in live and chat with the merchants of the game themselves. It is possible therefore to solve any problems that one might be experiencing. One can actually choose to play online the real poker with real money and bet with other people in the game. A person may also choose to play the Zynga poker on face book. This makes it even more interesting as the player can choose a group or another person if he finds the task harder to complete alone. Moreover the players of this game can seat at the table and cheat therefore making the game fun and even more interesting. On how to player the game better and cheat the player can follow. This can be done by the users connecting to face book to find the directions on how to cheat zynga from free videos that are provided. Although the face book poker is for free and does not involve money the players strive to out do one another in the game. Before one enrolls to play in this game he/she has to have a face book account and a basic grasp of the rules require in playing this game. This online game is designed in such a way that it has a table waiting for the player to log in and play. Zynga Hold” Em poker has been made popular due to the worldwide series of poker and celebrity poker show down. In this game a community is formed since the player cannot play alone. As a matter of fact Texas Hold ‘Em poker is played with two “hole cards” which are only dealt to a player and a shared set of community cards, that are placed face up in the centre of the table. According to Mahalo’s guide a minimum of two players are required to play the game. First the two players have to put in the small blind and big blind. A blind can be defined as an obligatory bet that is required for a game to begin to be played. When it is a player’s turn to contribute to the game the computer responds by beeping. This first step is followed by a second one in which each player is dealt two cards. The game proceeds with a round of betting that starts with the player to the left of the one who contributed the big blind. It is a requirement that each and every player must at least much the amount of the big blind so as to continue playing. The original player with the big blind has two options which is to either check or raise. The fourth step is called the flop in which the dealer deals three cards facing up on the table. This is again followed with another around of betting. The sixth step is where by the dealer deals a fourth card facing up on the table, in poker this move is referred to as the turn. After the turn there is another round of betting. This round of betting is followed by the river, where the dealer deals a fifth card face up on the table. At this point the players are required to deal again. The tenth and final step involves the last two or more remaining players. The last set of players has to show their cards in order to determine the winner. For one to be declared the winner he/she has to have the best 5-card poker hand formed with his/her hole cards and any other combination f the community cards on the table. Moves made by a Player The end purpose of this Texas Hold Em game is to create the best potential combination of five cards. This game is almost similar to the normal poker as the hand that ranks higher is similar to that in the normal poker game. A character/player is faced with several options when it is his/her turn of betting. Initially if a player ha a weak hand or if the betting is otherwise too high for him he should fold. Folding in this case simply refers to dropping out of play. This action involves surrendering your cards, by placing them face down on the table and then sliding them to your dealer. A player can check; in this case the player can actually pass on his/her turn without folding if no one else has the bet. The player can say “check” or tap the table. In a situation where everyone has checked in the first round of the draw game, the player then has an opportunity to draw a new card without the risk his money or quitting the game. Players can also call the game. Calling is to bet the same amount of money as the preceding player. If other players have already bet then the least a player can do is to remain in the game is to call the previous bet. The final move to be taken is raising the bet where the player bets more than the previous player. One of the advantages of this game is that players of the zynga face book game can get a chance to play the real poker if they get to win on the face book. This further creates a virtual community where even more players enroll to compete for the top price. On the other hand this game has been criticized for it can create the working class people in a negative way by making them less productive for they will spend a lot of time on the internet. References: Chan L, 2009. Zynga and World Series of Poker Go All-In with Major Tournament Co-Promotion. Retrieved 28th May, 2009 from http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS137569+14-May-2009+BW20090514 Read More