Part 2 Gaming War: Medievalism in Virtual Worlds - Essay Example

[9 December Gaming War: Medievalism in Virtual Worlds Answer While producers of Massive Multiplayer Online (Role-Playing) Games [MMOGs] are the ones who created the characters in these games, it is history that had largely contributed in the creation of good vs. evil characters present in the gameplay. The MMOG’s producers give representation of the supposed personalities of the characters in the games through the appearance, costumes, and cultures among others. Although these representations seem to effectively portray the roles of the characters in the game, the depiction of these characters in the past still affect the notion of the players toward these characters.

The Orcs of the Hordes in the World of Warcraft for instance, its character is portrayed in the game as “savage but noble” and yet players label them as a bad character. Take for example the Indian University Telecommunications professor Edward Castronova in Losh’s writing, he created violent reactions from fellow players when he posted in his blog the phrase “The Horde is Evil” (Losh 161). Losh explained it saying that the words “troll”, “orc”, and “undead” already imply evil creatures (Losh 161).

Characters that were already part of the past have established meanings that are instilled in the minds of the players. Therefore, it is indeed history that is partly to blame in the creation of good vs. evil characters.Answer # 2: Although many of the concepts in Massive Multiplayer Online (Role-Playing) Games [MMOGs] were derived from past theories and writings, many deliberate revisions were made especially in that of Augustine’s just war theory. Probably, the most blatant of these revisions is the discrimination between soldiers and civilians employed in the games.

Specifically, this becomes evident in the World of Warcraft as Losh writes, “principle of discrimination between combatants and non-combatants in the conduct of war was most frequently cited” (Losh 166). Producers of [MMOGs] create a sensationalized story to provide the plot of the game which makes players achieve a certain goal through their playing experience. It is true with Blizzard Entertainment as they provide a back story included with the disc of the game World of Warcraft (Losh 160).

The World of Warcraft provides a “rhetoric of cultural difference” which emphasizes the concept of violence as a product of contrasting values between two groups (Losh 161). The game further uses characters that are portrayed to have different cultures in which one culture is superior over the other. It may be in the form of the combatants being superior over non-combatants. This is just one illustration on how MMOGs has promoted racial discrimination to justify war and violence. It opposes the principle of Augustine’s just war theory as Cicero writes, “It follows that wars should be undertaken for the one purpose of living peaceably without suffering injustice” (Losh 162).

The “just war” theory does not suggest a context of discrimination in the conduct of war but only to achieve peace at the end of the battle. This is the most blatant revision in MMOGs and this is probably to sensationalize the story to attract more players to the point that it does not anymore reflect fairness and reality.Works CitedLosh, Elizabeth. “Regulating Violence in Virtual Worlds: Theorizing Just War and Defining War Crimes in World of Warcraft,” Pacific Coast Philology 44.2 (2010): 159-172. Print.Pearce, Celia.

“Narrative Environments from Disneyland to World of Warcraft.” In Space, Time, Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level. Friedrich von Borries, Steffan P. Walz, and Matteas Bottger (eds). Basel: Birkhauser, 2007. Print.