Transnational Play

Hey all,

I'm a student at Trinity University. I'm currently doing research in my games for the web class and we're looking at transnational play in MMORPGs. Below is a press release on our class and research:

Researchers at Trinity University invite gamers to propose strategies for nurturing cross-cultural interaction in on-line games and virtual worlds.

San Antonio, Texas / November 22, 2009 – Researchers at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, concerned about increasingly region-locked MMORPGs, are asking players, politicians and game developers for input on how to solve the problem.

Researchers understand that game operators often have good reasons for walling off virtual worlds. Region locking is one way of circumventing strict content regulations in countries like China and Australia. It can also be a logical response to concerns about technical support. Furthermore, many companies are forced to engage in region locking under the terms of strict licensing agreements that limit the jurisdiction of their business.

But these new practices have made the world of online games smaller and less culturally diverse. When virtual worlds first emerged, they were accessible to people from around the globe. Players overcame language barriers and gained deeper understanding of other cultures. On-line connections often evolved into real-world friendships. Now, most MMORPGs segregate players according to national and geographic boundaries. Many companies engage in region locking, using IP addresses to filter out players from other countries.

“Our goal is to gather a wide range of opinions, experiences and recommendations related to the phenomenon of transnational play,†says games researcher Aaron Delwiche. “We firmly believe that every voice deserves to be heard, and so far have translated project materials into English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.â€

Researchers hope to identify creative ways that players, game developers and industry professionals can nurture opportunities for cross-cultural interaction in virtual worlds. To do this, the Worldplay Project team is looking for volunteers to translate, post the survey to game forums around the world or provide specific suggestions through the survey.

As the project continues, Worldplay researchers will post the raw data – with the exception of personally identifiable information – on the project site.

“It is important for players to know that we’re not asking them to give us something for nothing,†says Delwiche. “In exchange for their time and ideas, we promise to make the data available to the entire gaming community.â€

I'd be happy to elaborate on our research if people are interested.

 

We actually have translated our research questionnaire into Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese, and now French, so we're looking for gamers from all over the globe to participate in our study.

I'll try to post some links to our website and current raw data soon if there is interest.

 

Sorry for the long post by the way. I'll try to keep the rest of my posts concise and to the point.

 

Right now we have researchers playing many of the different role playing games out right now. We have some people playing playing more known MMORPGs like DDO and Wow but we have have people playing the other MMORPGs out there like City of Heroes, Mu Online, Eve Online, Lord of the Rings, and a lot of other different MMOs trying to find international players.

I'll be sure to post links up to the website, it'll explain our research a lot better and the people involved.

 

Sorry for the confusion.

We don't actually make games. We are playing current MMORPGs and conducting a study on game-play mechanics of these games and the gamers in these virtual worlds. We are also focusing on promoting international play, where players from all around the world can play online with each other without region-locking.

 

Here is a link to our research. This should clear up any confusion about our project.

Here are the responses to the survey we have done with gamers.

I'll post the link to the survey if people are interested in giving their opinions on international gaming

 

Interesting. Didn't hear about that case before. I'll check that out. Thanks!

 

Here is a direct link to our survey if you want to give your opinion on region locking and transnational play. You do not have to provide any personal information, we're just interested in hearing your thoughts on the issues related to online play.

And here are our research methods if you have any questions or concerns about our study.

 

Hello again everyone.

I am just updating all of you on the data we have collected so far. We have had over 250 people do our survey and here is the data and the website. Check it out!