Here's my thought for a possible direction for study.
At the highest levels of the game, group raids are the primary method of getting the greatest of the great unique items, and guilds form to "farm" the uniques by routinely running the toughest sections: Molten Core, Upper Blackrock Spire, Onyxia, and Zul'Gurub. Getting into guilds with these goals is a matter of serious application and interview - you're being evaluated for your committment to attending the raids and participating.
Looting the treasure found in these quests becomes a significant issue, and the guilds have to establish ground rules for how the spoils will be divided. One guild I'm part of has a pretty laidback, "we'll work it out" attitude about looting, but they're not running the elite quests. The guild my mentor Ken is a part of has very defined rules which factor in raid attendance, level, contribution, and class into a point system, which then allows players to bid for unique items. The rules allow players to spend more than they have (a credit card system), but there appears to be some credit limits set by guild leaders too.
My thought - develop a survey about looting rules, and how they were developed, and then approach a bunch of guild leaders to gather their input. I'm not sure what literature we tie it to outside of the game, but there's got to be some lit about how communities distribute benefits in shared ventures, academic or otherwise.
Here's an example of the looting system: http://www.fragfest.com/DPK_Points_Explained.cfm
Okay. Yes, interesting and cool. Very.
ReplyDeleteThe big question is, what is the value/utility of this information? What is it evidence of? What questions does it answer, and are they important or useful questions?
Give that some thought.
That's why it's critical that we begin with a theoretical framework, and it's why I've been noodling around, expecting an emergent idea (see 11/24 posting). I have one now, and want to discuss it with you all. It may serve your interests, or you may have another idea.
So... it's not just what does it illustrate? It's also, is that important? For instance, a CoP analysis of that level of play or that niche of play is possible. You could find and document instantiations of each feature of a CoP. But, so what?
A more compelling exercise is to tackle an unresolved problem of CoPs, e.g., how to get them up and functional. A subset notion of that might revolve around Knowledge Management/Knowledge Creation and Sharing. These two ideas are recognized as critical in the workplace, and are also recognized as nearly impossible to accomplish. Why is it not the same problem in MMOG play?
To look at an instance of KM/KS in a CoP which exists in WoW, for instance, might be done in order to reveal what the circumstances that support and even initiate KM/KS activity.
Did that make sense?
Hmm, I actually like that one and it's going on my formal agenda of issues to cover in this research group.
Peace Out,
Hallgrima
ps
Eric, this topic could serve you in next semester's ED 770B class.
I returned to this topic because I've been thnking about the guild aspect more now that I am actually in a guild.
ReplyDeleteI think the guild definitely needs studying. I"ve seen two instances in which a party leader has chastised a party member on the topic of loot. .