Pearce- Section V

Section V

A New Chapter in Uru

In Chapter 15, Pearce describes her experiences helping with the re-launch of Myst Online: Uru Live. She is asked by Turner Broadcasting to pull together further research regarding the Uru refugees. She describes her surprise and delight at the prospect of being allowed to assist the group of people she has been studying for over two years. She would be continuing her research while gathering additional “demographic, play pattern, and marketing-related data the team needed for design, planning and business development” (264). This was a perfect assignment for her and allowed her to gain a unique perspective of the efforts that go into launching an online world. Through this experience, she was able to further research the way a group with an unusual demographic, TGU was composed primarily of baby boomers, would react to the new world available to them. She discovered that unlike the “typical gamers” who are “primarily male college students and recent grads,” TGUers had “more disposable income and free time” to devote to a variety of online worlds (267). They were willing to spend “hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month” on items and real estate in-world (267). The specific demographics of the group seem to explain the extreme cohesion of the TGUers.

Pearce also describes the importance of “the relationship between creators and players” (267). She explains that because the designer’s vision is so highly regarded, the designers were sometimes seen as “deities of sorts” (267). With the unfortunate second closing of Uru, the designer and administrators played a much different role than the first time around. Their early announcement of the closing, the warnings sent out and the in-world visit by Rand Miller on the last day showed the players that the management actually cared. It was a much less jarring and hurtful experience. The advanced warning and the existing settlements in There.com and SecondLife gave the refugees a place to move on to after the closing.

Communication is the Key

Chapter 16 focuses on the importance of interaction between game designers and the players of the games they create. She describes the role that “community managers” play in this relationship (273). The problem, she says, with community managers is that they are not always privy to the authentic interactions and cultural practices of the players. She contends that designers should spend a large amount of time in-world learning how the players engage with each other and the game and use that information to guide further additions or redesigns of the game. She gave the example of The Sims Online to illustrate how effects of the lack of communication can become “catastrophic” (272). Pearce recommends the use of anthropologists or ethnographers to prevent this disconnect. She explains that “cyberethnographers” can provide information regarding not only what is good and enjoyed within their games, but also the aspects of other games and sites that are disliked by the players. Understanding what is disliked, shows what should be avoided in future redesigns and what positives should be emphasized.

Corporate Controlled Self-Expression? 

The book’s last chapter is a discussion of the place MMOW’s and MMOG’s play in current society and the possibilities for them in the future. She emphasizes the importance of identity and the need for expression as the main draws to online worlds. Players need a “sense of belonging and community” within a real world of that may stifle their self-expression. The negative societal views of play have begun to erode and have been replaced with the idea of “productive play” and the wide-spread use of social and information networks. The prevalence of networked games and social networks has opened up the possibility of connecting with other like-minded people from distant parts of the country or world. This research allows us to view the types of “unique bonds and connections that can form within a play community” (279). Virtual worlds provide a platform for players to express aspects of themselves or even their “true self” without the repercussions dealt with in the real world.

Pearce goes on to explain the reality of the corporate control of the various online worlds and the unfortunate truth that the corporations have the right to close these worlds at their discretion. She contends that if these worlds are to thrive, the corporations and the players have to find a way to communicate. The use of ethnographers or other researchers, she feels, would bridge the gap between players and designers.

Discussion Questions:

1.      If the Myst Online: Uru Live had been re-launched earlier, prior to the complete establishment of other online settlements, would the eventual closing have been a more traumatic event?

2.      Should there be regulations regarding the closing of virtual worlds possibly including notification given a specific length of time prior to closing?

3.      Would the common use of researchers/ethnographers within virtual worlds cause players to view and interact with them in a less engaging way? Would this be seen as spying by management?

Section III and IV

Pearce Sections 3 and 4:

Section 3 of Pearce’s book focuses on her research methodology and the reasons behind it. She states that the purpose for this chapter was to present her methods for review and to encourage other researchers to do the same. She felt that there was a need for a more open discussion of research methodology. She also explains her use of “crystallization” method rather than “triangulation” (200). She feels that when observing social behavior, it is impossible to assign it a fixed point, and therefore you need to be able to analyze “data from different angles, different subjectivities, and at different scales” (200). She described, in detail, her fieldwork including group interviews, individual interviews, screen shots, and videos.  It was interesting to learn that some MMOW’s automatically save chat logs into a file for you. She also explained her need for “native assistance” and how she employed this person in data collection and providing research leads. Pearce explained that her choices regarding methodology had been selected from her examinations of other social behavior studies. She also explained her need to increase her “participant engagement” in order to more fully study and understand the group dynamics.

I found Section 4 to be the most interesting section so far. Pearce begins by writing through (“as”) Artemesia to explain the importance of the avatar to the study of MMOW’s and the groups that inhabit them. She explains that the avatar is not solely created by the individual player, but is, over time, “socially constructed” by the members of the group (216). She also explains that “as the avatar has been socially constructed, so has the person” (216). We are then presented with an “ethnographic memoir” of her experiences “consist{ing} of journal entries taken while the research was under way” (215). The journal entries chronicle some of the more pivotal moments from her fieldwork.

Real World Article= Virtual World Scandal 

I was especially interested in two specific events. The first involves the publication of the newspaper article about the group and her research. The journalist, who is not named, writes an offensive article based on one interview and on watching Pearce conduct fieldwork one evening. In this article the journalist describes the group’s activities as “crazy” and the group assumes the comment is a direct quotation or reflection of Pearce’s true feelings. With this in mind, they openly shun Artemesia in-world, and begin a thread in the forum composed almost entirely of “flaming” posts. This immediate and strong reaction is due in part to the protective nature of the players toward their group. Pearce must then regain the trust of the group and uses individual contacts and eventually a post to the group on the forum. This experience requires a major change in her research methods because it exposes the group’s belief that she is not really part of them and that this causes her understanding of them to be skewed. This entire sequence of events was quite intriguing to me. It was interesting to see how the group reacted in a near unanimous and impassioned way. Yet, the players were still willing to give her a chance to explain and tell her side of the story.

Gender Representation

The second event that I found most fascinating was the revelation that Raena’s real life avi was a man. After reading accounts of two other “true gender confessions” and hearing Raena’s reactions to them, I was surprised to learn that she was a man in real life. Pearce describes the avatar of Raena as being a normal woman, not overly sexualized (as is common when men create female avatars), and that her voice was feminine. Pearce also describes Raena as her best friend in-world and that she has a hard time seeing her as anything other than a woman. After posting a confession on the forum, which was the new custom, Raena becomes Raenen complete with masculine voice. The description of the difficulty “Steve” had with using a masculine voice in-world surprised me. I had not considered the idea that since his entire experience in these virtual worlds had been as a woman, he would have difficulty representing himself as a man or using his normal masculine voice. The description of this experience clearly illustrates the players’ level of commitment to their avatars. I was also somewhat surprised at the reaction of the group to his confession. Their willingness to support whatever decision he made regarding choice of avatar showed their acceptance of “Steve” in either form. Although all three cross gender representations were the result of different motivations, all of them were accepted and supported.

Discussion Questions

1.      Does the use of an opposite gender avatar allow for the player to express less evident aspects of themselves or does it force the creation of a “new” self?    

2.      Are the intimate relationships created in virtual worlds likely to translate well to the real world?

3.      Why is it so much easier to be open and honest in a virtual world, and not in the real world?

      

Pearce Section II- Shared Trauma and Identity

Section II

Section II of Pearce’s Communities of Play tells a more complete history of the group, referred to as TGU, the Myst game series, and the later dispersion of the group to a variety of new MMOW’s. She also examines how the construction of the game made it more attractive to certain personality types. The group that formed within the online world was made up of like-minded people who had certain traits that made their group quite strong and caused them to band together for support after their online world ended.

Shared Trauma

There were two major concepts that I found to be most intriguing. The first is the concept of shared trauma as a unifying agent. Upon hearing of the inevitable shutdown of the game, the players did not simply move on to another game or quit playing all together. They immediately began searching for ways to prevent the shutdown as well as options for how to function after the shutdown occurred. They were not willing to give up the relationships that had been created between players within the game. She presents the loss of the play/social space, as an expulsion from their “homeland” similar to the experiences of real-world refugees. They were losing a “place” that had brought together a group of real-world “loners” and allowed them to meet and bond with others like themselves. There were specific traits that were highly valued due to the construction of the game, and these values had a direct impact on the response of the players to losing their space. When the shutdown was announced, the players’ explorer qualities, which were a key to successful progress within the game, led them to seek out other MMOW’s where they could continue to gather as a group and to also set up a text based forum to keep the group united until the search was completed.

Pearce describes the day of the shutdown and how the players reacted during the game’s final few hours. They gathered “in-world” and “talked, told each other stories, and played hide-and-seek” (88). Then just minutes before the scheduled shutdown, “they moved into a circular configuration close enough so that their avatars would appear to be holding hands” (88). This is a very similar reaction to the way people respond to a real-world disaster or crisis. The players then “spontaneously” “regrouped in the chat area of the Koalanet forum” (89). They were able to share their feelings of grief and maintain those relationships created within the game. Many players “continue to cite this shared trauma as a factor in their deep emotional connection to one another” (89). Pearce even describes the players being protective of one another in other MMOW’s due to their shared experience.  

Identity Construction  

The second concept I found most interesting is the idea of identity construction as a joining of avatar (visual representation), individual personality and traits, and social feedback. Pearce describes the act of creating an avatar within the game Uru as not being “tied in any way to point values or game mechanics” (112). This allowed the players much more freedom to design avatars that were “modified versions of themselves” (115) and could be used as “a form of expression” (114). For some disabled players, the creation of an avatar allowed for embodied actions which may not be physically possible for them in the real-world. One player referred to losing the server, and thereby her avatar and her friends, as “a kind of death” (119). This statement shows the level of connection most players felt toward their avatar. In addition, many group members also became “attached” to the avatars of others within their group. One example of this was the male who played a female avatar, including using a female voice, and who eventually revealed to the group that he was actually a male. By this point, so many of the other players “had become attached to the female character,” (120) that “he returned to the female avatar as his primary in-game character” (121). He even decided to continue speaking in the female voice knowing the “other players were now aware that he was male” (121). This shows the role that social interaction and feedback play in the establishment and evolution of identity. Pearce terms this as “intersubjective accomplishment,” which is defined as “the product of an ongoing and dynamic set of social transactions and feedback” (119). The player decides which skills or traits are valued over others and bases future character behavior on the feedback from the group. The more positive feedback received from the group, the more the desired behavior is exhibited.

This section really highlighted the idea that virtual identity is strongly connected to real-world identity, even though the two personas can be quite different. The group’s reference to themselves as refugees gives great insight into how strongly they connected to their virtual identity within that specific world, but also to the motivation to maintain that identity when entering other worlds.

Discussion Questions:

1.      Are the impacts of the social interactions on identity more or less influential than the person’s own sense of self? Can positive feedback bring out abilities or strengths in people that would not have come to light on their own?

2.      Does the shared trauma experienced by the players in the virtual world have effect their choices in real-world situations? For example, make them less trusting of corporations or their guarantees?

3.      Could the use of avatars in virtual worlds help NEWLY disabled people cope with their real-world restrictions, or would it serve to emphasize their new limitations?  

Pearce Section 1

In the first section of Pearce’s book, Communities of Play, she presents the basis of her research as well as the history of both games and the study of play. Pearce’s research centers on “play communities” and more specifically “ludology,” “the study of digital games,” as they are used within play communities (5). Her main focus is on the genre of digital games known as MMOG’s (Massive Multiplayer Online Games) or MMOW’s (Massive Multiplayer Online Worlds) and how the players of these games interact. She explains that these networked games have allowed for the creation of “increasingly complex play communities that traverse geographical and temporal boundaries”(6).  Within these communities, players participate in the “collective creation of belief” which serves to enhance their individual experiences (17).  The players inhabit the world in the form of an avatar, who is chosen and often modified by the player.

Most players view their avatar as an extension of themselves within the game. The personality of their avatar, however, may be quite different from that presented by the player in the “real world.” This allows the player to adopt a variety of identities that may otherwise be suppressed due to the constraints of “real world” society. Just as people adopt “different personalities or personas in their different real-life roles,” the same is done in virtual worlds. However, the range of acceptable “identities” is much broader in virtual worlds, given that the player can construct a variety of avatars to embody each persona. The player is not confined by their real life appearance, nationality or gender. Their avatar can be designed any way the player chooses to fit the needs of their projected persona.  “Because play is ultimately a form of expression […] it opens up avenues for personal and social development that provide alternatives to real-life roles” (24). Players tend to view the friendships created within these virtual communities as “equally authentic” to those in their offline lives.

Virtual worlds are seen as being divided into two groups, ludic and paidiac  worlds. Ludic worlds have a “formal structure of objectives and a set of constraints that dictate how those objectives might be met” (28). Paidiac worlds allow players to “engage in open-ended, unstructured, creative play, although they typically allow for more structured play to emerge at the players’ discretion” (28). The two games we are working with are viewed as paidiac  worlds or “sandboxes” that allow for unstructured play. As is stated in the definition, we are allowed to create structured play within the world, but we are not required to operate within constraints imposed by the designer. With this freedom, we have the ability to design games with any chosen objective. This environment lends itself to the creation of educational games because the objectives and allowable completion strategies can be tailored to any topic or principle.  These environments allow for learning within a realm of “suspend{ed} consequences” (31). By basing our game within a “co-created” world, players are not only allowed to “build their own spaces, create their own artifacts, and vary their avatars,” creation can be a means of assessment in itself (32).

In our games, both in Mindcraft and SecondLife, the player is required to create something to be assessed. In Mindcraft, they are creating a house to protect their avatar from danger. In SecondLife, the player is creating a story that will protect their tourists from danger. While the goals may be different, teamwork skills vs. storytelling ability, the player is essentially creating a protective barrier from the dangers of the world. The concept of protection is a universal idea that can be understood by people in any part of the world.

Pearce discusses the rapid development of social processes in months or days that normally would take years. This environment of rapid development combined with the players intense bond with their avatar have lead to the idea of avatar rights. I found this to be particularly interesting. Players tend to see their avatar as having rights similar to those found in their real life world. Problems arise when the assumed rights of avatars “come into conflict with virtual world owners” (41). These owners may choose to handle the conflicts in a number of ways, sometimes including “virtual death” through the banning of the player. I would not have considered an avatar to have rights, but I think the issue is the players rights regarding their avatar and the “intellectual property” associated with it. With the global nature of online environments, it is very difficult to create or enforce laws for virtual worlds. It would also inhibit the designers of games by deciding what is or is not appropriate.

Discussion Questions:

1.      How far should avatar rights extend? What should they cover?

2.      Is there a limit to the types of worlds or communities that can be created in the virtual realm?

3.      If there were rules or a bill of rights created for online environments, who should control it?    

Chapters 8-11

Learning and Procedural Rhetoric

This section begins with a discussion of the two most common educational schools of thought: behaviorism and constructivism. Behaviorism is defined as learning through reinforcement. Very simply put positive behavior should be encouraged or rewarded, and negative behavior should be discouraged or punished. This is the education theory most widely used in public school classrooms. It serves to relegate learning to a behavioral response rather than an individual mental process. In the modern classroom, behaviorism creates a compliant and docile workforce who is ready to accept direction with little to no questioning. Throughout my time in public schools, this is the main method of “teaching” that I observed, and it is the method I was told to follow.

Constructivism presents that “the learner ‘constructs’ knowledge individually, that learning is inseparable from the learner’s interaction with the environment. (234)” Constructivism focuses on the individual learner as opposed to behaviorism’s focus on the general response of the group.  Frobel, who invented kindergarten, writes that “the purpose of education is to encourage and guide man as a conscious, thinking and perceiving being in such a way that he becomes a pure and perfect representation of that divine inner law through his own personal choice. (235)” “In the kindergarten classroom, personal experience yields an understanding of the world. (235)” The constructivist strategy is not as rigidly structured and is not a focused on “subject-specific learning outcomes. (235)”

When applying these two educational models to videogames and the lessons they teach, it becomes clear that behaviorists generally would not condone the playing of most commercial videogames. It is the assertion of those associated with behaviorism that games can reinforce negative behaviors leading to the player performing them in the “real world.” The concern is that videogames will teach the “right things to the wrong people” and possibly train them to commit crimes (238). I found the example of the mother buying her son Flight Simulator to be particularly interesting. It was disturbing to hear that she found an FBI agent snooping around her house and hilarious due to the assumption by the clerk that a nefarious scheme must be in the works for a 10 year old to learn to fly. It is sad to think that the purchase of an openly available video game was seen as a terror threat. Videogames can teach certain skills, but generally those skills relate to problem-solving or analysis. The real potential for videogames is not based in the current commercial content, but in the learning principles they demonstrate.

Procedural literacy is described by Mateas as “the ability to read and write processes, to engage procedural representation and aesthetics, to understand the interplay between the culturally-embedded practice of human meaning-making and technically-mediated processes. (245)” In other words, it is an understanding of the technical and cultural processes, and how they interact. Two processes that Bogost chooses to focus on are those of “schooling” and “education.” “Schooling” refers to the understanding of the system of school and how to conform to the “requirements and conditions” of school. To be “educated means being literate in the fundamental operation of the knowledge domain, knowing how to advance arguments, how to think independently, and how to express and improve oneself” (262-263). During my time teaching middle school, the most common question I was asked was, “can’t you just tell me what you want me to say?” It shows the students’ unwillingness to think independently for fear that they will be scolded for incorrect answers. These students are being trained to expect to be given direction, and not to come up with ideas on their own. It concerns me that students learning their problem solving skills from games rather than from their classes.  In school they are learning to “work the system” which somewhat prepares them for a similar “system” in the working world. Unfortunately, the most sought after traits in workers are ingenuity and resourcefulness.

In chapter 10, Bogost turns his attention to “exergames” and their evolution over time. Dance Dance Revolution is presented as the most advanced exergame currently available. He describes the success of the game in terms of its ability to “produce exercise as an emergent outcome of play itself. (310)” The game is designed to use the enjoyment of dance to overcome our lack of desire to exercise. The game can be tailored to suit each individual and provides feedback during each dance. It uses the motivational techniques of a personal trainer combined with the enjoyment of dance to promote the players own goals of exercise and fun.  It removes the necessity for the player to have “a complete understanding of fitness. (314)” It makes these games more accessible to all levels of players.

Discussion Questions:

1.      Is the inclusion of pseudo-social aspects (the personal trainer) in games like DDR used to appeal to our need for social interaction in play or learning?

2.      Would it be possible for the generations of adults who have been trained under the “schooling” system to accept a new model for education for their children?

3.      Would a more constructivist approach to education make those entering the workforce less satisfied with the roles they are assigned? Would it make them more likely to “buck the system?”      

Bogost- Chapters 5-7

Chapters 5-7: Advertising through Videogames

This section of the book deals with advertising and the use of advertising within videogames. To begin, Bogost describes how advertisements and consumer response to them has changed. He presents “the notion that media and cultural images have become more real than reality” (148). In other words, people have begun to judge their world as it compares with the “ideals” proffered by the variety of media outlets. He further states that freedom of choice (in this instance among products) is not actually possible. This is described as “each consumer decision signifying another advertisement, not an actual lifestyle, social, political, or personal decision” (148). The media influence on modern society has created a culture of “hyperconsumerism” whose purchases are no longer based on “needs” but are increasingly motivated by “wants.” In addition to the changes in the motivation for purchases, consumers have changed the way they view and interpret advertisements. Advertisers now use a method called “permission marketing” in which “the consumer {has} to ask for the advertisement” (150). The most obvious example of this is seen when visiting a website and being offered the chance to receive emails regarding sales or product news relating to the product or store being viewed.

Bogost describes three types of advertising: demonstrative, illustrative, and associative. “Demonstrative advertising provides direct information”(153). It gives the consumer “the features and functions” of the item and often contains a large amount of text with an image displaying the item as it could be used (154). “Illustrative advertising communicates indirect information” (154). They tend to focus on “both the tangibles and intangibles” of the item as well as presenting it within “a social or cultural context”(154).  This type normally does not contain much text and the item is shown in a realistic setting. “Associative advertising communicates indirect information, focusing specifically on the intangibles of the product.” It does not describe the functionality of the item, but is focused toward a “niche market” and portrays the attributes of that group as being exhibited by the product. Associative advertising is geared toward meeting the wants of the consumer rather than a specific need.

The form of marketing that seems to lend itself most effectively to “advergames” is demonstrative advertising. With this method, the item is presented “in its natural context” and allows “the consumer to interact with it” (159). The procedural nature of videogames allows a consumer to interact with a product within a realistic context. By integrating the use of an item, in a realistic way, into the rules of a videogame, the player is forced to become familiar with the various functions of the product. They are able to use the item for its intended purpose within an appropriate context. This gives a much clearer understanding of the benefits and limitations of the item. Not only can this serve to promote sales, it can also be used by corporations to demonstrate the way a product works to people who may have no need to purchase the item. An example of this is John Deere American Farmer. Through the game, non-farming players learn how the equipment is used by farmers which may lead to a change in the players’ perception of the farmers and farming. In addition to games designed specifically to promote a particular product, commercial games can contain “product placements.” The procedural rhetoric of the game “makes claims about what the product does, and it contextualizes that functional value in a transferable social situation” (196).

Though some advertisers claim that product placements in games “always add realism,” some game publishers do not want them in their games. This has led some advertisers to choose to create their own games to promote their product. One example of this is Johnson and Johnson’s release of Tooth Protectors, a game promoting oral health products that they manufacture. In the game, the player must fight off “snack attackers” who drop pellets of food onto a row of teeth at the bottom of the screen. If a tooth is hit three times it will disappear, simulating the cycle of tooth decay, and the only way to recover the tooth is through the use of a “full-regimen tooth cleaning” (201). By showing the link between eating and the necessity of oral care, the player is prompted to view “dental care as logical system” (203). This promotes purchase and use of the products shown in the game.

Some corporations have created games not to promote a product or service, but to persuade the player against it. These “anti-advergames” serve to “expose the logic of corporate and governmental structures and invite players to question them” (230). It allows the players to examine possible causes for customer discontent through examination of corporate policy and structure.

Discussion Questions:

1.      Is realism in videogames necessarily a good thing? Does the use of videogames as an “escape from reality” suggest that players want a less realistic game?

2.      Would the use of a specific product in a video prompt the player to purchase the item if it is not a purchase they wanted to make?

3.      Can using a product in a video game serve to illustrate the less desirable aspects it possesses? Or would a manufacturer even allow their product to be used in a game that could present these shortcomings?           

Chapters 2, 3, & 4

Politics and Persuasive Games

Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of Bogost’s book discuss how video games are sometimes used in politics and how they could be used more effectively in the future. He begins chapter 2 with a discussion of Hurricane Katrina and how the government and the public responded to it. The issues of insufficient advance planning and poor post-hurricane response were seen as proof of the unreliable nature of the American government. Problems were present at every level of government and investigations later concluded that most stemmed from the “passivity” of the individuals in those positions. The reports did not attempt to address methods for overcoming this “passivity” and in a sense imply that it is not possible to do so. Bogost further questions whether “any individual federal leaders, any infrastructure, any response plans could overcome the underlying values we muster when producing them.” (70)  In other words, without a changing the “construction material of our consciences” even the best planning and organization will not work.

Bogost next explains through the example of the Irish potato famine how “philosophies can act as logics for political thought and action.” (72) This shows how governments can/have chosen to ignore “moral obligations” to further political agendas.  He moves on to define ideology as “hidden procedural systems that drive social, political, or cultural behavior.” (72) He contends that “videogames are particularly useful tools for visualizing the logics that make up a worldview.” (74) By playing these video games we can gain insight into the ways “political structures operate, or how they fail to operate, or how they could or should operate.”(75) He uses America’s Army as an example of how persuasive games not only give us insight into political ideologies, but can serve to influence others to agree and abide by those ideologies. This also shows how complex political systems are and the difficulty of presenting a complete picture of these systems in video games.

Another use of games is presented through the discussion of Antiwargame. This game serves not to explain how the system works, but how it does not work. It forces players to “make and enact decisions that might not otherwise seem logical or obvious.” (84) It makes connections between “political domains that are not explicitly construed as related.”(84) Through this we can see the underlying motivation for the political/military action. The example of “Election Simulators” use procedural rhetoric to present the claim that “elections are won by electioneering” (91) and that “public policy is irrelevant.” (92)

In Chapter 3, Bogost explains how “frames” or “contexts” can be used as “ways to repackage positions so that they carry more political currency.” (100) Videogames can serve as a medium for expressions of verbal metaphors in tangible/literal ways. The example of Tax Invaders is used to demonstrate this idea. The metaphor of taxation as theft is presented in the game’s opening text and players are encouraged to protect/save the USA. This idea is then presented in a literal form as players shoot down the tax hikes. The player is literally enacting language common in political situations. “As an example of procedural systems, the videogame is the only medium of mass appeal across many ages, demographics, and social and ethnic backgrounds that relies on conceptual frameworks- rule based interactions- as its core mode of signification.” (120)

In Chapter 4, he discusses how current uses of technology are missing the use of procedural rhetoric and that they would benefit greatly from its use. He states that “if policy issues are complex systems that recombine and interrelate with one another according to smaller rules of interaction, then videogames afford a new perspective on political issues, since they are especially effective at representing complex systems.” (143) He contends that videogames provide a medium that would appeal to a wide audience and would be useful as a tool to engage and inform voters regarding political issues. Through procedural rhetoric, voters are allowed a greater understanding of political systems and how the politician’s goals and ideals could work within that system.

By focusing on an understanding of the system and the factors that one must consider when making choices regarding political situations, voters are allowed to reflect on the choices they would make and the impact those choices would have on society. Of course, as a part of a political campaign, it can serve as a persuasive tool to sway a player toward a particular point of view.

Discussion Questions:

1.      Would the use of political videogames in the ways Bogost promotes change the strategies used to win elections?

2.      Would the focus shifting back to public policy and away from “electioneering,” thereby creating an informed voter population, change the structure of modern politics?

3.      Would it allow the goals of the population to be more accurately represented by the elected politicians due to a more careful examination of political platforms?