Please Help, Research Paper

razorsharpshadow · October 2012

dear all PWI lovers!

I need your help with my research paper for class. I need interviews with fellow members for research. The main topic I want to cover is how one learns to communicate in-game to other players. I want to cover the first day playing and learning to being the one that helps and teaches new people.

I'm trying to write a research paper on gaming language and how people learn to talk/type to other players. the questions i have so far are not they very good and I really don't know what questions would be better to ask. If you could help me I would greatly appreciate it.

think about when you first started playing.

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

2) what kind of lingo it used?

2.5) If you were to for help in-game how would you phrase it?

3) how did you learn the language?

3.5) how would you help others?

4) how long did it take to learn?

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

8) how are people socialized in the game?

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

11) learning the catshop's title meanings?

12) knowing where to go for quest, bh, tt?

13) since im not a expert I dont know everything to do in the game, what events are there and how do people broadcast them?

- example: ZEHN Runs, I had no idea what that event was at first, I still dont know what ZEHN means.

- Other events/ items/ places/ type of people.

If you have any other information to give or better questions to ask please feel free to add. b:thanks

Thank you all for replying! I knew I picked the right community to play with.

Raziyal - Archosaur · October 2012

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

Propbaly because most people can say and do what every they like in this game. for eg. you could be the nicest person in everyday life with family and friends and in the game you could be the most rudest, person on the server.
Also you get some other speaking languages (other than English) that you wouldn't hear on a day to day basis

2) what kind of lingo it used?
Any lingo that relates to my converstation, eg. Tbh (to be honset), LoL, hru (how are you)

3) how did you learn the language?

If your meaning slang language i learnt it mainly by myself and asking people what certain things mean. For other languages i only know Korean and Japanese + English as my main language. And only from school or learning from other people in the pwi game

3.5) how would you help others?

I usually stick with the languages i know. When i don't understand a speak that can't speak good English, i ask where their from.
Usually i can help them out with what they need, but sometimes i get a little frustrated.

4) how long did it take to learn?

Not sure ...

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?

I try to correct them saying that FB is easier than calling it call of duty, i'm fine with other players who are new not using correct termitology

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

All people are novices in my opinion their is no expert in the ability to communicate. Since everybody has their miss haps.

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

Well its all mainly chilled writing/speaking. but you get some people who end up raging at the most stupidest things XD
You get people who write in Italian or other forin languages

8) how are people socialized in the game?

I find the newer players are shy to communicate with other people, unless they really have to for killing a boss or mobs. Older players are more likely to chat since their not shy about talking to people.

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

You meet new people every day, making it more joyful to socialize with people no matter where their from.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

Haha All the time i start saying LOL in real life now, other than that nothing else.

OIdpop - Heavens Tear · October 2012

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?
You can be a 2 face its easy.

2) what kind of lingo it used?
My lingo is,you better have a good question or you can go away.

3) how did you learn the language?
I stick with mine,since its english,errrrry body wants to know it,so plz have some decent english.

3.5) how would you help others?
I dont liek to help much,maybe if im really...really...realllly bored..like lately

4) how long did it take to learn?
wut?

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?
i just roll my eyes,well they cant see me,or pretend im afk till they go away.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?
Novice jibber jabbers
expert says....wut?

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?
Rage,ebonics,emo,casual,WC spammers thinking they are funny in wich they are not..stuff

8) how are people socialized in the game?
Well its kinda like a prison...think about that

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?
gaming community you can hide behind a screen,everyday situations your upfront and if you fail you cannot hit reset.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?
Nah i have more respect for RL than the game.

VenusArmani - Dreamweaver · October 2012

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

People use shorthand, written language. Typically you'd hear spoken language in day to day life. This results in shorthand phrases being used as slang. For example, "lol," "wtf," and "plz," are all common terms that you'd never actually hear spoken aloud.

2) what kind of lingo it used?

Because of the limited characters, everything is shortened into common abbreviations. Sometimes you have entire conversations using abbreviations.

Typical Conversation:
Person A: BH aba?
Person B: yes, plz. Brb.
Person A: KK, i'll form.
Person A (in WC): LFM for BH aba, need DD pm me aps

What they are saying without abbreviation.

Person A: Would you like to do the bounter hunter quest in abaddon?
Person B: Yes, please. But, I'll be there shortly. I'm going away from the keyboard for just a moment.
Person A: Alright, I'll find some more people to join us.
Person A (in world chat): Looking for more for the bounty hunter quest in abaddon. We need damage dealers. Send me a private message with information about how many attacks you can do per second.

When you write it out like that you realize just how much the abbreviations aid in making the conversations go by as breezily as they would if you were talking to the person in real life.

3) how did you learn the language?

I mostly just played the game and asked around. Although I looked up a few of the terms in the above linked guides.

3.5) how would you help others?

I would link them to the guide and encourage them to find a faction. The best way to learn any languages and terminology is through immersion. That applies to real life and in-game.

4) how long did it take to learn?

A few weeks mostly. Although there are some things that are different on different servers. For example, the dreamweaver server has a LOT of Brazilian players. SO usually when you see BR it means Brazilian. So I got kinda confused when people were saying things like "BR only" or "selling BR" in world chat on heaven's tear. Since there it means big room, which is the final room in FC. Usually when selling it on DW they say "wts fc (level range) heads only" or "wts fc (level range) b/m/h pm me," so it threw me off for a few minutes. When I realized what they were actually saying, OFC I felt silly. Obviously they weren't selling FC to only people of Brazilian heritage or selling Brazilians.

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?

They view them as new players and help out when they are low level. At high levels, they become annoyed and frustrated. This because most of the players have been playing a while now, and so having to teach someone who should know better becomes annoying. The penalties for messing up in higher level instances are also much more costly.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

Basically just knowing what the terms mean. :P

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

There is typical online lingo and there are also people who speak different languages as well.

8) how are people socialized in the game?

Through factions and squads usually. IRL equivalent of doing shared tasks together or by joining clubs.

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

Because the internet is anonymous people feel uninhibited. So treat people however they feel like treating them. While some people care about their in-game rep, others don't care because it's a video game. And use this as excuse for behavior that would be considered crass, rude, or vile in real life. There is also little societal pressure to behave in a way that is polite, exactly because this is the norm online. This makes it easy for these people exhibiting anti-social behavior to find validation for their bad behavior, so they keep doing it. Sometimes it even escalates. This is true of all online interaction really.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

No, not at all.

Euthymius - Heavens Tear · October 2012

razorsharpshadow wrote: »

Think About When You First Started Playing.

1) How Would You Say The Language In The Game Is Different From Everyday?
lots And Lots Of Abbreviations...ff, Tt, Lg/cv, Nv, Rb...ect. That, Along With The Typical Chat-speak. Its Not All That Different Really.

2) What Kind Of Lingo It Used?
mostly...just Abbreviations Of Longer Words. Some Terms That Have Fallen Out Of Use (originating From "older" Versions Of Pw) Are Still Around Though.

3) How Did You Learn The Language?
http://pwi-wiki.perfectworld.com/index.php/abbreviations_and_terms_-_alphabetical

3.5) How Would You Help Others?

if Somepony Asked What A Certain Term Meant, I'd Tell Them if I Know Its Meaning.

4) How Long Did It Take To Learn?
not Long At All - Most Of Those Terms And Abbreviations Are Used Fairly Frequently Since Most Activities/skills Are Repetitive Or Used Often (bh, Fc, Skills Like Hf, Fr, Bp Ect).

5) How Do People View New Players When They Dont Know The Correct Terminology?
its Not Too Often That I See Someone Get Criticized For Not Knowing A Term's Meaning. Usually They're Told Exactly What A Term Means And Things Go On From There.

6) What Makes A Novice Vs An Expert In Their Ability To Communicate?

in My Opinion, The Ability To Explain Something In A Way That Just About Anypony Can Understand. Oh, And They Have To keep A Cool Head During That Process Too.

7) What Different Kinds Of Writing/speaking Are Done?
chat-speak And English, Usally. Occasionally Other Languages, And Fairly Often...the Almighty Caps Lock.

8) How Are People Socialized In The Game?

how Are...how Do?
Uhh...well. Some Will Sit Around Populated Areas Like West Archosaur, South Arch. Banker, Silver Pool...places Where Others Generally Gather And Just Talk. Others Will Keep Most Of Their Ongoings In Faction Chat. Some Converse In Their Squads While Forming It/clearing Through Dungeons, But Many Preffer To Stay Quiet And Just Get It Over With In That Case (from What Ive Seen At Least).

9) How Does Gaming Community Differ From Socializing In Everyday Situations?
no Idea What You're Asking. Differ From What? Other Communities? Differ From Real Life Encounters And Situations? If The Latter's What You Mean, Then I Would Assume That They Would Show More Tact, Since One Cant Easily mask Their Identity.

10) Does The Way You Talk In-game Influence The Way You Talk Elsewhere Or Thought Text?
its The Opposite For Me. The Way I Talk Elsewhere Affects The Way I Speak In-game.

If You Have Any Other Information To Give Or Better Questions To Ask Please Feel Free To Add. B:thanks

Rhyki - Sanctuary · October 2012

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

Not too different, I think. Of course, it's different because of mmo terminology, but otherwise it's similar to everyday language. Just not many topics you'd speak about to people. For instance, you don't need to ask for a tank in real life, but when it comes to making friends, it's still the same procedure. Hi, talk a bit more, play together, whola.

2) what kind of lingo it used?

The usual shorthand Internet lingo. Plus a few game-specifics, like fb, bh, fcc, etc. Every game has its lingo.

3) how did you learn the language?

To be honest, I first learned the game-specific lingo via PWPedia's abbreviations page. For stuff like dd, tank, etc. it goes back many years. I sort of picked it up through assimilation into the game community. You just sort of get it after a while.

3.5) how would you help others?

Explain to them what the various terms mean. It'd help if they asked, since the general assumption is that you know what we're talking about.

4) how long did it take to learn?

Not very long. A few days to get the basics/most commonly used terms, and a week or two for the rarer ones.

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?

I've never seen someone laugh at a person for not knowing. They just explain it to them.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

An expert would know what s/he's talking about. So when faced with why's, they'd be able to offer a reasoning behind it. And experts would definitely know all about shorthand terms and how-to-do-(thing)-in-game.

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

Some people use lots of shorthand terms. Other people spell words out. Some others infuse their mothertongue with English. But it's all good, they're all things you learn, and that helps when it comes to communication.

8) how are people socialized in the game?

Factions. Before I joined a faction, I hardly socialized. Then and again, I did join PWI with a friend, so all I had to do was wait for my friend whenever I needed a boss. But factions are the best way. Sometimes, if you're in the right place at the right time, someone else is doing the same quest as you. You might gain a friend through making a squad that way.

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

There's no physical barrier. You aren't intimidated by the person's look, only by the decision to hit enter or delete your entire chunk of text. That makes people more reckless and quick to flame, but also makes it easier to befriend others.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

It does. My typing spills over into my speech. So I do actually say "lol" in real life. And sometimes I use mmo speech in situations. "So we need a tank..." etc. If I'm hanging out with a bunch of friends who know chat-speak/Internet lingo, I sometimes verbally keysmash when mad.

Sakubatou - Sanctuary · October 2012

Interesting enough

Although a volunteer sample isn't an accurate statistical represantion.

razorsharpshadow wrote: »

dear all PWI lovers!

I need your help with my research paper for class. I need interviews with fellow members for research. The main topic I want to cover is how one learns to communicate in-game to other players. I want to cover the first day playing and learning to being the one that helps and teaches new people.

I'm trying to write a research paper on gaming language and how people learn to talk/type to other players. the questions i have so far are not they very good and I really don't know what questions would be better to ask. If you could help me I would greatly appreciate it.

think about when you first started playing.

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?
People are allowed to think before they speak online. Essentially, social filtering ourselves. This isn't a practice for most people in a face-to-face situation. Many of us also have online identities that are even different from our real life personalities.

2) what kind of lingo it used?
Typical text lingo and online short hand. Familiar abbreviations for the community like zhen, aoe, FCC... Also popular pop culture references like "kekeke" or "gangnam style"

3) how did you learn the language?
Mostly from faction chat and close friends. There are websites that will help you like urbandictionary for phrases you don't know like "tl:dr" or "gg".

3.5) how would you help others?
Our forums have an abbreviation list. Also, people aren't afraid to ask in squads of faction chat what specific terms mean.

4) how long did it take to learn?
Always learning. I'd venture the online lingo is the fastest changing language in the world as its spread out over so many mediums. Each game seems to have their own terms and sometimes people will ask "is g.i.r.l. used here?" or does gg mean "good game" here, or "get good"? It usually only takes a few weeks to be comfortable with the terms, depending how immersed you are, like any language, and because they're typed they're easily referable and hard to mistake.

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?
As "noobs". Newbie players that aren't at the level of expertise that the term user is.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?
There are many chat setups in PWI. We have general chat (visible by all around you), world chat (visible by everyone), market chat (a colored text visible by those around you), squad chat (visible by the 1-9 people you are working with currently), or faction chat (up to 200 players in a static group that work together daily as a sort of team). You can arrange your chat windows to house other chats, for instance combining squad chat and faction chat. You also can recieve personal messages "whispers" from other people. In faction events many people use a microphone chat setup to coordinate, and alot of friends prefer to play using microphones to socialize better and play more effectively without having to type.
I'd say and expert uses a voice chat, has many friends, and types quickly or voices smoothly without interrupting his game play.

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?
See above for a list of writing chats. For speaking, many factions will fund a paid ventrilo server and hand out passwords. I prefer skype for friendly casual gameplay. I have had factions as me to download more obscure voice chats.

8) how are people socialized in the game?
Just like real life people are socialized based on their own personal preference. I see randoms who are high level with excellent gear that have been so isolated I've never played with them. I also so more loud people World Chatting phone numbers for texting or skype names for calls to meet people. Some form easy friendships while in gameplay, others prefer to run with people multiple multiple times before offering a friend invite. Its all based on personal preference and comfort. A blacklist is even included to block unwanted messaging.

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?
Lies are harder to spot. The same person who was 14 years old 3 years ago is now "22 and looking to cam chat with girls." You can't disprove lies as easily.
A favorite game of mine is try to assume which clique a person would fall into by their choice of words when typing. Hot or not? Masculine? Sporty? Nerdy? Sexual orientation? Socially accepted?
For most people the anonymity of online is an escape from these categories. I think people are put into these social groups for subconscious reasons so I try to guess from their typing which they are and maybe later find out if I was right by either asking or seeing pictures of them from skype profiles or faction websites.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?
Admittedly I have caught myself voicing "lol" instead of laughing. For the most part, my patterns of typing in game mimic my real life talking, not the other way around.
I also know I get some of my social fix by typing in game. If I brag about my son alot in-game I'm less likely to push that into wanting to brag about my son in real life since I've already filled that social want elsewhere.
If you have any other information to give or better questions to ask please feel free to add. b:thanks

Descendus - Lost City · October 2012

razorsharpshadow wrote: »

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

Limited and abbreviated. We're limited to what the text box will allow us to type out sometimes and we need to be able to fit in as much information about what we are looking for or trying to to in a short sentence.

2) what kind of lingo it used?

I think that entirely depends on who you are talking to. Some people will use your standard internet lingo, others prefer to take the time to type out in full sentences. Plus there are a few that are unique to PWI; BH, FB, TT/HH, NV, etc.

3) how did you learn the language?

Logical assumption, as I progressed further in the game, the new activities became available to me it was a simple case of putting two and two together, most of the time. But if there was something I wasn't sure about I'd just simply ask another player who was using it what it meant.

3.5) how would you help others?

I'd tell anyone that asked a question about a specific term, what it meant.

4) how long did it take to learn?

About 4 months or so into playing the game, I was familiar with most, if not all, of the terms that are commonly used in the game.

5) how do people view new players when they don't know the correct terminology?

Most would called them "noobs" but I prefer to save that term for someone who has obviously a general dumb ***. But seeing as you can't see the person on screen that doesn't know what a term means, I just assume that they are a "Newbie".

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

An expert is someone that you can say any of the in game terms to, whether they're commonly used or uncommon, and they fully understand what you've just said to them.

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

Mostly English, a lot of it is short hand. I've seen 'l33t speak' a few times, but what with this being an international game you get a lot of foreign languages too.

8) how are people socialized in the game?

Mostly through factions, sometimes you'll get a chatty squad while doing daily activities with randoms but other then that it's through Factions....Or World chat....When it's not filled with Trolls or Drama queens...

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

Faceless. At the end of the day they only thing you see of another person is the avatar/character they have created, this can lead to people being less inclined to show respect to others around them, thus taking on a 'Keyboard warrior' persona. Quite happy to call you a "**** eating, **** sucking, badger ****er" over the game, but probably lack the nerve to ever say it to your face. Normally because they know they'll have a fist knocking their words back down their throat. Sorry for being blunt, but it's true.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

I normally type out full sentences, save for when I'm trying to start a squad activity through the World Chat, and a few short hand expressions such as; lol, omg, **** & gtfo. But I never normally use these when talking to someone face to face, at least not the abbreviated terms.

If you have any other information to give or better questions to ask please feel free to add. b:thanks

Can't think of anything to add. b:bye

Decus - Dreamweaver · October 2012

Oh this reminds me of a paper I wrote for an educational psychology seminar about reading competence, language acquisition, and gameification approaches to both. \o/

razorsharpshadow · October 2012

Decus - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Oh this reminds me of a paper I wrote for an educational psychology seminar about reading competence, language acquisition, and gameification approaches to both. \o/

This is very similar to what you wrote about. I would love it if you would allow me to reference your paper if you still have it of course.

Fiery_Demon - Heavens Tear · October 2012

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?
People use very short sentences that don't always make sense. Also most of the text they write is made up of abbreviations.

2) what kind of lingo it used?
Basically, everyone talks they way they like, since there is no-one to control what you're saying. Most people use well-known slang, a lot of people just make many grammatical errors (ur, ure, thx and so on) and then there are those who use some weird abbreviations that are known to only a small group of people.

3) how did you learn the language?
I googled some of the words, many words I had to learn by asking others for the meaning or from my own experience. Most of the times I just guessed.

3.5) how would you help others?
I explain everyone whatever they need to know if I can know for sure that I'm not giving misinformation.

4) how long did it take to learn?
Basic terms took about 6 months, but I still "learn" new "words" when playing PWI.

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?
I view them as completely normal, average people who haven't played PWI before. Most others like to call them "noobs" though, but I'm quite sure that this is not the correct use of the term.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?
I wouldn't say that anyone's an expert just because they know how to use PWI slang. One is an expert when they can form complex sentences with no grammatical errors, and this is rare in PWI environment.

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?
You rarely meet anyone who spells out long words or writes without mistakes. As I said before, many people write using abbreviations and slang. Most people communicate in English, more or less, but every once in a while there tend to be ranting foreigners who haven't probably heard the word "international" before. Now, I'm not saying that I speak English perfectly, but at least I try to, which unfortunately can't be said about everyone.

8) how are people socialized in the game?
Most people socialize with people in their faction, or friends who they've made doing quests. Some people communicate very freely and can't control at all what gibberish they're saying out loud, but most just tend to keep to their little group of acquaintances. Oh and then of course there are a few individuals, World Chat spammers and such, who are well-known (I'm not saying well-liked) by everyone.

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?
People are very straightforward when socializing online. Common courtesy isn't that common at all here. People don't think what consequenses their words may have before they say something.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?
Not exactly. The way I talk in PWI doesn't influence me, but because I mostly communicate in English in my free time, I tend to replace some of the words in my native language with English words when talking face-to-face with someone.

Magnanimous_ - Heavens Tear · October 2012

I did write a short assignment on human behavior related to online communities a few months back. The challenge of writing qualitative papers on mmorpg is explain the online cultures to a someone that has no knowledge of whats going on online communities. So, I will provide a different approach from other people. Hopefully, it might help you to write that research paper.

1 & 2) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday? what kind of lingo it used?
Although the game-system uses basic formal english to communicate to players (such as in pwi-news or quests descriptions), the main difference is the addition of 'game terms' which is cannot be find in everyday-language (such 'weapon damage' or the concept of 'aggro')
On the other hand, the informal language (player to player) seems familiar to or even overlap with other internet/online communications (e.g abbreviated terms such as lol, brb, lmfao). This informal language is also 'free to grow' and as such is heavily influenced by a number of other online sub-cultures (e.g 'ponies', 'memes', 'trolling' and other 'urban dictionary' terms).

3 & 4) how did you learn the language? how long did it take to learn?
Personally, I learned the language by chatting with other people and checking online forum and wiki to learn common terminologies.

Took me a few hours to understand basic terms such as 'strength stats' or 'squads' or 'quest item' (it was good enough to choose my own equipment and do my quests & Stuff). This was mainly through the forum beginner-guide or the in-game tutorials (the question mark '?' that spawns the first time you play the game)

Took me a year to understand and talk the same slang as other players (by chitchatting with them).

I also used online dictionaries such as 'urban dictionary' to understand popular internet cultures and terms.

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?
They are regarded as noobs. At the lower-end of the scale, some of them are considered as 'illiterate citizens of pwi', some of them are often ignored or denied invitation to squad because of that. Other culture related to the incorrect use of english or terminologies is the 'grammar police' who has the 'job' of humiliating the person by correcting their grammar in front of others.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?
In-game communication at expert level is more orientated towards performed-behavior rather than chatting. A good comparison is like playing a game of soccer. People rarely communicate through words but people 'read' each other movement by watching your team-mate move through the field and the result of this kind of behavior-based communication can observed though the organisation of defence or offence strategies on the field it-self. The common objective that allows the soccer team to be coherent, is to score goals. Similarly, in pwi, when a barb is doing a pull, there is rarely much chat involved, every expert players know their role and acts according to what other squad-mates is doing. The common objective that allows the soccer team to be coherent, is to kill a boss or complete a quest. In short, experts players has the ability to communicates thought 'non-verbal behavior'.

8) how are people socialized in the game? how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?
The need to socialize is the same wherever it's online or in real life: It makes us good, to feel human as such, it defines our existence. Among people of pwi, some of the social behaviors are quite similar to real-life experience.
(i) We feels the same need for emotional connections. In real-life, communication of emotions relies a lot on facial expressions and intonation of voice. In-game, this mechanism is simulated through the use of chat smileys but the communication of emotion is rather limited. So, in order to further improve this emotional communication, some people don't hesitate to spend real-life money to buy extended smiley sets.
(ii) Our performed-behavior reflects our character or personality (or the person we aspire to be). We gain respect, social status, by doing stuff in the presence of other people. While someone may argue that gaming platforms can hide a real person behind an imaginary character (e.g a dude playing a girl character), the art of deception is a mere reflection of human behavior: wherever it's a person smiling to hide a broken heart, or a pedophile hiding behind a school teacher (extreme case), we all wear a mask in real-life (to pretend to be ourselves or someone else), to fantasize about another world or hide something.
(iii) Materialism. The desire to accumulate valuable items wherever it is virtual (Rank 9 Gears) or real (a freaking car) is something that we all do to gain social status or to impress someone.

(i) The main difference is the absence of certain social barriers or laws.
Although pwi implemented some word censorship, there nothing stops me from saying "I want to have buttsecks with ponies" in world chat. In real-life, this might get me arrested because it's considered to be deviant behavior (unethical) to want to have buttsecks with a pony. Online communities tend to be more tolerant or more open-minded towards deviant behavior. There are no lines drawn on what's being polite or what's considered to be a good joke. That is also no lines that stop people from being ridiculously rude or to troll or to scam other people in-game.

In terms of 'social systems', the game itself provides multiple 'social structure' or platforms to allow player to communicate freely between each other and such platforms were originally based on real life social systems.
(i). Whispers are like private conversation between 2 individuals.
(ii). Factions are like big organisation with distinct hierarchy whereby players gets respect and promotion based on their action towards the faction. Faction are also associated with cultures like 'helping each other' and has often been considered to 'online families' since people tend to spend a lot of in-game time with their faction mates.
(iii) Squads are like project teams who are gathered temporarily to tackle specific issues or to accomplish a specific goal such as killing a boss or farming a rare item.
(iv) Having people on your 'friend list' is like keeping a real-life friend's number on your mobile phone. You can contact them anytime you like.

As a last note, social behavior on mmorpg is a huge topic by itself. The reason why mmorpg are so popular is due to the social engineering (or social architecture or social network or social system design or human dynamics or ontology) behind the game that encourage (or even forces) people to socialize. Such social engineering in pw is behind most of the concepts in this game such as FB's, territory war, faction quests, culti-boss which prevents anyone from 'soloing' the game (or at least what it used to be). On a last note, perfect world, the game, was originally design to suit a Chinese context which was later on, 'adapted' to the international version. Although the people managing the international version has strictly limited (or no) power to modify game mechanics or add game-content, the content designed for Chinese community is actually successful in the international community (to some extent). Wherever the social systems are adapted to the players, is actually what decides wherever a online-game is going to thrive or die after its launch.

razorsharpshadow · October 2012

Thank you this is all very helpful b:victory

razorsharpshadow · October 2012

Bump for more?

Nihiilia - Archosaur · October 2012

I want to try to take a shot at it, but as English is not my native languish phrasing the whole thing in a at least sensible manner will require a cup of tea and some time.

Actually, I'm doing a similar project at school this year.
Decided to make the work around "Can you really get anything out of playing a mmorpg that benefits you in real life" (or something like that, bad translation of the original thought but you get the idea).
It is more directed to behavior/psychology than the actual word-to-word communication, but imo they overlap quite a bit.

Gonna take a shower and make some tea before I start to ramble like a madwoman b:avoid

Nihiilia - Archosaur · October 2012

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

I think the most visible difference is the two main ways to communicate and how the language differs there.

One one hand there is the squad(forming), market, "help-request" style, which is mostly abbreviations that (really) would look like complete nonsense with a touch of insanity if you didn't know what it meant.
Kind of demanding, somewhat harsh, clinic. But it works excellent for its purpose, and that's mostly it. The purpose of doing what you're trying to do. (If that makes sense)

On the other, there is everything from casual chatting, extreme drama, helpful advice, caring friends to just random nonsense being written between players that's making the time pass while waiting for something/someone.

The thing is, that everything is so calculated at the same time as it gets out of control extremely fast.

In real life, you cant look at what you are going to say before hitting enter. This makes it easy to keep up with whatever you are going for, hide intentions manipulate and in some cases feel superior, or stupid.
It can be used to help being the voice of calm and sense to avoid a fight from breaking out, or to make someone you don't know hate you.
But as I said, we don't have that box of text, nor the enter button. And since we're not used to that kind of communication in the way we are with the one we began to learn as kids, the 'control' of being someone else wont hold forever. Small hints of the real person starts so show up sooner or later, and that seems to have a habit of spiraling out of control if the person cant accept it. The good becomes the bad and bad good.

Wow, that sounded really negative, weird and maybe a little crazy, but its just my speculations about the whole ingame-identity thing that I've spent some time thinking over the last few days. Basically I mean that no made up identity can be held up forever, parts of it, yes, but not the 'real' personality.

I'll shut up now o.O

2) what kind of lingo it used?

I've only played on Archo, keep that in mind.
Kind of a mix of English and chat/gaming/pwi slang. Plus some random trend stuff.

3) how did you learn the language?

Well, some just made sense, others I checked the forum/wiki, and just.. asking.
I can admit, I was in a way afraid to ask (since there is a lot of trashing of high lvl people who don't know anything) but the thing is that I always got it explained to me as I was, and still am, new to the game. Hell, some actually seem happy that there still is a few new players around who want to learn and not just rush ahead.

3.5) how would you help others?
Explain what I can, and say that they should ask someone else if I'm not sure.

4) how long did it take to learn?
Still learning a bit, I guess. Its not like I've memorized every detail on features I'm miles away from. But learned enough to understand the relevant pretty quick, and then you can always just google it on your cell if you stumble across something

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?

-Newish player here, but I think I kinda covered it. Unless they think it is alts

-

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

If you are in a chat with a bunch of people, you'll realize that it's just as many as there are writers, according to me everyone writes different.

8) how are people socialized in the game?

The Faction I think makes up quite a bit in the more solid part of socialization, since its really not more than a click away from the faction chat, at least for me joining a active, chatty faction was my first real experience of interaction in pwi.
That and some random friends met while doing random stuff ingame (or at forum/groups)
I think makes up what I didn't cover before..

9) how does gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

First off, you can always quit the game. Or start another char, reroll on a server far, far away etc. This means that things you cant do in real life turns into a 'it's no big deal'.
Some people go raging, trashtalking etc (or pk-stalking at a pvp-server), some are insane know-it-all-gods, and so on.
(They were made to ignore or entertain, whatever you prefer)

It also means that you can be more honest about things that's not that out in the open in real life.

Example - I barely play right now, when I its mostly just for a short while and almost never talk in chat unless its something like 'anyone have location for x-npc' and I do.
This is cause of some real life stuff I have to focus on for the moment and work with.
When I got the news and then realized how much my activity would decrease compared to before I didn't really know what to do since I liked the faction I was/am in and if a new low lvl member suddenly becomes almost totally inactive is usually means he/she got bored and quit = probably kick after a while.
Instead of using the usual real life solution which in this case is not saying anything about it/make a random madeup excuse and hope that people will stick around, I just send a quick mail, explaining why I would be so inactive.
Cause I was able to tell the truth, it worked out fine so far, but that's still something that would not be possible irl.

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

Depends, mostly on where I'm talking or writing.
I do use more in game terms or like just writing irl instead of 'in real life' if I'm here or on another related site.
On other forums not really, but I admit that I've said the word lol more frequently face to face since I started playing at pw.

Okay. Don't hate me for hurting your eyes. I'm half asleep, and wont even be able to make it better until tomorrow, so no attempts to kill me in my sleep, deal? b:surrender

razorsharpshadow · October 2012

b:thanks thank you everyone again. The time you are taking to do this is much appreciated.

Jeremied - Sanctuary · October 2012

Not the first time I've contributed to a study. Since you meantioned thinking back to when you first started playing, I've added both my past experience and current experience for most of the questions. b:pleased

1) how would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

I would hope that how most people type in this game are not how they talk in real life. They would be sent to mental institutions. There is a lot of txt tlk, shortening of words for length purposes, and lingo to learn. Occasionally I'll come across someone that types like they talk in real life.

My first day playing, my friends and I typed and communicated how we talked normally, and slowly picked up on some text and game speak over time.

2) what kind of lingo is used?

On my server, TT, Nirvy and Vana, FB, TM, BH. The usual. Occasionally I'll see HH and WB(werebeast) used most often of the rarer lingo.

Of course I didn't know what any of this meant when I first started, because this was my first mmo. I didn't even know what a cleric did, as my very first character was an archer. The first term I learned was Fuben/FB, when I ran my first dungeon and they called it my fb19.

2.5) If you were to ask for help in-game how would you phrase it?

"Hiya, I'd like some help with _____, I'm a cleric. Anyone interested?" I'm not used to asking for help from strangers. I've rarely started my own squads, even from the beginning. b:shocked

3) how did you learn the language?

Like anyone would learn a second language. Time, patience, and experience using it.

3.5) how would you help others?

Jer: Anyone need help with anything?
Person:

me I need a boss and some stuff
Jer: b:victory Invite I'll help.

4) how long did it take to learn?

I'm still learning. Even after 3+ years I still learn something new everyday.

5) how do people view new players when they dont know the correct terminology?

Most of the people that I know gladly answer any terminology questions any new players have, and explain how that term came to be.

6) what makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

Not everyone is experts in communication, regardless of how long they've been around. But online, I find that its easiest to judge their ability to communicate by how they explain ideas, which I assume represents the way they think in real life too. I've met people that type in txt tlk that have an excellent capability for explanation when in squad or something, and others that type out novels but not a word makes any sense. XD

I believe I fall into the second category most of the time.

7) what different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

I find these questions rather vague. Do you mean different languages? Text talk vs. Plain english? b:chuckle I find a mixture of plain english with some shortening for time's sake the most commonly used. But I've seen people using spanish, french, greek, irish, and even some russian once.

8) how are people socialized in the game?

When I started playing, you were squadding with others and learning squadplay from a very early stage. Almost immediately you learned what other classes roles were, learned what to watch for, and how to react in certain situations. These players were well socialized. Questing, and later BH helped a lot in their experience.

Now most of the people I have the unfortunate luck to come across barely socialize until later levels, either by having a higher level main or friend to solo everything for them, fccing themselves past the learning levels, and not questing. It most often effects their squadplay and their ability to react, although I have met one or two out of the many that pick up the learning curve quickly and can become awesome.

9) how does *the gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

<_< I could probably write an essay on this topic alone...
I find the gaming community and my experience with socializing in everyday situations very similar. The people with the money have the greatest chances of success, nice guys can be taken advantage by someone of to get what they want, and there is a general lack of muffins available at any given time.

In all seriousness, I find the gaming community as a whole more immature than the folk I socialize with in real life on a daily basis. Then again, one of the people I socialize with daily still giggles whenever someone says butt, so...

10) does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

Not quite. In fact, I'm no where near this long and drawn out in the way I speak. However, my brain does seem to function in a similar way to the way I type, something must be wrong with the way my mouth is wired.

11) learning the catshop's title meanings?

These are so variable, I'm still not quite sure I understand half the catshop titles I come across. I find that I'm more attracted to titles that either list their selling/buying price in their title so they're easy to compare, or have a funny or witty name like "ItsTimeToDye", or "Matt's Mats!" Shops that I frequent that list their prices honestly and/or have witty names are ones I'm more likely to return to, even if their prices are not the best.

12) knowing where to go for quest, bh, tt?

Quest: With the autopath system in place, the best place to go for a quest is usually where it sends you. This is not always the case though.

Before autopath, I learned how to use pwDatabase from a nice veno that helped me find a mob that I'd been looking for for almost a week when JerV1 was a little cleric. I secretly thank them every time it's helped me find a drop I was looking for, or locating an npc someone asks about.

BH: This may seem like an obvious answer, but back when I first started experiencing BH, one of the best places to look for one was at the entrance of the dungeon. You would get lucky sometimes and find a higher level stalking the entrance looking for an fb or someone to help, since nirvana didn't exist then and I don't think they had anything better to do.

Now the best place is faction chat and around the Head Hunter.

TT: I've only ever run TT with faction mates and people they/or I know from previous squadplay. This hasn't changed at all since the first time I went in TT.

13) since im not a expert I dont know everything to do in the game, what events are there and how do people broadcast them?

Since you used Zhen as an example, I'll use that too. Zhenning was gathering a group of people (typically a cleric+wiz/archer aoe and a puller, and whoever else wanted to come) and camping in an area, where the mobs would get pulled into the aoe blender and the exp was shared by all. It was either broadcasted through PMs or faction chat first, or by coming upon a Zhen squad with an open spot when you went there looking. Very rarely, people would ask on world chat for more for zhen, but it wasn't something that just anyone could get the hang of. It was monotonous, it was rather slow and could go on for hours, and it was awesome beyond any explanation. b:chuckle People that have experience Zhenning at it's finest still go into some calm state of mind when they solo grind. I've spent 5+hours killing spiders in this state of mind. And it was good.

Most other non-system events are either closed to the public (faction only events, secret group meetings to discuss world domination, etc.) or are broadcasted across world chat and word of mouth. (player organized PvP events, question and answer events on world chat for prizes)

Then of course you have your system events like tigers, jungle runs, territory wars, seasonal events, and the rare GM meet ups. Those are broadcasted through system chat, obviously. XD

Oliiander - Lost City · October 2012

Some questions I don't quite understand, so I've looked at the rest of the questions, and the old set of questions to try decide what you wanted to ask.b:chuckle

1) How would you say the language in the game is different from everyday?

The largest difference between the games in general and reality, I think, would be the way in which you present yourself. In the game, one, with some conscious effort (and no small amount of time), could essentially create for themselves a new 'personality', as such. In my opinion, to be able to craft words before you present it in chat gives the user confidence. For example, people who have difficulty speaking in real life or are panicky will be able to deliver what they wish to say fluently.

I for one, speak largely how I would in real life when possible. But when 20+ spiders are trying to gather you into a friendly, slightly poisonous hug and you're trying to get yourself into that nice looking squad for Eden . . . "97 ep", is a lot more convenient than "Hi, would you happen to need a level 97 cleric in your squad?" Also, you have a limited amount that you're allowed to write in one go.b:surrender

2) What kind of lingo is used?

Aside from your regular internet shorthand, you have PWI specific shorthand forms, TT, BH, FB, NV for instances, and squad related things like LF and LFM, DD, AoE DD . . . You get the picture. Maybe it's because I didn't ever try to learn it before, but I've picked up things like "On my way" (OMW), "Be right there" (BRT), which I've come to use quite often.

2.5) If you were to look for help in-game how would you phrase it?

"Hey~ Anyone need *Insert needed instance here*?", alternatively in World Chat, "97 cleric LF *Insert needed instance here* squad!"

3) How did you learn the language?

Assimilation, shameless asking. Things like BH kind of click together when you're yelling for Qingzi, and some nice soul comes along and says, "I'll help you with your BH29, wait, have you got those Call to Duty tabs?"

Overall, time and experience coupled with a little swallowing of pride to ask, (I only understood what EP meant a week ago. Always thought it was a general term for healer >.<) will see that you understand the language in the game.

3.5) How would you help others?

"Olii wishes to help! Speak now or forever hold your peace

"

Or, I would just answer to random call on World chat requiring assistance.

4) How long did it take to learn?

I can make my way around pretty easily now, but I'm still finding new things all the time.

5) How do people view new players when they don't know the correct terminology?

I think a large majority of them view people who don't know correct terminology at higher levels as power leveled newbies. At lower levels, some usually take the time to give the new players a run down of the basic/essentials they'll need to know. At least, that's what I tend to do.

6) What makes a novice vs an expert in their ability to communicate?

I would think the thing that sets experts in communication from novices in communication, (I say this, because it's possible that someone who has played on from Beta testing can't communicate.), is their ability to get their message across clearly, in enough words to not be curt, but short enough so that it is easily read.

7) What different kinds of writing/speaking are done?

Like I've said a few times before, the usual shorthand form of things, and since this is, after all, an international server, you see other languages such as Spanish and Russian, I think it was?

8) How are people socialized in the game?

Quite naturally, if they don't power level themselves. There are the learning stages of leveling, up until level 40, then the daily BH quests will give you no choice but to squad with others.

9) How does the gaming community differ from socializing in everyday situations?

Simply put, much less shorthand, and a lot more time needed to get to know each other. You've also got appearance to worry about, and body language is factored in as well. You also can't speak in everyday life with a mouth crammed full of chocolate.b:surrender

10) Does the way you talk in-game influence the way you talk elsewhere or thought text?

Nope. I stutter at times, so I tend to use the shortest, easiest words I can to get my point across. Although the way I type is the way I would speak if I were able to fluently.

11) Learning the catshop's title meanings?

Some logic, since most shops pretty much tell you the items they're selling. Also some clicking, and putting two and two together. S>DoD! *Clicks* Ah. Diamond of Dragon.

12) Knowing where to go for quests, BH, TT?

Ha. Well, funny story that. When Olii was not Olii, but a little veno before the days of autopath, she wandered, with her little tail up high, through mobs and past trees towards the City of the Lost. What she DIDN'T know, was that she had gone in the opposite direction. Towards Swiftwind, with it's scary aggro mobs. It then took little Abrin 3 hours to get out of there and back to Lost, and on the way, she discovered the little button that showed the location of mobs. Nonetheless, Abrin ragequit, and thus Olii was born. I discovered one month after playing, how to turn the camera. Derp.

Anyway, back to the question.

Autopath.
Or wandering around aimlessly, or asking others, or that nifty teleport stone next to West and South teleporters in Archosaur.

13) Since I'm not a expert I don't know everything to do in the game, what events are there and how do people broadcast them?

There are public events announced by the Duke for everyone to see, for example, Celestial Tigers, Theater of Blood, Mayhem in Morai . . .You get the idea.
Then there are user organised events, primarily by friends and/or factions, they can range from playing hide and seek, to PvP to . . . Whatever else they want. These events are more private functions than events, broadcast mainly by word of mouth.

Decus - Dreamweaver · October 2012

razorsharpshadow wrote: »

This is very similar to what you wrote about. I would love it if you would allow me to reference your paper if you still have it of course.

I tried my best but I cannot find it anymore. I would love to read your paper, though, when it's done.

slonde27 · March 2014

I think you might also mention in what way and to what extent that lingo is different from the language used in texting and on social media. Among the major reasons influencing the communication means used by the participants of the discourse are the situational context, state of mind and their perception of anonymity maintained during the game.I hope this idea will somehow contribute to your research paper or inspire you to view the question under this angle.

SweetieBot - Lothranis · March 2014

slonde27 wrote: »

I think you might also mention in what way and to what extent that lingo is different from the language used in texting and on social media. Among the major reasons influencing the communication means used by the participants of the discourse are the situational context, state of mind and their perception of anonymity maintained during the game.I hope this idea will somehow contribute to your

research paper

or inspire you to view the question under this angle.

This looks like a NECRO!

slonde27 replied to a message that was 1 year 5 months 10 days 9 hours 17 minutes old.

Any thread over one month (30 days) old is considered to be a dead thread and you're not supposed to post in them. The person you are replying to probably doesn't care any more or can no longer be found on the forums. The topic itself could be out of date. Next time just make a new thread.

Let's see how long it takes for a mod to close this

ToyMaker_NOT - Raging Tide · March 2014

Such a fail example of Necro'ing a thread. Absolutely no entertaining value whatsoever.

Kossey,

Off with this zombie's head.

opkossy · March 2014

ToyMaker_NOT - Raging Tide wrote: »

Such a fail example of Necro'ing a thread. Absolutely no entertaining value whatsoever.

Kossey,

Off with this zombie's head.

It's never entertaining for the people cleaning up. b:angry

*throws monkey at you while closing thread*

Please Help, Research Paper

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