I’ve heard people say that they prefer the graphics in World of Warcraft over those in EverQuest 2. The discussions I’ve had with people about why they feel this way seem to boil down to a description of the characters in EQ looking “plastic”, “like corpses”, or “not cool”.

I like the graphics in EverQuest 2. But I’ve heard reference in the past to something called the “Uncanny Valley“, and now that I’ve spent all of five minutes reading up on it, I think I see how this applies to this discussion.

The basic premise behind the Uncanny Vally goes like this: at one end of a scale lies something which is somewhat human like but obviously artificial (E.G.: the characters in World of Warcraft). Such characters tend to inspire empathy in people: we feel “sorry” for them, or overcome their limitations by filling in the blanks between their obviously artifical nature and something “human”. At the other end of the scale are things that look and act truly human: we feel empathy for these things as well, since, well, they are “us”. Somewhere in between are things that look very human, but are subtly wrong: corpses or the seriously ill fall into this category. They move wrong, or don’t sweat, or have skin tone that is a bit “off”…such characters make us uncomfortable.

I think its possible that the characters in EQ2, somewhat like the characters in the movie Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, are somewhere in that “valley” of empathy. They look just a bit too realistic for some people, and the things that are “wrong” (skin tone, motion, lack of sweat…) are disturbing. Although this makes sense to me, it does raise a question: why didn’t Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within bother me? And why do I like EverQuest 2? I know the characters aren’t “real” people, yet I appreciate their proximity to reality. I don’t find the flaws jarring: I think I would find it more jarring if they were so perfect that I couldn’t distinguish the real from the machine generated.

And that difference between the way I perceive things in regards to this so-called “uncanny valley” and the way some others do intrigues me. My threshold is at a different point, I guess. The day I watch a movie with a computer generated character that is so human that I can’t believe it isn’t human is the day I’ll feel a bit spooked out. I wonder why other folks feel that discomfort at an earlier point than I do?

Technorati Tags: Computer games, Graphics, Uncanny Valley

I play massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs, or sometimes MMORPG if the game is of the roleplaying type). At times in the past seven years or so, playing these games has consumed the lions share of my free time: up to about 20 or so hours a week.

When I first started playing, there was really only one: Ultima Online. I hated the PvP environment in UO so much that I would never go back after I quit, and nearly didn’t ever play a MMOG again…but thankfully (?) I tried EverQuest at the urging of my nephew. And for a couple of years, that was really the “only game in town”

I’ve found myself with more and more “good” games to choose from as the industry has matured. So has everyone else: this has fragmented groups of old gaming companions as we’ve ended up in various games. More choices has, for me, actually been a little bit of a curse along with the blessing.

I’ve bounced around through several games over the past couple of years- sometimes because I personally wanted a change, sometimes because someone I played with regularly wanted to move. Each time I move, there is a period during which I usually find it difficult to cancel the “old” game…just in case.

Once again I find myself paying two subscription fees: one for World of Warcraft, one for EverQuest 2. Since I was initially playing EQ2, then played WoW, then went back (about two weeks ago) to EQ2, I’m really in a bit of a quandry.

I should just cancel my WoW account and be done with it….but what if we change our minds again? Sigh

I got my MMOG “fix” today…several hours of monster slaying in World of Warcraft with Shane, Monique, and Bryan…that’s the best kind of gaming for me. Then, a little later in the evening, I logged in again and finished a handful of quests.

I have to wonder about the way I play MMOGs, though. I love to be in a group of people I know and trust…people I’ve gamed with for years. The ultimate expression of this, of course, is the list of names in the above paragraph: my Nephew, his wife, and my brother in law. Family. But when it comes to grouping with people I don’t know…well, I forget that whole massively multiplayer part of the game entirely

Case in point: while working on my quests, I came to one part where a particular gnome had to be slain. There was another player nearby when I arrived at the scene, so I checked with him…sure enough, he was waiting for the same gnome. Since he was there first, I tell this other player “when the gnome shows up, he’s yours- I’ll wait.” The other fellow replies…”Uhm, we could group up and both get credit for him at the same time…”. D’Oh…yes, we could.

Forming up a group, possibly with a stranger: that’s at the heart of MMO gaming, and yet here I was playing like it was a single player game. I joined forces with this fellow, we killed our gnome, and everything went well. But here’s the question- why wasn’t grouping up the first thing I thought of?

The whole online gaming phenomena has created some odd social dynamics. To an extent, other players, thousands of them, are kind of like your next door neighbor in modern urban society. You know they are they, you appreciate there presence, but except in rare cases you really don’t want to get too close. If you talk to that neighbor, maybe invite them over for coffee, you are trapped: if they turn out to be jerks, or just incompatible, you can’t get rid of them…they are right next door. I can hear you saying “But I like my neighbors, and I love socializing”- hey, great for you! But that isn’t the way my mind works- I’m a natural loner.

And in a MMOG, everyone is “right next door”: every time you log in, if someone wants to they can know about it. Everyone has to go through certain areas…chokepoints, sort of…to get from area to area, to shop, to train- so you are bound to run into that “irritating neighbor” again and again. And since its a game, its something you do for fun- who wants their fun ruined by an unwanted intruder?

Thus I take the path of least risk- I avoid grouping with strangers. Strange…that word pretty much fits me