Entropia Universe Goggles

Lately I have been spending time playing a computer based video game. It is the type of game known as a multiplayer online role playing game (MPORG). Perhaps you are familiar with World of Warcraft? At least by name? Warcraft is an MPORG. Many people enter into a virtual universe through the Internet in these kinds of games. Inside the game each player operates a unique avatar. Depending on the game, the operation can be anything from the mundane tasks of everyday life to wild adventures fit for a J.R.R Tolkien story. Entropia Universe is the name of the game I have been playing. It is a science fiction mix of the mundane and the adventurous.
Some of you might have gotten lost at the mention of Warcraft. No doubt you have heard the stereotypes and jokes about people who play these MPORG’s. Personally, I support stereotyping, I think it is a valid information processing tool. I don’t support the use of stereotyping in order to insult or injure - just need to make that clear from the start - but general stereotyping is useful, and much of the time it is accurate. That being said, you might be thinking I am unemployed, in my early twenties, and living in my parent’s basement. In which case you would be wrong; I am a temp in an office, nearly thirty, and my parents don’t even have a basement.
Entropia Universe is entertaining and has all of the features that make a game addictive. You might not be aware that casinos and grocery stores are set up with the intent to inhibit a sense of the outside world and increase spending by increasing amount of time in the establishment. You might also be aware that certain games are created with similar intent. MPORGs are a prime example. You become a part of the universe, locked in through your computer’s screen. You become unaware of passing time and the world around you. Missions and quests in the game offer advancement, skill increases and “loot” rewards. There isn’t a defined ending point or a place where you can say you have won or lost. It is never-ending. These are some of the aspects of making a game addictive.
But what is addiction, really? I say that it is a repeated behavior which becomes more of a subconscious than conscious action. When normal, insignificant experiences in life trigger thoughts of the behavior, or in this case, the game. When you would rather play the game than sleep, perhaps it is an addiction. But the same experiences could be true of falling in love, which is typically referred to as infatuation, rather than addiction, so perhaps I’m simply infatuated with this game. This means that in a few weeks or a few months, I’ll be over it, and if the game and I haven’t built a firm foundation of respect and friendship then one or both of us will be moving on. Yes, I am still speaking about the game. Without any clearly defined forethought I am exploring the connection between video game “addictions” and falling in love “infatuation.” Whether this exploration is successful or not is up to you.
I wouldn’t say I’m addicted to this game, but it has become my primary pass-time. Since it is replacing watching television (iCarly and Law and Order, mostly) I assume it is an acceptable alternative. I’m going to guess that up to this point Muffin Man (if this is the first time reading my blog, read some of the first posts) has been thinking I’m turning into a gamer, with a negative connotation, but upon reading that it has replaced my iCarly watching, he is warming up to the idea. Anyway, it is a game, I am playing it and I’m living a normal life. The moral of the story is that it is ok to stereotype, because we all do it at the first anyway, but keep an open mind and allow people to prove themselves to you rather than just locking them into your initial (mis)conceptions.
I might be worried about my game playing if it weren’t for the fact that it has been a great way to reconnect with my brother-in-law. He and my sister and my niece live in another state and I don’t see them often. He is a regular player of Entropia and has been serving as my mentor as I’ve gotten into the game. I enjoy it because it gives us an activity to do together even though we don’t get to see each other in real life. So the haters can hate on MPORGs, but the reality of it is that the games are bringing families and friends closer together. Call it a rationalization if you want, but I say it is true.
The game is rather consuming though and I am noticing it correlating to other thoughts and experiences. One part of the game is increasing your avatar’s skills in various categories. You gain skill points through experience. When you hunt and use a rifle your rifle skill increases. At various times your perception increases. Last week I was at a thing with some friends and I noticed something out of the way and off to the side. Someone remarked in surprise that I had seen it. I thought to myself, ‘Ajax has gained in perception.’
At work a few days ago I had asked one of our IT staff a question about automating a data verification process that had been assigned to me. I could either spend a few hours checking statuses of people (whether they were retired or active) from a list of 444 names, or a computer could do it in a few minutes. I opted to go the computer route. Later that day the fellow I asked the question of was remarking to someone about the intelligent question I had asked, I of course swelled with pride and raised my arms in triumph, but then thought ‘Ajax has gained in intelligence.’ The rest of the story is that none of our staff had access to the tables needed to run the query I had requested, so we had to task it out to the company that is contracted to us for the data conversion and new software installation. It ended up taking a few days to get all of the pieces in place, but when the person who needed the information from me finally got it, he returned what I requested in a matter of minutes. So in the end it took longer than me just going through the list, but as there was no deadline for it, it actually was more efficient and time-saving.
Another Entropia moment occurred while I was driving to work a few days ago. It was snowing a bit and I imagined sliding off the road, over the guardrail, and down the hill side. I pictured my truck tumbling end over end and then stopping at the bottom on its roof. In Entropia when I jam a vehicle over a cliff, tumble down, and land on the roof, my avatar pops out, picks up the vehicle into his inventory and continues on his way. I pictured that same thing happening in my truck, but I knew enough not to try it.
The game has an overall theme of economy. You do different jobs to earn money and buy materials. I like to hunt the dinosaur-type creatures in the game. To do that I need a rifle and ammunition, armor is helpful, too. The ammo costs money, so does keeping the rifle and armor in working order. So you try to be efficient with your resources. As I was making 3,000 copies of retirement informational packets at work this week, I thought about the inefficiencies of it. We were going to hand out these informational packets to people with no expectation of financial return. I saw it as a waste of money. I could put all of the necessary information on a CD and save a lot of money, at least that’s my theory, but the point of this anecdote is that I was seeing things as I see them in the game: efficiency of resources and economic return.
These are all examples of seeing the world through Entropia goggles. As I shared these things with my brother-in-law, he laughed and agreed. I guess all EU players go through a similar experience. This unites them even more in their game playing and friendships, essentially creating a new in-group. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. And as I slip into the role of a gamer, not knowing what the official definition of a gamer is, I find myself okay with the prospect of being labeled as such. I know that video games can affect people. I remember several years ago, after a time when I played Grand Theft Auto everyday because it was the only game my roommate had at the time, that I would drive around and imagine stealing a car from someone. What we do does have a direct correlation on what we think, and vice versa. Video games aren’t inherently bad or dangerous, but there is the potential for them to be so, and some of them probably are so. I think games are fun and can be thought provoking; in my opinion Entropia Universe falls into this category. But as many also feature principles of addictive behavior, be careful of the games you devote your time to. This has been a public service announcement from Ajax’s Whimsical Revolution.