Through my friend Steve Barth, I have become aware of and interested in the dynamics, sociology and psychology of on-line game environments, especially those of Second Life and World of Warcraft. I have attended two conference sessions now where Steve has compared the environment and design of these games to mainstream business software and IT environment designs (especially knowledge management systems). He has explored reasons why people who really don't like to use the latter spend hours in the former (another post on this later). Thinking about how most folks don't know about these games (or perhaps only heard of them in passing), much less visited them or played them, I began to wonder what a reality TV show based on one of these games (or something close) would look like - the more I thought about it the more I think the TV media folks (not to mention Hollywood) are missing a big opportunity here!
Whether a reality TV series or a motion picture, the concept is really intriguing, at least to me.
Think for a moment about seeing two sides, double or even triple lives, really, of a group of game players. We see them in their everyday lives, and we see them in their game persona(s) inside the on-line environment. I admit going in here that I have only spent a little time inside these games, just to get a feel for what is going on. I wonder what the difference would be between the persona's used by a player in a WWC type environment vs. the SL world? Do people "live" in both, or do they stay on one or the other? They are very distinctly different virtual worlds.
Even more interesting, we don't know which "real" person's game persona's are. Whether in a WWC or SL type game, we get to follow them through multiple plot lines, trying to guess who is who, seeing the contrasts between their "real" and on-line persona's, etc. At the same time, we get to see the on-line worlds they live in, how they work, the social dynamics, economies, problems, etc., again in contrast to the everyday real world.
A series like this would require a large part, at least half, of the on screen time to be animated to get the visual feel right.
Of course, I would like to see the series unscripted as much as possible, and let the plots develop freely, as they would in day to day, around some basic parameters that could be established - a diverse group of characters, jobs, relationships, etc. And, just let the on-line part develop as it happens.
Of course, most TV or film producers would try and help the plots along, probably to the show's detriment. However, I have noticed that more and more shows are basically left to flounder along with no real classical resolution, attempting to draw viewers week to week. These things usually end up with unbelievable plot twists, inconsistencies, and other machinations to get out of ever deepening storyline holes (seen Lost or 24 lately, anyone?).
But this concept should have enough interest just in the real vs on-line world contrast, trying to figure out which person is which game persona (what happened to the term "avatar"? Is it still used in this context?), and the richness of the on line environments to generate a lot of buzz and interest. I think a lot of parents, friends, spouses, and partners of on-line gamers/visitors would really watch to see what is going on here, and I think they would be really surprised.
If anyone reads this and takes the concept to "reality", be my guest - I know I would watch it!
Just say you heard about it here first, and if you want me to drop by and have lunch and talk about it some more, well, you know how to reach me.
This is an interesting concept, but I'm curious how much different this would be than the Matrix trilogy of a few years ago.
Posted by: JomoDec | May 09, 2007 at 12:51 PM