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Jul 19, 2006

Comments

1.

Yay, Bob! I'm a fan of any method with 'ethno' in it, though yours has more syllables than mine which makes me feel a bit self-conscious. But nevermind. Welcome!

2.

Hi Bob! I welcome my ethnomethodological overlord.

3.

Having tried, often fruitlessly, to discern teamwork expectations in pick-up groups by watching what other team members are actually DOING, I confidently look forward to learning what to REALLY look for in such situations.

However, I am also interested in how social norms can change within virtual worlds. I recently returned to AO (Anarchy Online) to see how the game was "working" after over a year of "free play" for the core game. I was very surprised to find the game populated and played in VERY different ways than its heyday as a subscription product. It appears that changing business strategies resulted in a changing customer base. That had HUGE effects on the entire social mechanism within the game, even though game mechanics hadn't changed in the least.

This is significant in AO because it's literally impossible to wear good armor or hold the best weapons (for your current level) without someone else helping you into them! The amount of social cooperation theoretically necessary for successful play greatly exceeds anything found in WoW.

My challenge is simply this: when it comes to social interaction, often ignored variables can have dramatic effects.

4.

I thought you had to have "Nic" in your name to be a PARC TerraNova author..? In any case, welcome to the madness Bob!

5.

I thought you had to have "Nic" in your name to be a PARC TerraNova author..? In any case, welcome to the madness Bob!

He's a mutantspecial PARC TerraNova author. Welcome, Bob. =D

6.

Julian, thank you for the kind welcome and for highlighting my very first conference presentation and journal article! But I must make one correction: "Dereification in Zen Buddhism" is actually the reward for completing the heritage quest, "One Clapping Hand," that you get from Gildas Cedartree in Eldar Grove (in the rock garden). If only more people played EQ2, I'm sure it would be more widely read.

7.

Welcome, Bob!

8.

Samantha,

This problem has been discussed in PlayOn's team meetings. Really. Bob has decided to get around this issue by naming his in-game characters 'Nic'.

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