This is the original version of my final-year dissertation, unchanged from the draft I submitted to LSE’s examiners. It’s basically about social structures in videogames, but as it was intended for non-gaming academics it contains alot of exposition and simplification that gamers may find obstructive or patronising.
Originally published at http://www.bigkid.com.au/ on 16th April 2003
Guilds. Love them or hate them, they are an unavoidable part of EverQuest. My Bard ran the gamut of them recently, and during the process I learned a lot about human nature, the online environment, and rubbed shoulders with the meaning of life itself. I kid you not: The Meaning Of Life.
I’d started with a cube.
“OK, I’ll have it tell the local time”
(Wait, whose local time?)
“OK, I’ll have it tell time by time zone!”
(All 24 sure, but what about daylight saving time?)
“OK, it will look at the time of year, then the timezone, and depending on…”
*deletes cube… *rezzes sphere
Um… well, what can I say? Webcomics made me do it! Drawing definitely wasn’t my strong point when I was little, didn’t really get past the ‘draw funny stickfigures’ stage until the 10th grade or something, when some guy on an online forum linked me to a webcomic archive.
Seeing what these kooks came up with every week got me inspired and motivated, so I started drawing myself.
That first night in combat with my interceptor had left a deep impression on me. I wanted more. When I logged on again the next morning, I grabbed a shuttle and dived back home. There was another waiting ship in the hangar of Weld I was eager to climb into.
After a couple of weeks of training and practicing, I thought my interceptor was ready. My microwarpdrive and capacitor skills were now very healthy, I had begun to balance out a ship setup, and I had searched out some rare lasers for that little bit extra effect.
So I flew my crusader into the Great Wildlands for the second time. Eve politics can develop quickly, and ours was a more unstable region than most. Our corporation was a member of the Foundation alliance, who were claiming the Wildlands as their home. When I last visited, we had been in fierce battle with the Kieretsu, but ceasefire had been called some time ago, and they were now our allies. It was relative peace for the Wildlands.
Originally published at http://www.bigkid.com.au/ on 3rd October 2002
More than a year after beginning his quest, my Bard has finally acquired his fabled Epic weapon. I have waited a while before posting the story in the hope that I could get a picture up, but our FTP problems seem to be enduring. So instead, you will have to be satisfied with an image painted by words. In a way I guess that’s fitting. He is a Bard after all…
Daniel Merlin Goodbrey is an award-winning mini-comic artist and author. He’s also a really funny bloke.
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