I'm interested in online games as a communication technology. I am interested in it because I plan to create these types of experiences in my career and want to know how its evolved, is implemented, and the consequences of these technologies. This technology is profitable nowadays, and personally, I love online interactions. I am interested in creating fun social experiences where players can work together and against each other with competing interests. This technology uses many different methods to produce these experiences, such as online player interactions, voice chat, and game design to produce social experiences. I want to bring people together and challenge what trust and morality means to them. I also want to find how to control and simulate morality in a space where there generally isn't consequences for treating others badly. I want to naturally create a space where trust is valuable, communicable, and unethical decisions are naturally difficult to make, rather than blunt punishment from the software. I think these things are important to improving online spaces and allowing people to interact with each other in meaningful ways.
For example, I love games that allow you to kill or injure your teammates. This isn't necessarily because I enjoy doing something so cruel, but the freedom brings a level of excitement and intensity to a game. I am interested in creating a space where players genuinely have some sense of morality and second guessing before they choose to betray someone. This in my mind, would be a fun experience. I'd like to put players in spaces that are extraordinary, but also relevant in using their social skills. I'd like to see how players act in a dangerous, unpredictable situation, where communication and trust is objectively important, rather than just "polite". Why is it that our society values manners, ethics, and morality, when "virtually", one could easily choose to hurt the people around them. Generally we choose to not punch our coworkers in the face when they make us mad, however we have no problem using cruel, harmful words on social media or games because of the lack of consequence. How could I then build a space that doesn't value morality through some made up "reputation" statistic, but rather built in mechanics that require players to build a social trust.
This would be an amazing game in my opinion, because then the choice to betray someone would be far more tense and calculated. One wouldn't act evil simply because it would be immoral to do so in their day to day. Rather, evil actions would reflect some real justifications humans make for their unethical actions. This would give players much more valuable insight into their own mental and social being, and allow for a space where real friends are made in the light of dangerous, unpredictable people. This is what I find so fun about the social interactions in our real day to day lives.
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