(Posting this after everybody else.)
Julian Dibbell’s new article at the New York Times on Chinese Gold Farmer.
As already Roger Caillois was on to, professionalization raises the basic question, Is it still a game?
And, apparently, yes, sort of.
It is hard, in any case, for Zhou to say where the line between work and play falls in a gold farmer’s daily routines. “I am here the full 12 hours every day,” he told me, offhandedly killing a passing deer with a single crushing blow. “It’s not all work. But there’s not a big difference between play and work.”
I turned to Wang Huachen, who remained intent on manipulating an arsenal of combat spells, and asked again how it was possible that in these circumstances anybody could, as he put it, “have sometimes a playful attitude”?
He didn’t even look up from his screen. “I cannot explain,” he said. “It just feels that way.”
*
As a video game theorist, I can sympathize with the line of reasoning. I get similar questions on occasion:
Q: Are games still fun when you are studying them professionally?
A: Yes.
Some games have actually become more fun. When playing a game that really isn’t that good, I can think about more interesting theoretical perspectives on the game. On the other hand, I do rely on a continuing supply of quirky games. Where would we be without Rhythm Tengoku?
True. But doesn?t work, any work, feels like play, sometimes? Could it be that maybe working with games just enhance that feeling?
Agreed, the two are not always that exclusive. Sometimes they are.
still, there is a difference. succeeding or failing at a game is still without consequences for your “real” life (in this case, your work). we can analyze a game whether we are successful or not. i recently took part at a e-sports kind of event (pro evolution soccer tournament), and i failed. while this has frustrated me (immensly, but only for a short time), it had no other effects on my life.
on the other hand, the gold farmer has to succeed. if she were to be a bad player in the game she was trying to farm gold, then she would not earn enough money. she would not be able to pay her rent or insurance. thus, playing would have a very immediate effect on her “real” life.
for me, this is not playing any more. playing normally has only very limited consequences for the rest of your life.