The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [79]
Singh described anonymity of MUDs as a double-edged sword. “It allows you to leave your real-life self behind and be, in your imagination, all the things that in reality you are not.... And since other players can also be whatever they choose, any form, shape, sex or size, you have no idea of who or what they are in real life” (1999:198).
The purpose of my study was to determine if experience with computermediated communication would alter a computer user’s behavior and perceptions. Specifically, the study tested the effect of objective anonymity and experience upon disinhibitive behavior in computer-mediated communication.
I defined computer-mediated communication as the synchronous or asynchronous process by which people create, exchange, and perceive information using networked telecommunications systems that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages (Kiesler and Sproull 1992). For the purposes of the study, this definition did not include graphic mediums such as the World Wide Web or MMORPGs, as they incorporate advanced visual cues that textbased mediums do not normally provide. More visual cues have a higher relevance over their textual counterparts, and therefore provide “normal artifacts” which are more similar to face-to-face communication than text-based communication.
A user’s perceived anonymity is the ability to remain unaccountable within his or her social environment for actions and dialogue, both legally and socially. A user’s personal views are influenced by lack of visual appearance, the flexibility of a label that is different from the user’s normal persona, and relative protection from physical and social repercussions. Users may often perceive that they are anonymous when they are not, may find a deeply personal attachment to a label so that it becomes part of their own personality, or may be far less protected from repercussions than they perceive. The ability to accurately perceive one’s objective anonymity in relation to others over computer-mediated communication is directly tied to the user’s experience with that medium (Orcutt and Anderson 1996). Since there is no way of knowing who has signed onto a specific account in a MUD, users may not be motivated to communicate sensitive issues.
Disinhibitive behavior is not limited to only rude or offensive interaction. Users of text-based systems can express informational disinhibition, becoming more connected with people who share common interests but with whom they would otherwise be unacquainted (Rice and Love 1987).
In a MUD, all beginning users start out as anonymous. Aarseth found the anonymity of self and other to contribute to MUDs where the “use of anonymity, multiple nicknames, identity experiments (e.g., gender swapping), and a generally ludic atmosphere suggests that the participants are not out to strengthen their position in society but rather to escape momentarily from it through the creation of an ironic mirror that will allow any symbolic pleasure imaginable” (1997:144).
Users who wish to distinguish themselves from their anonymous counterparts must provide information about themselves by creating a character, while users who desire to know more about whom they are communicating with must accumulate more information through further communication. Each of these forms of anonymity creates a different form of disinhibition.
It’s possible that inflammatory disinhibition occurs because without nonverbal and paralinguistic cues, a user’s become selfish, more concerned about themselves than the feelings or welfare of others. She is less likely to form impressions of other users as distinct individuals because she does not have enough information to distinguish them (Kiesler and Sproull 1992; Walther 1992).
Beck and Wade in Got Game compared this selfish focus to piano lessons. Both game-playing and piano lessons include complex hand movement and emphasize the value of repetition and the difficulty in sharing the