Putting the 'Reality' in Virtual Reality

Putting the 'Reality' in Virtual Reality

The Minecraft Forums is a site which brings all players together

By Jayson Lightbound

Communication can be defined in many ways, with the most common being the “act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviours to express or exchange information or to express your ideas, thoughts and feelings to someone else” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). Communication is a key aspect to human life as it gives us the ability to spread knowledge, ideas and information to one another; in both good and bad ways.

In recent years with the accelerated growth of the ‘World Wide Web’, it has made it easier for us to communicate with other people across the globe, which not only benefits us as a society, but can also have strong negative impacts. One example being that face to face communication is now lacking within our society. The idea of talking face to face with someone is becoming a tough decision for younger generations due to the latest technology which let you communicate without even leaving your bed (Nguyen, 2017).

Another major way we communicate and connect with each other is through gaming. No more are the days of going outside and playing with friends on the street, not when it can be as simple as simple as sitting in a chair and holding a controller in your own room. In ‘multiplayer heavy’ games such as Minecraft, people can create their own virtual profile to connect, communicate and play with their friends at anytime and anywhere in the world.

Most often, players are given the ability to create their own ‘Avatars’ to anything they can imagine, using clothes, skin colour, hair styles and props to create their online identity. In extreme cases, players will even use this identity outside of the virtual world, because which one sounds cooler: Jayson or XxDragonSlayerxX? As spoken about in this week’s lecture with Victoria Kuttainen, French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan was quoted saying “who we are is based on a fundamental misrecognition of self—substituting image or reflection as stand-in for real” (Kuttainen, 2017). In more simple terms, you are what you think you are.

An example in relation to Minecraft is that players can customise their character with different skins and armour, which allows players the option to pick an identity of being tough and intimidating or something more peaceful and nonviolent.

Furthermore, Author, Bruce Chatwin, of the outstanding book ‘The Songlines’ talks with an Indigenous man who explains that even the most “far-flung” tribes could be connected through a Totemic Ancestor who would travel across the country leaving “musical notes along the lines of his footprints” (Chatwin, 1987). Although this may not be interpreted within Minecraft as a game itself, players can share their worlds online and can use links, hashtags or references for followers to click which will allow them to view or visit that person’s world. Therefore, these players are creating virtual ‘pathways’ in the form of hashtags or links to connect their friends and followers back to their worlds and creations.

In summary, it is evident many gamers use the internet as a way of connecting themselves to other players or followers using pathways such as links or hashtags. Also, most of these gamers often refer to themselves by their virtual identity instead of their real-life identity, so it is time to ask, at what point is it too far?

References

Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. In B. Chatwin, The Songlines (pp. 11-15). London: Bruce Chatwin.

Nguyen, L. (2017, July 4). 11 Negative Effects Of Internet On Students And Teenagers. Retrieved from VKOOL: http://vkool.com/negative-effects-of-internet/

Oxford Dictionary. (2017). Communication. Retrieved from The Oxford Dictionary: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/communication

Kuttainen, V. (2017) Lecture Slides retrieved from Class BA1002.