🚀 go-pugleaf

Dear Dr. Bartle,

I'm the guy who ~once a year reminds you that you should play 
Planescape: Torment, but I'm also a guy who is writing his dissertation 
(in German Linguistics) about the "special language" of World of 
Warcraft players. As a point of reference to all the non-gamers who will 
be reading my thesis I also compare it to other language varieties like 
those of sports, science etc.

One aspect I'm currently focusing on concerns the way players deal with 
the game space and how this is reflected in the vocabulary and phrasing 
they use. I've noticed that there is a peculiar dissonance between the 
treatment of certain game elements in their nature as spatial entities 
as opposed to their nature as parts of the game mechanics - an example: 
According to the logic of the narrative Instances should be mysterious, 
hard-to-reach places which should be the focus of considerable 
navigational planning. But their game-mechanical/technical nature 
undermines this:

First of all, their very nature as Instances separates these places from 
the surrounding game landscape unless a very specific set of 
requirements is met - which turns reaching an Instance more into a 
game-mechanical issue than one of navigating the game space. Second, the 
introduction of the Raid Finder seems to undermine even further the 
sense of Instances as places within a simulated continuous landscape 
(note, however, that I see the navigation INSIDE the Instances as a 
separate topic).

I've noticed that in their game-related communication WoW players only 
refer to Instances as places (in a spatial sense) in the very beginning 
of the game, usually when they first start seriously leveling a 
character. Afterwards, Instances seem to rapidly lose their meaning as 
parts of the geography of the world. They are increasingly treated as 
acts which are performed repeatedly in the service of improving the 
character, helping the guild etc.
Even players who usually show a keen interest in exploration in other 
games exhibit this behaviour when talking about WoW, so it doesn't seem 
to be solely a matter of player type.

What I'd like your opinion on as an expert on virtual worlds is the 
following points:

(0. Do you even understand my ramblings? I'm not a native speaker and 
don't usually formulate my thoughts about virtual worlds in English...)

1. Do you agree that this phenomenon exists?
Do you think it is specific to WoW's design? As a player of many games 
(online and offline) I get the feeling that other game worlds do a 
better or at least different job of upholding the spatiality of their 
virtual landscapes, e.g. by not offering so many shortcuts to avoid 
actual travel through the game space.

2. Do you know of any MMOs that treat their game space (or parts of it) 
differently?

I hope I don't take up too much of your time with this - if I do, just 
ignore me :-)

Kind regards,
Markus Schaefer


PS: Have you played Planescape: Torment? I hear it's good.