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Massives As Your Third Home
sleepwellmyfriend writes "What is a third place? The first place is your home, the second place is work. Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks introduced third places as somewhere besides home or work where people can socialize and feel comfortable. Think Cheers. Massive multiplayer online games are third places as defined by their characteristics: neutral ground, leveler (no not that kind), conversation, accessibility, regulars, low profile, playful mood, and "home away from home". Online games also contain social capital, which like financial capital, can be acquired and spent, but for social gains instead of financial gains. In a social relationship sense, bridging provides breadth (diverse information and resources) while bonding provides depth (comfort and advice). In online games, players come from a diverse background so they are usually bridging social capital but bonding can occur for long time players."
When I first moved, I spent a lot of time in game talking to my old friends and generally just hanging out in game. I spent a lot of time in the house on Corellia. You might argue that it was detrimental to me meeting new people in my new surroundings and naturally adjusting but, honestly, I would have spent the time reading books if I hadn't had an SWG account. I guess that's why it was like pulling teeth when the CU hit and all my friends stopped playing. Oh well, at least I had enough time to meet new people while still having fun with old friends.
My work here is dung.
"Good friends, gather 'round and I'll tell you a tale;
.latte."
It's a story well-known to all lovers of ale;
For the old English pub, once a man's second home,
Has been decked out, by brewers, in plastic and chrome.
Oh, what has become of the old Rose and Crown,
The Ship, the King's Arms, and the World Upside-Down?
For oak, brass and leather and a pint of the best
Fade away like the sun as it sinks in the west.
The old oaken bar where the pumps filled your glass
Gives way to formica and tanks full of gas;
And the landlord behind, once a man of good cheer. . .
Has been replaced by some child who will just mumble the price as he hands you your . .
With apologies to Ian Robb.
Howard Shultz brought us nothing but another corporate chain. The "third" place predates the "first."
KFG
I try to be as open minded as possible (see sig). I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Minnesota and have severely lacked the funds to ever travel anywhere -- though I like to think that the books I've read from libraries have made up for this as much as possible. I used to listen to MPR all the time and now that's one of the biggest things I miss but I can stream it at home. We had six in Minnesota with tons of local shows. There is one out here.
I moved to Virginia for work -- there was none for developers in Minnesota at the time. One of the reasons I have had a pretty hard time meeting new people is because it seems a lot of people out here are intollerant of new ideas. There's been more than a few people here that have found out I'm from Minnesota and said, "Oh, so you're from a blue state..." Not everyone is like that out here but the wind sure blows a different way.
My work here is dung.
The third space used to be called 'the commons' or 'public space' and its disappearance in modern democratic societies is perhaps the greatest tragedy of our times. The idea that Starbucks claims it 'invented' third space is ironically an indicator of how far we've fallen from having sufficient free common public spaces.
Third spaces have long been cited as being the very foundation of democratic society. The mall or Starbucks however are Not public space - they are private - and this can be easily seen if one try's to stage a public demonstration in one of them.
The first time I heard the term third space in reference to coffee houses, beauty salons, et. al. was in a little book called 'The Very Thing Your Heart Craves', published by a small press in the 70's(?). The author again notes the significant role these spaces play in free speech and in the social/community life of society.
This is inevitably going to come off as flamebait to some, but I think it has to be said...
If people but as much effort into constructive pursuits as they put into these games they couldn't help but be very successful. And I don't think there's a real middle ground where you can truly do well and continue to maintain what is essentially a second career within these games.
This is coming from someone who's played a few MMOs... I never invested even a fraction of the time some have put into these games but I still think it was too much time wasted. I certainly wont be making the mistake again.