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- |Changes [Feb 26, 2009]
The camera
He commented on the side while playing Lineage on his new computer. For over five years, he did not have a computer at home. Every time my brother and I went back to Taiwan to visit him in Taipei, I felt bad that they did not have a computer where I had four in my house. One of my biggest wishes was to buy them a computer so they would not have to go to the internet café and spend money playing video games.
Last summer, I worked at nVidia, responsible for the graphics engine in the PlayStation 3 and arguably king of the PC Graphics industry. For the summer, I was able to save up an allowance. Because I knew prices for electronics always went down, I made it a point to never buy top of the line performing PCs. Moore’s Law have dictated chip performance for the past few decades. Prices have fallen while performance has risen at an exponential rate. There is really no reason to buy an expensive PC. So at the end of the summer, I bought a mid range computer and saved the one I had for them in Taiwan.
I tuned the computer, bought some new parts and made sure it ran all the games they wanted perfectly. It was an AMD Athlon 2500+ XP microprocessor running at 1.8 Ghz, 1GB of PC3200 RAM running at 400 mhz, GeForce 4 MX graphics chip and 80 GB of Hard disk space. Although pale in numbers when next to top of the line Intel microprocessors running at 3.2 Ghz, performance wise it could definitely handle Warcraft III, Lineage, and all the other games I knew they played. Yet, my uncle still complained. I was so excited when installing the computer on their bedroom table. Yet, he still complained.
I really hoped that the computer in their house will not only save them money, but also hopefully, let my uncle try new games. Yet, he still goes to the internet café. Is slow really the reason? I think he noticed something was different. Playing all day meant that he was playing by himself. His son went to school, his wife went to work, and only he stayed home to play games. I am a gamer too and I can admit- playing by yourself just isn’t that fun.
It is the herd mentality of MMORPGs. When you are in the internet café, you’re surrounded by many others who put in 40+ hours a week in online RPGs and that somewhat motivates you to play more- just because everyone else is. In my chat with Henry, he mentioned that one of the key factors, if not the most important, of why people get immersed in MMORPGs is the in game social aspects. The wanting of obtaining a higher status whether be it a rare item, being a guild leader, or simply making more friends, reinforces itself as more and more time is spent. This aspect is further enhanced when physically being in a room with a hundred other people playing the same game. Henry mentioned:
“With MMOs, most people really feel as players that they are not getting the full experience unless they participate in someway in the social aspect. Once you’ve made a commitment to something that going to involve a lot of time, it’s very easy to be involved in a way that you want to spend more time.” (Source 7)
If buying the computer could make my uncle bored of Lineage that would be my greatest wish, but all I am hoping for is for them to save money and put that money into buying food- real edible food. I didn’t want any appreciation; all I wanted was to change my cousin’s future by making a better environment for him. All of that is hope. This summer when I visit them again, I can tell if there is a difference, if the computer I bought for them made a difference.
