Do you practice MMO superstition?
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Nov 2nd 2006 at 4:45PM }
TerraNova examined superstitions and their impact on the MMOG space. They identified Star Wars Galaxies, in its original incarnation, as a great example of creating superstition in a community. When players were trying to become Jedi, every so often a system message would pop up telling them they were closer to the truth, without telling them what they had done to get closer. Players came up with all sorts of explanations and theories of what they had done to get closer to the truth. Turned out that they had done basic grinding, there was nothing mystical, just basic game mechanics at work -- it got people talking though.Superstitions are the belief that some mystical force, depending on actions, is creating consequences or rewards. Even gamers, who know that games are nothing but programs can be prone to superstition -- although the tech staunch rational gamer will justify their superstition by calling it a "bug" or something else dismissive that they figured out. Seem to get the "phat lootz" when you're wearing a random piece of armor? That's superstition. Does your guild send a certain class into the instance to make the loot tables go in their favor? Superstition. Players can't justify their actions because they didn't program the game, but they rationally swear it must be true, even though, in the end, it's just electronic superstition.
TerraNova comes out saying that superstition is good for an MMO. It gives the game a higher existence than the fully-programmed and hyper-mathematical world it really is. What superstitions do you adhere to or have you seen?
(Side note: The image is James C. Christensen's Superstition, which incorporates 72 superstitions.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Psaakyrn @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:04PM
I would like to disagree that superstition is automatically good. I would argue that in most cases, it's actually bad.
I would also say that the most common superstitions are inherently negative. More commonly, the superstition is not directly based on the game itself, but on other players. Like that person who just seem to always beat you? He must be abusing a bug (superstition). You never seeming to get that last drop needed to complete the mission? The programmers secretly programmed it as such (superstition). And etc.
gunkan @ Nov 2nd 2006 4:58PM
in World of Warcraft, the low level wolves will drop a grey item called Rabbits Foot. I keep one on me at all times for luck.
Ryan de michigan @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:23PM
Psaakyrn:
You nee a better undestanding of what superstitions
are
otakucode @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:19PM
MMO superstition? I think you and TerraNova missed the mark. Players have been assuming games watch them and think WAY more than they actually do for a very long time, and in single player games moreso than in MMOs.
Ever play the original Sim City? Bet you think you figured out patterns like needing to put industry blocks far from residential ones, right? Wrong. There are almost no patterns in the original Sim City. Will Wright has explained in a few interviews that almost everything in Sim City is random, and the player assumes patterns where none exist.
When I played old RPGs, I would swear that when I changed direction walking around on the overhead maps increased my chances of having a random battle encounter. When playing Phantasy Star 2, I always wondered if hitting "A" before the monsters appeared increased or decreased their chance of getting a pre-emptive attack.
Human brains seek patterns, and they find them where none exist very often. This happens in games just like it does in the rest of the world. If you get mugged by two women, you're going to assume there is a large female crime wave even though, more likely, your experience is completely meaningless in the grand scheme of things. This is why so much of common sense is dead wrong.
trent @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:05PM
i know someone who swears that if youre looking at the auction house in WoW, and chatting with her while shes out grinding, she gets more high level drops.
she also insists that when she hears her hard drive spinning up, it means shes gonna get a high level drop. who knows if its true!?!?
CubeGuy @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:24PM
One that comes to mind is holding B + Down, A, or something of the like when you threw a Pokeball in the Game Boy games. I swear it helped. >_>
Casai @ Nov 2nd 2006 5:34PM
How about the gem in the Diablo II chat room you could click on, that would say "gem activated" or "gem deactivated" and people believed led to better item drops in their games?
http://www.diabloii.net/battlenet/gem-in-chat.shtml
Psaakyrn @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:03PM
to #4 Ryan de michigan
So I lump superstitions under "beliefs of certain variables existing where there isn't any." Is there anything wrong in my redefination, considering that superstitions already fall under the second value? I prefer to talk about the larger picture, as opposed to focusing on the micro scale.
In terms of the topic saying that superstition being good for MMOs: Content that adds value is naturally good. Superstitions is just perceived content. If a developer tries to engineer superstition, naturally he would make it positive/appear to add value.
Seer S @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:09PM
"Perfect Gem Activated." Anyone?
Emceay @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:27PM
We are tiny organic robots turning inside of a giant machine. Regular 'real life' superstition is the same as what TerraNova describes, but more complex. All outcomes are calculable and attributable, but the numbers elude us. Superstition's existence inside of MMOs only seems natural. It's just as wisdom demystifies the magic of life, and how sharingan ruins the wonder of a jutsu.
Doomstalk @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:37PM
Phantasy Star Online players are a very superstitious lot. You wouldn't believe the crazy theories I've heard in terms of rare item drop rates.
Bionic @ Nov 2nd 2006 6:45PM
Regarding Star Wars Galaxies, I have no idea what you're talking about. There was no such "random system message" at any time.
If you got a certain item in-game, you could use it to find out what profession you needed to Master next on your path to unlocking Jedi.
Later, you could type /checkforcestatus to see how close you were, but by then we knew exactly how to become "glowy," or unlock your slot.
Anthony @ Nov 3rd 2006 2:27PM
The Star Wars Galaxies reference is actually talking about the period before Holocrons were in the game... before it was revealed that becoming a Jedi was simply a combination profession grind / lottery (depending on which professions you were assigned)
Kyou @ Nov 2nd 2006 7:08PM
Wow, never found any superstitious people in any MMO I've played, and I've played many. Actually as I was reading the article I was thinking that it was a load of crap and that gamers aren't superstitious. Then I read Cubeguy's post, reminding me of down+a+b (wasn't it up+a+b?). I used to do that all the time and I really felt it working. I actually felt awkward throwing pokeballs without using that "trick" in the newer versions, even if it "didn't work as well". Closest I've been to superstition I guess. But that was more like some kind of placebo.
CubeGuy @ Nov 2nd 2006 7:15PM
Yeah. B + Down was the one I used. A friend was dead set on Select. Another was A + Up. I don't think the actual combination really mattered, and to this day, I'm still convinced it made a difference on Red and Blue. =P
mike @ Nov 2nd 2006 7:18PM
CubeGuy, I was certain that was true. I personally caught a Mewtwo with a regular pokeball without damaging or attacking it at all. I didn't use the masterball, because I had ignorantly used it on Articuno. That cheat was not in any other pokemon game after red/blue as far as I know. Of course, there is always the chance that I was extremely lucky, but I know that, more often than not, I could catch pokemon without hurting them.
Jason @ Nov 2nd 2006 7:39PM
This sounds a strange amount like the mythical stat of "Luck" in many text based mmo games, particularly the world of "BatMud". The EXTENSIVE attempts at trying to say what in game actions/inactions affect this stat approach many of gamefaqs guides in length.
Time and again wizards (coders of the MUD) have denied/acknowledged the existance of "luck" but never revealed how/if it can be changed and what parameters it is affected by including race, exp totals, level, alignment, etc. Personally, I think it keeps the game interesting, trying to figure such things out even if they don't exist.
Wolfrider @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:18PM
Reading otakucode's comment made me think of an article I read for a Social Psychology class a while back. Researchers had participants play two games, one with a defined set of rules and one that's outcome was completely random. Those who were playing the random game started to create strategies and come up with explanations of phenomena that didn't have any reason attached to them. The same thing is probably happening here.
Windmill @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:45PM
Maple Story. In the kerning PQ, some peopel reckon that if you kill the little slimes from the king slime, you will get a worse prize.
Yeah right XD
somaXD @ Nov 2nd 2006 11:49PM
cant even count the number of superstition stuff in FFXI.
Anything from, how to get better drop rates with thief TH, directional/day/time in crafting. Notorious monsters that drop nothing... or maybe something.... it gives a deeper involvement into a game that you devote A LOT of time and effort into...
Tom @ Nov 3rd 2006 9:27AM
Here's my favorite - "Don't loot the dogs!" in AV. The dogs reset on a timer whether you loot them or not, and reset when Drek is reset, not when looted.