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.)
