Early last week C|Net’s virtual news/real reporter Daniel Terdiman wrote a nice piece on VATSIM, “Into the wild blue virtual yonder” (Link). As I was under a deadline crunch I didn’t post anything about it but also noticed that most other virtual world-centric blogs I frequent didn’t mention it either. However, I did catch that Terra Nova had an entry (Link), and was hoping that it would spark some conversation. Unfortunately only two people (me being one of them) posted a comment on the TN site. I’m unsure why this isn’t getting more attention, the article has plenty of goodies related to hot button topics that get people posting and commenting.
One of the first things that should be apparent from reading the article is that VATSIM is a real time simulation and that volunteers for the non-profit spend literally hours doing what amounts to a real job. The article mentions air traffic control, but one wonders why they couldn’t add ground support. Imagine a virtual pilot being delayed by a slow fueling team. There’s been increasing discussion about the nature of Work and Play and how videogames and simulations (and eventually PLMs) are increasingly blurring the lines, well VATSIM is perhaps one of the blurriest.
The next thing that got my attention was the premium paid for realism – including realism that amounts to drudgery. Imagine launching your videogame and the character you play has to eat a good breakfast before going off to do whatever it is they do. Imagine the Mario Brothers forcing players to wait 15 minutes while they showered and got dressed for work. Only I expect some people would enjoy it. Maybe not the mass audience for which the game is intended and whose expectations drive the design, but for a niche (there’s that word), such seemingly worthless activities are desired and appreciated. I might want to hit the “On” button and have an aircraft’s engines immediately ready for action, but for the sake of immersion I understand that some people want it to be real… and that means adding the stuff most others would just as soon avoid.
As an aside, notice how many videogames use distressed and weathered textures. You rarely see a machine that looks like it just came out of the box; it has to have scratches, burn marks, a little rust, and some metal patches showing through. If it doesn’t look Used, the immersion is adversely impacted.
The other thing I enjoyed reading in the article was the bit about increasingly realistic interfaces. Years ago some fellow designers and I went over to our VP of Research & Development’s home to check out his new computer which – because he was also a pilot – had been configured with pedals and a flight stick. We were impressed. Consequently, it comes as no surprise to me that people are fabricating their own simulator enclosures using actual parts. I recall seeing images of someone’s contraption some time back. That guy may now be building custom interfaces for clients… and charging a very pretty penny.
Also in the article was mention that adverse conditions attracted more pilots. Tell me that doesn’t sound like a kind of leveling up gateway. There’s something very raw in that which goes beyond the obviousness of the MMORPG level grind/power up. I sometimes wonder if the core motivations aren’t sometimes overlooked in what is, by now I’d venture, a rather cookie-cutter approach to game development. I don’t know, but the suspician is there. Considering that for me the biggest difference between Second Life and most popular MMORPGs out there is the lack of some easy-t0-understand metric (SL used to have a kind of metric system, but that has long since been retired). Something for me to give additional thought.
Anyway, check out the article when and if you have time. It’s not Second Life, it’s not videogames and it’s not marketing or rapid manufacturing, but it does have some elements of each wrapped up in it.