discussion

=**Exploring the Z-Axis - Written Report Supplemental to the Presentation** = = = 


 Massively multi-player on-line role playing games (MMORPGs) vary in how they represent the real world, if at all. Some games, falling under the sub-genre of MMORPG-fantasy such as __[|Perfect World]__ (//Perfect World//) and __[|Guild Wars]__ (//Guild Wars//), offer ways to escape the real world by allowing the user to enter and participate in a persistent, magical and mystical virtual world created by the game designers. These two game-worlds will be the focus of our discussion here in which will highlight some of the concepts discussed in the media portion of our project in order to contrast the accessibility and use of vertical space in these games between themselves and reality.

//__Guild Wars__//
//Guild Wars// does contain vertical space - the z-axis - but the game engine limits or curtails the movements and interactions of the game characters: loosely speaking, this means that players are confined (with one exception that will be discussed later) to a single xy-plane at ground level (z=0). As such, players cannot jump over objects or swim through or under water. However, it is not the case that players cannot traverse an inclined plane, that they cannot travel beneath a bridge that another player could be simultaneously traveling over, or that they cannot be on a higher plane relative to another player. The limitation actually exists in the game engine: the algorithm used to code it simply assumes z=0 for all interactions among players except for combat at a great distance - using bow and arrows, for instance - in which case the player //on higher ground// wins or dominates the other opponent. ([|Guild Wars Wiki]) In all other cases, the relative height along the z-axis of players is ignored by the game engine. This results in some interesting effects on strategies used for effective game play.

One interesting exploit of this z-axis condition is to lay //traps// on the top side of bridges to ensnare or inflict damage on enemy players that travel beneath it. And, conversely, another exploit involves way-laying, from beneath the bridge, enemy players that pass over it. In both cases, the exploit results in an advantage for those players setting traps above or waylaying from below because they may remain hidden from their opponents. An opponent traveling over a bridge my suddenly be subject to melee attack from an invisible aggressor. This is because the game engine ignores the z-variable in the conflict, considering all opponents to be on a level plane. This assumption obviously only holds for opponents that are all either on top of the bridge or all beneath it ;and, this lack of discrimination between players that are distributed above and below the bridge structure results in an exploitable condition of the game logic when they are actually so.

Another interesting effect on game play that is related to this idea of ignoring the z-axis involves the //projectile attack// - with bow and arrow, for instance. In this type of attack, the game engine only considers line of sight (within the plane) between players in assessing a successful attack: that is, overhead obstructions in the path of the projectile, such as the canopy of a forest or the arc of a bridge, are ignored. If the attacker can see the target when launching the attack, then that will be sufficient for a //hit// to be counted against that target.

Some players consider these discrepancies or differences with the //real// environment to be bugs in the //virtual// system that may or may not detract from the combat or overall game experience; other players simply accept it as a part of the challenge of game play - a variable that needs to be considered, and managed for, during interactions. For example, in a //Guild Wars// [|discussion forum] for the game, one relatively less experienced player named //lacasner// points out his or her frustration with this apparent inconsistency (of game physics, or dimensions, with the //real// world) to another relatively more experienced player named //Ekelon//:


 * Lacasner begins by saying,
 * "[Hero battle] has too many bugs and exploits which make it really gay for new up and coming players to play. For instance, my friend in top 100 has numerous tips and tricks he refuses to tell me, which apparantly [sic] do give an advantage when one plays. In a way this is unfair[;]"


 * to which Ekelon replies,
 * "It's not tips and tricks. It's knowing what bugs there are and knowing how to avoid those bugs. How is it unfair? Us top 100 people had to learn all the bugs ourselves. Of course, I have told a numerous number of people how to play hero battles and what are the common bugs, most individuals must start this journey in to [sic] Hero Battles by themselves just like you. Your friend isn't obligated to tell anyone because he had to learn about all the bugs the hard way."

With either perspective, it is clear that the differences between game dimensional rules, and implications, and those of the real world affect the game play experience: the experience varies from reality and, in some cases to a great extent, from the (users') expectations of how closely a virtual reality should mimic another reality based on the perceptions of them. It is interesting to note that the planned [|Guild Wars 2] game engine will consider, or discriminate among, the variable z-axis states in calculations thereby enabling functionality such as jumping over objects, swimming through water, and presumably //fixing// and //nerfing// the over/under-the-bridge //bug// and exploit, respectively.

//__Perfect World__//
//Perfect World// contains a z-axis that is recognized (by the game engine as variable for all z>=0 under some upper bound) for both movement, combat and other interactions. This means that the game world has a dimension of vertical height greater than //Guild Wars//, allowing the character to jump, fly, and interact with the world on multiple planes distributed above the ground level along the the vertical axis: these include exploring multi-story buildings, cliffs, caves, and floating structures. In contrast to //Guild Wars//, //Perfect World// enables these actions; and does so through the varying flight capabilities among different characters and by allowing for a variable z-coordinate. However, these flight capabilities really only overcome the vertical space and not the horizontal space: as some users have pointed out in a //Perfect World// discussion forum, the actual flight-based traversal tends to be slower than land-based traversal of a terrain. ([|Flying / Elfwing Thread], [|Flying Speed Thread].)

This leads to some interesting behaviour in game play - users attempt to maximize their character's land-speed: as a more experienced player points out in one of the threads, maximum air-speed is a function of maximum ground-speed - an association we don't typically make in //reality//. Maximum flight speed can be ascertained by using the equation maximum ground-speed in flight equals maximum air-speed - the maximum land-speed of the character - plus any boost afforded by an //aerocraft// (to a maximum of +3m/s and) which typically amounts to less than that available to characters as a minimum land-speed. Thus, as the player points out, "With maxed //tigerform// its usually faster to run than to fly." (emphasis added, [|Flying Speed Thread]) So, again distinct differences are apparent between game logic and the expectation of what it would or should be, based on players' perceptions of the environments - a difference which ultimately leads to a difference in (game play) experiences.

__//Other Concepts Addressed in the Presentation//__
//Cognitive Cost//

The concept of cognitive cost determines how the user consumes images at a glance, particularly in regards to how long it takes and how difficult it is to understand any given image. This is extremely important to the implementation of a traversable vertical axis in a computer game because more information must be consumed in less time - one must make judgments quickly, sometimes while midair. The cognitive cost concept determines how long it takes to determine that a cliff is not an insurmountable peak and that there is something of worth at the top of it; what creatures are villains and where they are in relation to the character; and where and how non-party characters are situated. If any of these messages are not conveyed efficiently, the user can get lost, bored, confused, and ultimately killed, making for an unfortunate or unpleasant game experience.

//Sensory Representation//

The cognitive cost concept ties directly into the concept of sensory representation. In addition to the issues mentioned about it relates to conveying the message that a character controls, or is unable to control, a specific aspect of vertical movement; has the ability to tele-port; or, is otherwise able to control any other of the various unnatural, or virtual, movements; and, communicating this by feel and instinct rather than instruction. These experiences are not things to which the average person has access. However, these functionalities and experiences must be conveyed in terms of image and sound and must be processed by the user relatively quickly.

Levering the advantages afforded by sensory representation becomes even more important in the case of //Perfect World//, where points of interest existing on various planes along the z-axis above ground level are not located or revealed on the (navigation) map. Thus, the visualizations, the renderings themselves, serve to convey this information through **pre-attentive processing**: //Here is an obstacle that will require me to take flight to explore or overcome//. In the real world, an average human may gain access to the top of a building only by climbing stairs or using an elevator which is accessed through the interior. In Guild Wars, the buildings only serve an aesthetic purpose as one cannot enter or scale the roof. Perfect World allows access to the top of buildings from the exterior only, though typically via flight; so, the buildings themselves become the //stairs//.

//Wayfinding//

Wayfinding, then, also becomes relevant to this discussion when creating a virtual world with or without a z-axis accessibility or navigability. Navigation is arguably the most important part of any persistent online world, and it is difficult to control movement on three axes without prior experience in that area. //Perfect World//’s navigation system is confusing and difficult to use, providing too many options and lacking adequate control; and whereas //Guild Wars// provides impressive amounts of control, it imposes an unrealistic level of area and path rigidity, especially in vertical space. As portrayed in the pictoral elements of the presentation, Guild Wars provides freedom of movement to a degree, though deviating from certain paths or attempting to reach certain areas results in unrealistic barriers that detract from the immersive experience.

//Withering Aura//

Finally, withering aura involves a loss of, or connection to, authenticity of a (virtually represented) experience and a shrinking of distance – it is difficult to perceive either of the game worlds presented here as //real// (if not realistic) because one cannot navigate the //real world// in the same way that one can navigate the virtual environments of //Perfect World// or //Guild Wars//. Clearly, people cannot control their movement in relation to vertical distance from the Earth’s surface - people cannot fly. Also, one cannot immediately stop or run at inhuman speeds, thereby crossing vast areas such as continents on foot. In particular, the ability to fly in //Perfect World// withers aura by allowing the user to gain a vantage not otherwise (realistically or easily) attainable (through flight); and, the //flatness// - z=0 for all interactions except projectile attacks - of //Guild Wars// gives the user unusual access to vertical space - simultaneously having effect both above and below a bridge, for instance.

Ultimately, neither world accurately depicts reality – //Perfect World// gives the player too much freedom and makes it difficult to navigate or maneuver, while //Guild Wars// restricts the player to the point where the world seems somehow confined and unrealistic. These apparent differences between the virtual environments and reality - between the game logic and the expectation of what it would or should be based on players' perceptions of the environments - ultimately lead to a difference in (game play) experiences.