DON'T CAMP OR DIE TRYING
Image 1: Call of Duty
Memes (Google Images)
Power is everything when it comes to the essentials of life.
Robert Linthicum; founder of the ‘Inland Communities Organising Network’ also
known as ‘ICON’ defines power as “the capacity, ability and willingness to act”
(Linthicum, 2006). Linthicum believes that power is the acting capacity and
that the capacity is the facility to produce or perform an act. Generally,
hearing the word ‘power’ gives us a sense of having authority, domination and
manipulation towards something. Having power can also viewed as legitimate,
rewarding and being valued for your expertise.
The virtual network I have decided to analyse for Blog 1 is
the ‘PlayStation Network’ also known as ‘PSN’. When I first joined to PSN
network to access the virtual network of gaming five years ago, I found that
having full access of the gaming features very empowering. Being a member of
PSN allowed me to play with peers in the same virtual world in games such as
Call of Duty. With the PSN membership it provided me with complete control of
what I can perform whilst playing the game. The benefits may be being able to
“game chat” with other gamers or friends that are playing in the same lobby as
you. Without the PSN membership, Call of Duty restricts gamers to only campaign
mode which can be very boring after finishing it over repetitively.
As years went on playing through the PlayStation Network, I
came to understand the possibilities of having power within the games. For instance,
in Call of Duty a minority of gamers have the tendency to just hide in areas
difficult to reach using long range weapons like snipers, assault rifles and
machine guns. These people are called “campers” and believe me when I say this,
these people ruin the fun factor of the game. Call of Duty is designed to
create various thrilling gun fight scenarios where all players engage in fast-paced
gameplay. James Westbrook from the gaming forum ibn.com reviews that “Camping
is the worst problem in COD. It is a defensive tactic that would deter
gunfights from happening at all if everyone decided to do it”.
To oppose this tactic, our lecture notes on Foucault’s theory
of power can be used to incorporate the power to authorise the ability to
communicate with each other in the game chat. Having that network, players can
now team up dominate the opposing players that try and ruin the game for
everyone else. These camping tactics can be very common on free for all mode as
players are individually playing for themselves. The mode derives power from
all aspects whether it may be the rewards of winning, the feeling of domination
amongst other players or the pure seduction of entertainment that the game
offers. It is legitimate to say that Call of Duty derives gamers in a whirlpool
of emotions. Every time that I play Call of Duty, I will begin to think is it
empowering or disempowering me as a person?
References:
Linthicum, R. (2006) Building a People of Power: The Nature
of Power. Retrieved from http://www.icon-iaf.org/resources/what-is-power/
Lundberg, A. (2013). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives
and the making of place, lecture 2: Power [PowerPoint slides] Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Call of Duty Meme Retrieved from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/e2/44/bf/e244bf4b2146b667975402ed665553b6--lol-funny-funny-stuff.jpg
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