(no subject)
GEEK WEEK presents Video Games: Final Fantasy XI
Two weekends ago, on a sunny afternoon, I attended a wedding. Like other guests at any number of other weddings taking place around the world that day, I carefully picked out just the right outfit, gathered my gifts together and headed to the ceremony, taking pains to adhere to the rules of etiquette so as not to spoil the special day. As I sat on the beautifully manicured lawn that stretched before an ancient manor, I waited for the bride and groom to make their way down the aisle and exchange their vows, uniting them in matrimony under the powers of the law. Unlike most people attending weddings around the world that day, however, I had never met the bride, the groom or the other guests. And I hoped that my giant double bladed spear wasn't blocking the view of the beastmaster sitting behind me.
For the wedding wsn't taking place on our world at all, but rather in the virtual realm of Vana'diel.
If the idea of staging an online wedding seems strange to you, to those involved it is just the next logical step in the slow virtualization of life. The most fantastic element of The Matrix wasn't the idea that people would spend their lives inhabiting a programmed reality instead of living in the real world, but that said world would resemble our own. Why live in a replication of the mundane we already experience when you could choose to spend your time in a world of fantasy and adventure? It is this lure that is prompting people in increasing numbers around the world to dedicate their time to games such as Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars and, most popular of all, World of Warcraft Online. And as people spend more time in these virtual realms, it is only logical that the major events of their lives are increasingly taking place there. It is not a replacement for life, but a migration of it.
So while games such as FFXI include rote warnings to be viewed every time you log on -- "we have no desire to see your real life suffer" and "don't forger your family, your friends, your school or your work" -- they also have begun to institutionalize such concepts as in-game marriage so that players will be able to more fully ignore those warnings. So it was that on a sunny day in the ancient kingdom of San d'Oria I found myself watching the binding of Dragonwing (male elvaan Dragoon) and Nikka (female mithra Dragoon) in matrimony under the eyes of their creator, the benevolent goddess Altana. Presiding over the wedding was a GM -- an employee of Square Enix, the company who runs FFXI -- and it was her presence alone that elevated the ceremony to the status of official, setting their relationship apart from the hundreds of unsanctioned flirtings that take place every day.
For, of course, one of the inescapable laws of the universe is that people in any social setting will attempt to find romantic companionship. In addition to the usual pitfalls that accompany this, though, players in the virtual world have another, unique set of concerns. Any player creating a new character can choose to be a male or female of any of a number of different species, and the sims that represent them all appear to be in the same youthful age group. Is that hot blond Hume female chatting you up and asking for help with a quest really interested in your noble countenance, or is it just some guy in his dorm room huffing Cheeto crumbs and hoping to use his virtual cleavage to get some freebies? Some savvy sharks, noting how female players can often be treated deferentially, pose as women in the hope of getting free items or in-game money. Often, people trying to sort out the most likely mate will stick to known trends: females tend to make characters that are Hume (i.e. human) or Tarutaru women, while the all-female race of cat women called mithra is so frequently picked by men that they are commonly called manthras instead.
Dragonwing and Nikka, luckily, didn't have to worry about these concerns for, like many couples who petition Square Enix for the right to have a sanction marriage, they are also a couple in real life. While many, primarily younger, players look for in-game marriages in order to validate themselves in a relationship they are unable to achieve in the real world, for couples who play the game together, the wedding becomes an opportunity instead to replicate their real world commitments. Dragonwing and Nikka, for example, live together and are engaged, so for them the wedding is a taste on Vana'diel of what they will soon experience on Earth. This desire to affirm publicly in the virtual world their vows from the real is a desire that drives many married couples who play together; but with Square Enix performing such a small number of ceremonies it can often be a frustrating wait, especially when players who do not know each other in real life and are in some cases simply looking for a trophy wife have their petitions accepted first.
This was an issue that caused a great deal of aggravation for Backstabber (male galka Beastmaster) and Ladynan (felame hume White Mage), who saw their petitions rejected over twenty times by the GMs at Square Enix. Married with children in the real world, Backstabber and Ladynan were sponsored in their attempt by one player after another, each petition rejected due to a backlog of request influenced, at least in part, by events in the real world. For example, when Clepto (male galka Dark Knight) was deployed to Iraq last summer, his in-game wedding to his real life wife, Fiverbar (female hume Summoner) was fast-tracked in order to insure they would be married before he was left.
Not all real life relationships are facilitated by Square Enix, however. In real life, Whasf (male elvaan White Mage) and Toshiko (male hume Red Mage) live together; in real life Whasf is male and Toshiko is female. However, since both of their characters are male in-game, SE will not allow their characters to be officially married, as they have banned same-sex marriages. Of course, it doesn't matter what sex the players behind the sims are -- two men or two women could marry in game, as long as, of course, their characters were of opposite sexes. Within a virtual world, where everything is created artifice, this makes a certain type of sense -- since nobody is what they appear to be, the only thing that matters is that appearance, and Square Enix has decided they wish to maintain the appearance of traditional marriages, regardless of the truth behind it.
Same-sex marriages are hardly the only area in which the concerns and issues of the real world have spilled over into the virtual; with a mixed population of Japanese and North American players in roughly equal numbers, communication issues often crop up, as does, inevitably, racism. Yet despite the Japanese origins of the game, the wedding ceremony itself seems to be in keeping with Western traditions. As the guests silently watch, the music in the city changes to soft organ music and the bride and groom approach the GM who leads them in a repeating of vows before an exchange of rings. The ceremony is brief and solemn -- guests are not allowed to speak or make any movements, at risk of having the wedding canceled -- and for the privilege, the characters pay over 100,000 gil. For those couples like Dragonwing and Nikka who make it through the petition process, though, the announcement by the GM that they are now married under Vana'diel law is worth every gil.
After the ceremony ended, I and the other guests stood and saluted the newlyweds with fireworks and congratulations. Backstabber and Ladynan, speaking with the presiding GM after the wedding, finally had their petition granted and were able to set their wedding date. And then, just as in the real world, we all left to celebrate by mercilessly slaughtering Velociraptors and making jackets out of their skins.
The bride appraoches as the guests look on.
The newlyweds in the receiving line.
Two weekends ago, on a sunny afternoon, I attended a wedding. Like other guests at any number of other weddings taking place around the world that day, I carefully picked out just the right outfit, gathered my gifts together and headed to the ceremony, taking pains to adhere to the rules of etiquette so as not to spoil the special day. As I sat on the beautifully manicured lawn that stretched before an ancient manor, I waited for the bride and groom to make their way down the aisle and exchange their vows, uniting them in matrimony under the powers of the law. Unlike most people attending weddings around the world that day, however, I had never met the bride, the groom or the other guests. And I hoped that my giant double bladed spear wasn't blocking the view of the beastmaster sitting behind me.
For the wedding wsn't taking place on our world at all, but rather in the virtual realm of Vana'diel.
If the idea of staging an online wedding seems strange to you, to those involved it is just the next logical step in the slow virtualization of life. The most fantastic element of The Matrix wasn't the idea that people would spend their lives inhabiting a programmed reality instead of living in the real world, but that said world would resemble our own. Why live in a replication of the mundane we already experience when you could choose to spend your time in a world of fantasy and adventure? It is this lure that is prompting people in increasing numbers around the world to dedicate their time to games such as Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars and, most popular of all, World of Warcraft Online. And as people spend more time in these virtual realms, it is only logical that the major events of their lives are increasingly taking place there. It is not a replacement for life, but a migration of it.
So while games such as FFXI include rote warnings to be viewed every time you log on -- "we have no desire to see your real life suffer" and "don't forger your family, your friends, your school or your work" -- they also have begun to institutionalize such concepts as in-game marriage so that players will be able to more fully ignore those warnings. So it was that on a sunny day in the ancient kingdom of San d'Oria I found myself watching the binding of Dragonwing (male elvaan Dragoon) and Nikka (female mithra Dragoon) in matrimony under the eyes of their creator, the benevolent goddess Altana. Presiding over the wedding was a GM -- an employee of Square Enix, the company who runs FFXI -- and it was her presence alone that elevated the ceremony to the status of official, setting their relationship apart from the hundreds of unsanctioned flirtings that take place every day.
For, of course, one of the inescapable laws of the universe is that people in any social setting will attempt to find romantic companionship. In addition to the usual pitfalls that accompany this, though, players in the virtual world have another, unique set of concerns. Any player creating a new character can choose to be a male or female of any of a number of different species, and the sims that represent them all appear to be in the same youthful age group. Is that hot blond Hume female chatting you up and asking for help with a quest really interested in your noble countenance, or is it just some guy in his dorm room huffing Cheeto crumbs and hoping to use his virtual cleavage to get some freebies? Some savvy sharks, noting how female players can often be treated deferentially, pose as women in the hope of getting free items or in-game money. Often, people trying to sort out the most likely mate will stick to known trends: females tend to make characters that are Hume (i.e. human) or Tarutaru women, while the all-female race of cat women called mithra is so frequently picked by men that they are commonly called manthras instead.
Dragonwing and Nikka, luckily, didn't have to worry about these concerns for, like many couples who petition Square Enix for the right to have a sanction marriage, they are also a couple in real life. While many, primarily younger, players look for in-game marriages in order to validate themselves in a relationship they are unable to achieve in the real world, for couples who play the game together, the wedding becomes an opportunity instead to replicate their real world commitments. Dragonwing and Nikka, for example, live together and are engaged, so for them the wedding is a taste on Vana'diel of what they will soon experience on Earth. This desire to affirm publicly in the virtual world their vows from the real is a desire that drives many married couples who play together; but with Square Enix performing such a small number of ceremonies it can often be a frustrating wait, especially when players who do not know each other in real life and are in some cases simply looking for a trophy wife have their petitions accepted first.
This was an issue that caused a great deal of aggravation for Backstabber (male galka Beastmaster) and Ladynan (felame hume White Mage), who saw their petitions rejected over twenty times by the GMs at Square Enix. Married with children in the real world, Backstabber and Ladynan were sponsored in their attempt by one player after another, each petition rejected due to a backlog of request influenced, at least in part, by events in the real world. For example, when Clepto (male galka Dark Knight) was deployed to Iraq last summer, his in-game wedding to his real life wife, Fiverbar (female hume Summoner) was fast-tracked in order to insure they would be married before he was left.
Not all real life relationships are facilitated by Square Enix, however. In real life, Whasf (male elvaan White Mage) and Toshiko (male hume Red Mage) live together; in real life Whasf is male and Toshiko is female. However, since both of their characters are male in-game, SE will not allow their characters to be officially married, as they have banned same-sex marriages. Of course, it doesn't matter what sex the players behind the sims are -- two men or two women could marry in game, as long as, of course, their characters were of opposite sexes. Within a virtual world, where everything is created artifice, this makes a certain type of sense -- since nobody is what they appear to be, the only thing that matters is that appearance, and Square Enix has decided they wish to maintain the appearance of traditional marriages, regardless of the truth behind it.
Same-sex marriages are hardly the only area in which the concerns and issues of the real world have spilled over into the virtual; with a mixed population of Japanese and North American players in roughly equal numbers, communication issues often crop up, as does, inevitably, racism. Yet despite the Japanese origins of the game, the wedding ceremony itself seems to be in keeping with Western traditions. As the guests silently watch, the music in the city changes to soft organ music and the bride and groom approach the GM who leads them in a repeating of vows before an exchange of rings. The ceremony is brief and solemn -- guests are not allowed to speak or make any movements, at risk of having the wedding canceled -- and for the privilege, the characters pay over 100,000 gil. For those couples like Dragonwing and Nikka who make it through the petition process, though, the announcement by the GM that they are now married under Vana'diel law is worth every gil.
After the ceremony ended, I and the other guests stood and saluted the newlyweds with fireworks and congratulations. Backstabber and Ladynan, speaking with the presiding GM after the wedding, finally had their petition granted and were able to set their wedding date. And then, just as in the real world, we all left to celebrate by mercilessly slaughtering Velociraptors and making jackets out of their skins.
The bride appraoches as the guests look on.
The newlyweds in the receiving line.