User:DrFram
My name is Dr. Framke. Presently, I am only participating in this Wiki to help my students gather research for their graduate Sociology project. At this time, we are only focusing on the behavior of players and their motivations.
Urban Dead has become the subject of a lot of discussion in our class, mostly because there is a large social element at play. The actions and reactions of various groups on both sides (zombie vs survivor) are largely interesting because they exhibit a tendency towards "elitist" and "immoral" behavior on a grand scale.
(I don't normally participate in research or discussions like these with grad students, but due to the extended nature of this research, I am trying to help them stimulate discussion with other players)
Some have asked fairly for me to explain what I mean by "immoral" and "elitist" behavior. Note that I use both adjectives in quotations, because they are terms used by my students to describe behavior, and it can be equally argued that the behavior of online players is neither "immoral" or "elitist", depending on the situation and the motivation. While this game has generated a community of players who try to implement social mores, there is no definitive enforcement or social movement to contain players who violate any rules pressed upon them by the community. Nor is it reasonable to compare physical social behavior to virtual/online social behavior.
One term that is used quite frequently of late by my students is "obsessive bordering on compulsive behavior to achieve a goal in a game that has no victory conditions." That, too, is debatable, depending on the individual participating in the game. I would suggest if you are an individual who sacrifices healthy and safe choices to play this game that you consider the consequences of such choices.
If you have any questions about our research, please feel free to ask me on the Caiger Mall pages where I have started entries. I will only give out my e-mail address to those who are interested in asking questions for the purpose of research and/or school.
