Noah Macinskas Thesis Proposal

Thesis Proposal: Virtual Goods
“What is a rose? It’s 3 things: the actual rose, the thought of the gift and the look of the rose. 2 out of 3 isn’t bad.”

I. Project Abstract
a. The project will be an investigation of virtual goods. I am going to research who buys them and why. What value do users see when they buy virtual goods? Can taxonomy be made about the different types of virtual goods and their respective values? Is there any kind of correlation between a user’s buying practices in the real world versus the virtual world?
II. Description
a. Definition of Project:
i. The Project will be in the form of a Machinima Documentary. I am going to go into virtual worlds and interview users about virtual goods they buy in those worlds. The director of the documentary will be my avatar in the game. I am going to go into games such as WoW and virtual hangouts like Gaia Online ad vSide and interview users in those games as to why they buy virtual goods and what the meaning of them is. I want to know how the user sees virtual goods. I will make taxonomy of virtual goods based on type of value (i.e. tangible, intangible, etc.) and type of virtual good as well as type of virtual world. Then I will interview people in virtual worlds and compare my findings and adjust my taxonomy.
b. Clear articulation of project goals:
i. The project will be a machinima, because I am dealing with virtual goods in virtual worlds, so I want to film on site in the virtual world. Interviewing people in person gives a different response than interviewing them in character. I want to get in character, honest responses from users. I think that interviewing them in game will allow me to get more honest responses from them because they are in the environment at the time, and they are anonymous as well. I will ask users why they buy virtual goods and what sorts of goods they buy. I intend to find out what the actual reason is that users buy virtual goods, because right now the only documentation comes from designers interviewing other designers about what they think. The project will be an attempt to understand the buying practices of people in virtual worlds and the type of value they place on the good that they buy and create taxonomy of virtual goods based on these interviews.
c. Statement of significance within contemporary scholarship in field:
i. Virtual goods have become a very big business model in the gaming world, and quite a lot of academics have been looking into the psychology behind virtual goods. Many successful companies have been using virtual goods as their main income source, companies like Nexon, Three Rings and Sony. Because of companies like this, the topic is relevant outside of a university setting. Companies want to know why and how these business models work. This should also be important to the average reader, because they will be able to understand this new rising subculture and learn about the importance of virtual goods.
III. Timeline
a. Final Thesis Proposal: December 2007
b. Preliminary research and Interviews: September 2008
c. Rough Cut of Documentary: January 2009
d. Finished Project: May 2009
IV. Budget
a. One-month subscription to multiple MMOs: $60
b. Miscellaneous costs: $40
c. Final Budget: $100
V. Confirmed Advisors
a. Patricia Pizer (IMD)
b. Undecided (IML)
VI. Presentation Plans/Venues
a. Final Presentation TBA by IML
b. Released on YouTube at the culmination of project.
VII. Production Resources
a. Software Needs:
i. Snapz Pro
ii. Editing Software
iii. Games
1. World of Warcraft
2. Everquest II
3. Lineage II
4. Guild Wars
iv. Virtual World programs
1. vSide
2. Gaia Online
3. Go Pets!
VIII. Collaborators:
a. Patricia Pizer
b. Potential Collaborators
i. Nicole Lazzaro
ii. Raph Koster
iii. Daniel James
IX. Presentation Needs:
a. DVD player
b. Theater Setup
c. Monitors
X. Prior Related Work
a. Attended the Virtual Goods Summit in Palo Alto in June 2007.
XI. Research Bibliography
a. http://www.vgsummit.com/videos.php
i. Videos from the virtual goods summit from June 2007 at Stanford University.
b. http://www.thisspartanlife.com/
i. A talk show done in gamespace.
c. http://www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames.html
i. A study done by Nicole Lazzaro on why player play games.