How is a culture for an online virtual world created- and what that process does for a game or a story setting. A starting point is analyzing elements that make up actual cultures. Authors of books or games go through steps to make their cultures as real as possible for their audience.
Virtual online worlds, whether one is discussing Second Life or World of Warcraft, are fundamentally the same when it comes to gameplay. Each virtual world consists of multiple mini-games, some simple and some elaborate, strung together to create a larger game. All of the mini-games are tied together by one world setting, and this is what sets games apart from each other. The world of each of these virtual realities, simple or deeply complex, provided the basis in which all the mini-games, including combat, crafting or merely chatting, exist and function, and for most developers, the world itself is the most important part of the game.
What creates a world? Areas, most certainly, and dungeons help create the realm. The character models and the appearance of gear help create the atmosphere, and, ultimately, the stories created for and within the society create the world. These stories help players get involved and immersed in the virtual reality in which they have chosen to partake, and the more cohesive the stories, the more easily players suspend their disbelief to sink into the environment. Authors of books spend countless hours on world development alone, whether they study historical documents for references or create detailed and elaborate notes and flow charts about their world in which all their characters operate. The same should be true of virtual online worlds.
Some of the most important parts of a world are the cultures of the inhabitants of the specific realities. This aspect of the game gains even more importance if any form of role-playing exists as a major part of the environment. Cultures play a very important part of distinguishing the various inhabitants of our own world, and for online gaming, factions and distinguishing characteristics for player characters are an extremely important part of creating a virtual reality.
Having multiple cultures, even if they consist of extremely basic elements, can bring life to a world and give it definition. Simple steps can be taken to create simulated world cultures. The first two steps involve simply performing a cursory study of various cultures that exist on Earth and learning how to distinguish key characteristics of those cultures. Once a writer or developer understands how cultures impact our own world, creating a virtual reality culture becomes quite simple.
- Pick four (4) key elements for your culture.
- Pick two historical incidents that occurred in your culture that helped define and shape who they are.
- Create a flow chart that ties these six parts of your culture together, and at each line, write the actual event that glues them together.
- Finally, write a completed piece describing your culture.
With these four steps, developers and writers can create flowing cultures that help shape and define their worlds, and players can have some meaty material to aid them in developing their characters.
Additional articles will discuss how actual cultures are researched to use elements to create unique cultures for writing in science fiction, fantasy, and game design- and the importance of learning and establishing cultural norms.