In the world of Cityville the factor of race is quite evident because of its vast popularity throughout the world. Cityville is played by people in other countries so therefore it is easier to distinguish between race and culture just by their language regardless of what their character in the virtual realm looks like. I myself made my character a white American and I somewhat wonder what it would have been like if I had made my character from Spain or Lebanon. I feel like in any virtual world people will always feel much safer in it than in the real world so therefore they feel like they can voice their true honest opinions on how they feel about other races. Some people in these worlds can be outright outspoken about their dislike for other races. This always sours the online experience because we have came along in our society to make our differences a non factor in harmonizing with one another. I recently logged onto the game and came across a very hateful message myself. I had been off of the game for like a week because I was out of town for a funeral. I log back in and I have over one hundred request for invites and gifts from other friends who are players on the game. One guy had sent me over twenty requests by himself. He was from France and seemed to take the game very seriously. He thought it was right to call me a lazy American because of my lack of responding right back to his request. I found it quite entertaining and wanted to know what else people from other countries would say to stereotype our lifestyle. For the most part I have learned that those in other countries are not too fond of the US, which really isn’t a surprise to me because many Americans seem to have a superiority complex and believe that are lifestyle should be the standard set for everyone. Race is often times linked to history and past occurrences. So I could see why people often times would say things about other races that probably don’t pertain to that certain person that they are addressing but they have already established this as their belied from past occurrences and experiences I noticed that many gamers from the other countries only went about playing with others from their own country. I prided myself by playing with players from as many different representing countries as I could. Cityville is a very interactive game because your whole livelihood in it comes from your interaction with others. So the more people you know and are friends with on there the more your likelihood for success is.
Question:
Was race a large factor in your virtual world? Did you have any interaction from players in other countries?
In my virtual world, Habbo Hotel, there are predominantly white avatars. In all of my experiences I did not come across anyone from outside of the United States. The representation of different countries and cultures in Cityville is definitely a plus. Habbo Hotel seems to be a place where the main goal is to ‘hook up’ with someone. The idea of all working together, as in Cityville, has much more of an appeal to me. The fact that there are different races represented makes it even more interesting. I prefer to meet people outside of my race/culture and Cityville seems like a good place to do it. I found it amusing that the man from France called you a lazy American. You would think they would have a little more respect for us after Normandy. He probably would not have the same feelings about America if the Third Reich was still in power. I wonder how different people would have viewed you if you would have been a white male from Canada or England. Electronic devices seem to make it much easier for one to bash ones race or ethnicity without facing any direct repercussions. You also stated that people tended to play with people from the same country. I wonder if this has to do with a language barrier or simply not wanting to interact with other races. It is sad to this day that people still have prejudice and ignorance about race. Maybe places like Cityville can be some sort of stepping stone for letting people see we are not that different.
ReplyDeleteWow I can't believe what the man from france said to you! Not only is that completely rude when you are trying to get someone to help you out, but that also represents your country to someone you don't know. I am on SmallWorlds and actually had a conversation with someone from Jamaica, and I didn't realize it until the conversation was almost over. He didn't really say anything out of the norm and was actually pretty cool. Cityville actually sounds like a great experience with so many other users from other cultures on it! It really seems like it would actually be a good experience for the most part!
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