Visual Lizard
Ross McDowall
Ross is a senior web developer for Visual Lizard. In working for the company for the past 9 years he has steadily upgraded his skills. Both the best and worst thing about this industry is how fast things change. It is great finding new ways to do things, but in finding the new process, it sometimes means having to go back and redo all of the programming that was done the old way. Thus, he fears change... but since the world is always changing, he nevertheless changes with it. He enjoys working for the company as the small staff doesn’t allow for office politics. The office environment allows for independence, creativity, and quick access to a fairly substantial knowledge base.
Ross enjoys roleplaying games, science fiction and fantasy books, and movies. He has his own website which he uses as a place to experiment with his programming skills from time to time. He has done substantial work on the majority of the sites developed at Visual Lizard, with particular pride in working on Destination Winnipeg, The Forks, IMAX Winnipeg, Folklorama and the Winnipeg Airports Authority.
Ross is learning more about developing online web applications including a more comprehensive version of his own diabetes blood sugar testing recorder. He has honed his skills in both PHP and MySQL as these are the primary tools of his trade. His latest goal is becoming fully familiar with the CAKE framework (not easy as I am not good with change *harrumph harrumph*).
In our industry, the concept of standards for web and browser development should be at the forefront. Competition between browsers should not affect how the viewer sees the product which is being developed. It is up to the web developer to determine how a site should look. The browser should just be the platform to view the site, and should not interpret how to display what is written. Unfortunately the browsers are not quite to that stage yet, so for now we have to make the odd piece of non-compliant code to accommodate those browsers. One day soon maybe we will see all browsers following standards. Cross your fingers.
The Social Gamer
The stereotype of the gamer being a practical troglodyte sitting in the dark glued to his computer monitor embedded firmly in a virtual world may not be completely accurate. In this BBC editorial, Margaret Robertson states that while the stereotype is generally correct, it is incomplete and slightly flawed. She goes on to indicate that she herself is a gamer but unlike the stereotype, she is not asocial, and neither are those with whom she plays. I would definitely agree with her on this point. I play World of Warcraft like her, and while I consider myself a bit of an introvert, I am by no means asocial. As the members of my gaming guild can attest to, I am sometimes very vocal and conversational during my game play. The whole idea of an MMORPG is to allow players to socialize.
Ms. Robertson mentions in jokes and socializing outside of gaming. This is also true in my case. Most of the players in my particular guild live in the same city. From time to time we schedule real world events, like movie nights or parties. It is fun to meet the people behind the characters. I have made some good friends in WoW. Hanging out in the real world is just as fun as in game, because we have a common interest, and even if we don’t always have much else to talk about there is always the game as a catalyst.
So don’t look at us sitting in the dark brooding. Look at us sitting in the dark talking to other people sitting in the dark with a common view of the world. We use our imaginations like jocks use their muscles. Its our world, come on in and join us.
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From my years of MMORPG playing, I would say that most of the people playing them fall into the "asocial" category, with many of them having some very real needs that they can address through a virtual world.
Many MMORPG players lack social skill and the escape through the game, where they can re-invent themselves without fear of real world failures, social stigmas or pain is more intoxicating than drugs. I am no psych major, but I have known many people in these games that have a hard time ordering a fast food meal without feeling anxious and awkward, but when they login, they are running raids of 50+ people, they are the field general, they are a key player and as such have respect and position within a social system. In real life, the likelihood of them ever achieving that level of respect is low.
Mark my words, you are going to see many, many people getting University degrees in the coming years based on their studies of MMORPG social systems, economies, dichotomies and beliefs. In fact most of these game developers are hiring real world specialist (economists, theologians, etc...) to help them understand and map their games as they evolve.
You should follow this post up with some reporting on what each player in your guild does for a living (anonymously of course) and what their roles are in game. I wonder how they would parallel or divert from their real life positions. Interesting ...