Virtual worlds and virtual holidays

(Or... What I did on my holiday)

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25 June 2004

by Mike Rozak

I spent the last few weeks acting as tour guide for relatives from the US, showing them around northern Australia. In my spare time (the few wakeful moments that I lay in bed before I fell asleep) I puzzled about the nature of virtual worlds and how users might like to experience them. Naturally, as I drifted off to sleep, I combined the two thoughts and considered the similarities between holidays and virtual worlds.

Quite a few similarities exist. After all, virtual worlds are places that people "escape" to, and holidays are trips to exotic places, usually an attempt to escape from the stresses and dullness of ordinary life. Of course, a virtual world is not entirely the same as a holiday in an exotic location, but I'll get to those issues later.

By the way, don't take this write-up too seriously.

Let me enumerate the "elements" of a holiday and how they are similar to a virtual world:

Reasons for going on a holiday:

• Escapism - Part of the reason people take a holiday is to escape from their ordinary life, either the stresses or the boredom. As such, a good holiday is so engrossing that the traveller will completely forget about their problems at home. Virtual worlds try to do the same, sometimes too successfully.
  
  
• Visit relatives and friends - While visiting relatives in a virtual world is possible, it's not really necessary since the same relatives and friends are a virtual phone call away. Besides, there's no reason to visit relatives in a virtual world since the main purpose of visiting them is to use their house as a free hotel ;-).
  
  
• Relaxation - Many people just lie on a beach when they reach their exotic destination and enjoy the scenery. Contemporary virtual worlds, on the other hand, encourage players to action. Maybe they should provide some down time in a scenic location while NPCs serve PCs virtual margaritas.

How people get to their destination:

• Plan the trip - The would-be tourist must first decide where they wish to visit, then how they'll get there, and what they'll do once they're at their destination.
  
  A virtual world player must first decide which virtual world to play in, and then what to do once there.
  
  
• Tour guides - Tourists can purchase tour guides about their planned destination or pick up brochures when they arrive. Better yet, they can hire a tour guide, in the form of a packaged tour.
  
  Maybe there's a market in virtual worlds for tourist brochures and real-live tour guides. "4WD trips to the Misty Mountains for $129 pp. Includes meals. BYO weapons, armour, and sunblock.".
  
  
• Earning money - A tourist must first work at a job to earn money for their holiday. The cost of holidays limits most people's travel time to a few weeks a year. This is (perhaps) good since the Earth is a small place; someone on perma-holiday can visit all the tourist hot-spots in a few years.
  
  Most virtual worlds make the player "earn" their keep by fighting monsters or mining resources. I find this odd since players also need to earn real dollars to pay for their virtual world experience. Why should someone have to work both in the real world and the virtual one?
  
  
• Travel time - In real life, it takes time to travel to a destination and still more time to travel from point-of-interest to point-of-interest. Tourists always want faster travel, but reducing travel times negatively impacts the overall experience: The more work required to reach a destination, the more it's appreciated. And, if all destinations could be reached instantly they would quickly be "consumed", leaving the tourist without any place left to tour.
  
  Virtual worlds do their best to remove travel time. Maybe they are making a mistake by doing this.

What tourists do on the holiday:

• The sights - All tourists are obliged to visit the famous sights, take a photo, and then gaze at the marvellous vista before jumping back on the bus.
  
  Virtual worlds, other than the Myst series, lack any kind of amazing scenery or architecture that begs to be marvelled at.
  
  
• Socialisation - Holiday makers socialise with four distinct categories of people:
  
  They socialise with friends/family that have joined them on the trip. Virtual worlds allow this.
  
  They socialise with people they are meeting at the destination - such as relatives. Virtual worlds allow this.
  
  They socialise with other tourists. Virtual worlds allow (and encourage) this.
  
  They socialise with colourful locals. My guests got a kick out of talking to a local that once caught a 5.1m crocodile and now runs a buffalo farm. Contemporary virtual worlds disdain NPCs (other than those acting as vending machines), so they miss out on this form of socialisation. Who wouldn't want to have a chat with Gollum?
  
  
• Activities - Tourists sign up for various activities. These include physical activities (water skiing, snorkelling, bungie jumping, crocodile wrestling, etc.) which are difficult (but not impossible) to simulate in a virtual world. They also partake in mental activities, such as learning a new language (described below).
  
  Contemporary, virtual worlds provide a limited menu of activities: just combat and mining. Perhaps they should include other diversions, just as real holiday destinations do... "Skydive over Gondor !".
  
  
• Learning - Many tourists enjoy learning while they're on holiday. Such learning includes:
  
  Knowledge about the place visited - Anyone visiting Uluru (Ayers's Rock) will not only see the monolith, but they will stop by the visitor's centre where they learn about its cultural significance. While there, they will also learn about the local plants and animals. Contemporary virtual worlds are weak on local history and trivia... "Visit the Lonely Mountain cultural centre and learn about the history of the Kingdom Under the Mountain! Watch live demonstrations of mithril smithing!".
  
  Culture - While touring, holiday makers learn about the local inhabitant's culture. Virtual worlds have few NPCs (other than vending machines), so their NPCs lack a culture, preventing virtual world players from exploring this aspect of a world.
  
  Location-independent knowledge - Tourists learn how to ski, scuba-dive, or even cook curries while on holiday. Such knowledge can be used when the tourist returns home. Maybe virtual worlds should include cooking classes or some other learning that's practical in real life.
  
  New language - Many tourists enjoy learning the language used in the place they visit. Perhaps a virtual world like Middle Earth Online could teach players Elvish. Or, maybe the world could support players from different countries and languages on one server so that English speakers could learn Japanese, or vice versa.
  
  
• Shopping - Don't forget this one. While virtual worlds allow players to purchase virtual goods, they don't allow the players to return with real-world trinkets. Maybe a virtual world could allow players to mail-order real souvenirs (with real money), assuming their PC visits a key destination in the virtual world... "My brother went to Mordor and all I got was this stupid T-shirt."
  
  
• Live like the locals - You could lump this in with learning, but living like the locals is slightly different because it's less intellectual and more about experience. My visitors enjoyed their trips into the bush, gathering and eating bush foods (lemon-flavoured green-ants), and being chased by water buffalos. (A few locals still live like this in Kakadu. Most just go to McDonalds or KFC.) Virtual worlds limit their live-like-the-locals experience to combat, but could broaden the experience... "Spend time with the Elves of Lothlorien, enjoy an Elvish feast, and learn some Elvish songs."
  
  
• Games - Holidays include sub-games, such as cards (when stuck on a bus) or shuffleboard (when stuck on a ship). Virtual worlds could include more games to pass the time and encourage socialisation... "Join a game of Hobbiton lawn bowls!"
  
  
• Food and drink - Infants explore their world by placing objects in their mouth and tasting them. Tourists explore their new environment by eating it... or at least eating large portions of the local cuisine. Unfortunately, virtual worlds can't simulate taste.

Holidays also include some experiences that aren't so easily classified:

• Photography and videos - Everyone wants a snapshot. Virtual worlds allow players to take photographs (called screen captures) but they could do better. Why not render the "photograph" in a higher quality than the normal image, so it can be used as a desktop wallpaper and cherished forever? Of course, PCs will want to pose next to famous NPCs and get an autograph. (Don't forget to make at least one rendered character blink during the virtual photograph.)
  
  
• Food poisoning, viruses, injuries, motion sickness, and other nasties - Virtual worlds may want to avoid these.
  
  
• Lost luggage - Do internet drop-outs count?
  
  
• Packing and unpacking - Virtual worlds call this inventory management.

Of course, virtual worlds differ from real-world holidays in a number of important aspects:

• Real-world tourists don't try to change the place they visit (other than the occasional piece of litter). Virtual world players enjoy changing the world, and sometimes make it their goal.
  
  
• Real-world tourists are expected to leave their destination after a week or so, not to return for at least a year. Virtual worlds try to keep their tourists coming back again and again, despite the fact that the virtual world's tourists have done all the tours on offer several times.
  
  
• Because players spend so much time in virtual worlds, they form strong social bonds (and conflicts) with other players. Real-life tourists rarely have time to get too close to (or too antagonistic towards) other real-life tourists.
  
  
• Real-world tourists don't usually assault other real-world tourists. Contemporary virtual worlds, on the other hand, encourage this.
  
  
• Real-world tourists are not allowed to partake in dangerous activities due to insurance costs. In the real world, all chasms in the Mines of Moria would include safety rails, and fighting a balrog would definitely be out of the question.
  
  
• Many real-world holiday destinations are crowded with tourists. This doesn't need to happen in a virtual world where a new shard can easily be created. Alternatively, if the buffet line is too long in a virtual world, the virtual tourist can easily kill off anyone in front of them; don't try this in the real world.

Does this comparison amount to anything? Maybe. Maybe not. It does provide a different perspective though, one that I wouldn't take too seriously.