Welcome!

My name is Kristine Ask and I am a PhD student at NTNU studying online culture in MMORPGs. I am not always sure when I am a gamer and when I am a researcher, but then perhaps I am not supposed to always separate them. This site will tell about my work and my passion for games.

What makes a hardcore gamer?

The conflict between hardcore and casual gamers has never really stopped, as I have argued before the divide between hardcore and casual player in WoW got blurred with WOTLK. Now more and more of the playerbase is raiding, epic quality gear is easy to obtain and the average player knows more about the game then [...]

How to cooperate in Gulch aka. Are you sure your Gulch buddies are the retards?

Everyone agrees that cooperation in PvP is key to winning. But, getting a team of Gulch-hippies to cooperate will often seem like herding cats. Everyone is pulling in their own direction and everyone tries to be a general, so how do you turn this around? How do you get a PuG PvP group to cooperate?
Based [...]

The myth of grouping being dead

After my longwinded comments on Psychochilds post “Punishing Grouping” I realized I should (wo)man up and say what I meant here, possibly in a more coherent way. Reading a bit around on blogs discussing this such as Wolfshead talking about the glorydays of EQ2, Stylish Corpse on why soloing is not to be frowned upon- [...]

Disruptive play: When breaking the rules is the point

In the wake of “The Curious Case of the Poorly Behaved Professor” a discussion about social rules vs game rules have emerged. While Myers, the professor in question, still holds up that he was not griefing other players he is perhaps in a minority at this stage. However, as often before,  disagreeing with someone helps [...]

Science, griefing and ethics: The case of Twixt and implications of his work

Long story short: Mass communication professor David Myers conducts a experiment in City of Heroes (CoH) concerning social rules. He does this by PvP- griefing players in CoH over a period of a few months, checking and logging responses to him and then writing a paper about it.
First a thanks to Spinksville for making me [...]

Twinking – Playing for the game

Twinks are often charged with ruining other peoples gameplay, yet twinks are the only ones that are only in it for the play itself.

Trying MMOs: Wizard 101

Harry Potter meets Collectible Cardgames (CCG) meets World of Warcraft. I think.
Wizard 101 is a free MMO designed for children. The free part is in reality a everlasting trial, so if you want new areas and access to rated duels you need to start forking out some dollars. I only tried the free version, however [...]