For my virtual ethnography, I chose the game Sky. Sky is a game in which the player explores various levels using a cape and “winged light” that allows the player to fly. I counted seven different levels (each with their own unique environments and obstacles) connected by a central “Home” that acts as a hub between the different worlds. By collecting winged light and following the spirits found in each level, the player is able to progressively gain more abilities and customization options — for example, look at a comparison of the starter character on the top (source), and then a leveled up character on the bottom (source):

The controls are deceptively simple: move your finger around the left circle to move your character, move your finger around the right circle to fly, and rotate the camera by dragging your finger somewhere in the middle (this is the part I struggled with the most, as some times the camera starts spinning all over the place while you’re flying). 

Kiki’s Delivery Service inspired avatar

I used to be an avid Sky player but had stopped playing last summer and was out of practice. All my progress had been saved and unlike our two presenters on Wednesday, I was able to start at level 35 rather than level 1. After getting used to the controls and navigation again, I was able to jump right into the game. I’ve included a picture of my character as well as a little clip of my initial flight test.

Given that we had already covered the basic mechanics of communication in the game — candles, benches, and expressions — I was interested in exploring how communication shifts in the one level where there are no communication benches: the Eye of Eden. Stylistically, it’s much darker than the other levels, with most of the scenery being made up of black pipes, black dust in the air, glowing red crystals, and blue bodies impaled on spikes. Most importantly, unlike the other levels, the Eye of Eden has consequences — the player could end up all the way back at level one if they get hit by too many rocks or dragons. The game recommends that you try to get through the level with a partner or a group, and so my question going into the game was how would communication shift with the loss of benches for text-based communication and with increased stakes/urgency of the level. How do players adapt to new environments? Are there special features in this level in particular that allow for a new form of communication?

The following table is a transcription of my fieldnotes:

[questions/observations  from post ethnography]

Observations Questions 
Started at level 35?
New players keep coming to me
Was guiding (hand-holding) a new player BUT I DROPPED THEM [it’s very easy to lose your friends in this game] [is it possible to build a community in a game where friendships are so fleeting?]
Forgot that rain = bad [rain drains your flying power and forces you to recharge either at a candle, another player, or a glowing mushroom]
Home world is mostly empty except for one guy who’s just lying on the ground [see screenshots at the bottom] Where is everyone? [the last time I had played, Home had always had 5-6 players flying around, but now there were none]
Communicating with the calls (playful but doesn’t mean anything) [the calls became much more useful in the Eye of Eden]
Scenery is so beautiful
Some hand-holding [this was something noticed in one of the levels that required a lot of teamwork to open doors → about a quarter of the players in this section were paired up]
Everyone is lying on the ground Why are they just lying there?
How can I get them to move? [video evidence of my abject failure to spark any kind of reaction from these players]
Notes from the Eye of Eden
Managed to befriend someone in Home How do I communicate that I want to do the Eye of Eden?
I can’t get them to move towards the Eye of Eden
[this is where the ethically questionable chaos ensues]
I’m holding my new friend’s hand and I am kidnapping them this is what’s happening [I named this friend Sorri] Is kidnapping unethical?
Does this even count as kidnapping? [i.e. the other player has the option to let go of my hand at any point]
How do I get consent when the player can’t message me yes or no?
I pull Sorri into the Eye of Eden  How will I communicate without access to the benches?
Almost all the players in this level are holding hands  Is hand-holding the easiest way to guarantee safety?
The wind forces you to fly/jump more carefully than in regular levels
When the wind/rocks/dragons separate us, we [Sorri and I] use the calls to reunite and to get each other’s attention but we can’t know exactly why the other player is calling  Do we need more communication than this? [is part of the challenge learning to work with a silent partner?] 
Very little use of expressions b/c of the high intensity [it’s very difficult to find the right expression fast enough to be worth the trouble]
Dragons! Evil dragons! Very frustrating that I can’t tell my partner to run/hide What are the workarounds for communicating urgent messages when there’s no verbal communication?
Tried to team up with a third player but they rejected us with the “X” arms (ouch)
Much more stressful than the other levels What type of players are most likely to enter the Eye of Eden?
Rocks/dragons keep knocking my wings away → I can’t remember why the risk was supposed to be worth it What reward makes the risk worth taking?

 

The most important observation I discovered was how important the calls became — most of the players we ran into were pairs holding hands, but given the obstacles of the level, it was very easy to become separated. The calls allowed the players to see where their partners had landed in the case that they were separated, a problem that doesn’t exist in the other levels. The use of expressions was limited and practically non-existent in my run-through. Communication was stripped down to the bare minimum, which leads me to wonder about the accessibility of this level in particular: it’s fascinating to me that you can’t talk with the player that you’re entrusting your virtual life to, and because you have access to no identifying features (ex. race, gender, sexuality, etc), how can there be any form of assumptions, other than that based on gaming ability? What role does the added anonymity play in creating a non-toxic gaming environment? In future studies, I would pursue these questions further and I would explore different ways of obtaining player consent. Kidnapping Sorri is definitely ethically questionable (at best), so in future studies, I would recommend that players jump into the level on their own and then latch onto the first group they find. I think it’d also be interesting to compare other non-verbal games to see what types of communication the community of players come up with.

More screenshots/gameplay:

  • Eye of Eden Gameplay 
  • Intro to Eye of Eden

  • chatting with a random player during my warm-up

  • everybody was just lying around? unclear why. new feature that didn’t exist the last time I played

  • the start of my friendship with Sorri