Stable Social Dynamics and "The Rule of 150".

[RTHolmes]

really? I'd say about half my squaddies tune it, and most of em have been around a while.

[Bear76]

really? I'd say about half my squaddies tune it, and most of em have been around a while.

Ya, I'm sure it's a lot closer tp 90% than it is 10%. Most of the people I know tune it and I been here since.....probably too long 

[Ghosth]

Good post Bustr!  <S>

Going from memory (which might be faulty) AH really did not have language or mod type problems till we got consistently over 150 in the arena. Of course that happened about the same time AW died, so I always just blamed it on the AW guys.  jk guys

That is partly why i've had no inclination to fly TT for years.

Of course there are other things that come into play. Changing player dynamics, etc.
I think you'll find the average person who starts playing AH now days is quite different from the average person who started playing AH years back. Things have changed on many levels.

[bustr]

Ghosth,

Aces High has now matured into the best young adult of two unique parents. It's long from over, this young swinging bastage has just gotten his first wind and a salty vocabulary. I wrote this peice trying to find the common thread that joins everyone who keeps pushing the envelope to shreds. Things like the 2010 NOE Plague are human nature, funny for a time, and HiTech is always aware of them. The cesspool problem and large numbers of players at each other's throats over nothing has been the 800 pound gorrila in the tower with no easy answers for a few years.

Language is tied directly to emotions, has unforseeable consiquences, and can be misunderstood by the simplest distractions. Fortunatly when we are face to face, we each by having learned our language while in the presence of other people, develop an unconciouse process called "Quick Slicing". We process thousands of micro slices in our subconcious of the person speaking to us and learn to judge the intent of words spoken by the micro facial expressions, hand jestures, eye motions, and sound modulations. If all we have is text and no context other than it's litteral construct, during the immersion into a game designed to cause personal conflict and elevated emotions. We will invariably turn channel 200 into a micro combat arena cesspool adjunct to the fights we take part in between countries. Combat is combat is combat by this point.

So lets factor Dunbars number into this. You will always have some number of excited unhappy individuals on ch200. But, the community as a whole will know most of who is out there and ignore/moderate the few unhappy or salty characters up till Dunbars number. As the critical number is closed in on then passed, the number of salty characters increase as a portion of the Super Group total. As the frequency of emotional bad conduct on ch200 picks up, and more players don't know each other predicted by Dunbars number, the tendancy to indulge bad conduct or grudges or loosing ones cool etc. picks up. The only common vector I can identify that sustains this is the ability to openly communicate across countries which just keeps salt in the wounds. We have big mouths and aren't afraid to use them.

[Sonicblu]

Sounds like something right up my alley Ill have to do some more research but I think your on to something here

bustr. Interesting for sure

[lulu]

Burst,

Good post. Absolutely. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o-SuRXwK5o&feature=related        

[IronDog]

I think that Dunbar's number might apply somewhat to AH.I also think that when you get a group of people together in a game of dueling,who bring a lot of different ego's to the table in different states of behavior.Add some alcohol,drugs,etc.,and you have all the ingredients to pizz people off,which the owner has stated is the object of the game.It's my opinion that the game has reached the current level of pizzing people off to a high level,and I'm just sitting back and watching to see if it will achieve even higher states of name calling and pathetic behavior by the players.
Dobe

[BaldEagl]

Either bustr is brilliant or he's off the Krusty BS scale.  Not sure which yet.    

Where did you get your Phd in psychology?

[bustr]

Bald,

My wife is an Admissions counselor for National University, an HR professional, an instructional designer, and a corporate instructor in managment culture and manegment worker relations. Her free lance business partner has a Ph.d and several Masters in all these subjects. Over the last 10 years I've proof read both of their work for them, helped grade masters level class papers when they got behind and really do have an Instructors License from "Itto Tenshin Katori Shinto Ryu" Kenjutsu. You cannot learn strategy unless you learn human social dynamics and motivation. How else will you fool people into letting your army slaughter them?

The social dynamics of this game is easy to observe and predictably displays itself as expected because it's a fishbowl environment. Exceed Dunbars number while allowing cross country communication and the vile ch200 garbage will increase as a proportion of the nightly growth of the Super Group. You might say I paid attention and listened to my wife all this years over her feild of experties. I let her read what I started this thread with tonight and she nearly cried. "You , you, actualy have been listening to me all these years...."

Ok bald, you got me, I confess, I copied it from a urinal wall in lockup this last weekend at Santa Rita near Dublin California. Make you feel better? But I'm not that character you are so infatuated with called Voss.

Dosen't anyone read anymore?

[bcadoo]

Either bustr is brilliant or he's off the Krusty BS scale.  Not sure which yet.    

Where did you get your Phd in psychology?

After he left the CIA from being stung by a scorp.....nevermind...

[palef]

It's not a rule, it's a theory, one that relies on particular competitive cultural paradigm, one that is demonstrably locked in a Western European and Capitalist ethos.

I perceive no difference in behaviour whether there are 12 people on or 450.

But then I subscribe to the theory that most people suck.

[RTHolmes]

I'm gonna keep at this

you seem to be applying dunbars number to the entire arena purely because of the availability and (mis)use of ch200 and .pms.

take any human population sample and there will be a small % of them who behave like bananas. take that sample from people who are interacting online, and suffer no consequences for their bad behaviour and the % rises.

I dont know if you've played any online FPS but I can tell you that the critical number which, if exceeded on a server/map/terrain, can cause trouble on x-country comms is ... 2. Ive played on 32 player servers where we've had to kick players every 10mins or so, others where its once a day.


edit: cool, now I know what word the filter changes to s  
good to know the profanity filter understands (UK) English too

[lulu]

o.k.

The real and brutal true !?

We only need new maps!

If so, then nobody had take care in noe or not noe raid or in full furballing, doctrine etc.

Why i think so?

It seems to me one of the few most frequently wishes with a large base of condivision!

Another is the sheep's one!
It reveals that the ambient is one of the basic stuff in AH.

Nobody seems to take much care?

We will wait at the case of some beautiful possible winter map! If any before 2012! 


 

[bustr]

Channel 200 is the primary vehicle of predatory personal strife common to all three countries.

Because it connects everyone in the arena at the same time as though they were all in the same room together, the total arena population constitutes the Primary Super Group that exceeds Dunbars number. The MA arena is rigged to promote conflict between three distinct groups of people. Channel 200 removes the barrier to instantaious combative dialogue between distinct and separate antagonistic Minor Super Groups. Thus no cooling off interludes are imposed before players choose to escalate their saltyness via the common conduit while in the grips of hormonal agitation or inebriation. Males are pre disposed to the enjoyment of thier personal agression chemistry generated during conflict. The argument that players can choose to detune ch200 for the good of the game is sophmoric in the face of demonstratable human history.

Remove the conduit or modify its usage and each country can peacfully populate up each day as an individual super group to Dunbars number with less cesspool conduct across the whole arena. This might even promote more intence combat between countries as the only vehicle to gain revenge or vent frustrations would be to go back to the area of conflict and hunt someone down.

Guys it's easy to take shots at me for venturing this discussion. It costs you nothing to takes shots at me anonymously over the Internet. Why not spend some time researching in depth about this subject so your arguments can provide more insight and possibly help all of us understand the sociology of Internet gameing communities better. Dunbars number is a starting point that I have not seen my detractors even venture to begin with in the years since HiTech had to split the arenas.

[RTHolmes]

ch200 doesnt connect everyone in the arena by a long way. also I've logged in during the day before when there have been 50 in an arena and seen players going at it on ch200. sure, if you reduce the arena size, the amount of antagonism on ch200 will reduce because there are less players. if you want to eliminate this antagonism completely, set the arena size to 0.

there is a very easy answer to problems on ch200 - detune it. or if you want to tune it, use the tools that are already there. if players are breaking HTCs rules of etiquette, report em. if they are breaking your own rules of etiquette, squelch em.

imo dunbars hypothesis is a good one, I just think you're applying it to the wrong problem.