On the Dark Side: Gothic Play and Performance in a Virtual World

Abstract

This article investigates gothic play and performance in Habbo, a virtual world for preteen children and teenagers. In addition to analyzing the aesthetics of the environment and its player characters, the authors seek to ask how gothic players figure in its appropriation and redevelopment. Countercultural player activities, such as playing goth in Habbo, are often treated as disruption, but here it will be argued that gothic players are in fact rather resourceful and productive members of the community. Observations of player-generated content, events, rituals, appearance and group discussions indicate that goth is more than a style – it is also play and performance. Gothic players are not only consumers, but also content providers, who inspire the developers at Sulake, the company behind Habbo. The influence of Habbo goths is evident, as emergent gothic player-created content has repeatedly been incorporated in newer releases of the game platform.

The Virtuality of Virtual Worlds, or What We Can Learn from Playacting Horse Girls and Marginalized Developers

“…A third noteworthy facet of Habbo is the dramatic changes the virtual site has gone through in the few years of its existence. The teen invasion and consequent changes in the design and commercial aspects of Habbo have added entirely new kinds of virtualities to it, as our example of horse girls bears witness to (along with goths and many other subgroups; see Johnson and Sihvonen 2009). Drawing from the equine world and children's playmaking practices, these teen girls have managed to alter (one could say subvert) the materialities of Habbo and effectively added a layer of imaginative existence to Habbo that never was designed into it.…”

“…The first author also participated in Habbo, explored the features and their affordances, and analyzed default values and users’ degrees of freedom. The visits to Habbo occurred, on average, about twice per month throughout the first three‐year span of research, and every second month from 2007 onward (for more on user groups, see Johnson 2007 and Johnson and Sihvonen 2009). Fan sites became an important source of knowledge about the user communities.…”

Collecting conversations: three approaches to obtaining user-to-user communications data from virtual environments

“…So far only a few studies have used activity records from a large-scale virtual world for research purposes (Castronova et al, 2009;Duchenaut et al, 2006;Harris et al, 2009;Lehtiniemi, 2009). Most empirical studies pertaining to virtual worlds continue to collect data through more traditional methods, such as surveys, interviews and ethnographies (e.g., Hussain and Griffiths, 2008;Johnson and Sihvonen, 2009;Steinkuehler and Williams, 2006).…”