Mike, 26 years old. The Netherlands

Mike is role-playing as the chief of the virtual police force (LSPD) within Grand Theft Auto V.
He has been role-playing as a chief for several years and acquired the status of a professional
role-player who stays in-character at all time.

For him, games are all about the competitive aspect. Whether this is a racing or shooting
game. His preferences lie within improving his game related skills. The challenges he
participates in inside a game do not appear in real life on a daily base.

His interest for the police and military come from his real life job as a mechanic at the Dutch
Air-force. This can also be seen in his online identity which is roughly based on his real life
interests.

Yet he acts different in a role-playing environment since his avatar behavior is bound to a
certain narrative created by the players around him. This narrative forces his digital self to
become more strict towards other players. While in real life, he states he isn’t strict himself
because he does not need to be. A virtual environment can therefore be seen as a way to
enable and stimulate certain behavior within a specific narrative. This might be the opposite
of real life behavior.

Transcript

Disclaimer

The transcription of the interviews published on the analysis page are the exact words, tone and language used by the participants during the interview. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings of the research, but should not be treated as an authoritative record. Their word choices and grammar are an exact extraction from the interview and not my own interpretation.

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My name is Mike, I am 26- yeah, and I'm from the Netherlands.

Thank you for your time. Do you have any idea why you are attracted to games with
violence and realism?
Well... it's, I don't really think it's about the violence I think. I play CS because I want to
get better at it. It's not per se you know, it's just the precision you can have with your
mouse and I don't know.

It's more like the competive...?
Yeah. It's, it's csgo is 100% the competitive sides that's why I play rocket League as
well as a competitive.. competitive.. you know, scene to it and then like the DCS it's...
it's a combat simulator but I use it for in formation flying and landing and aerial
refueling and stuff flying with friends in formation. It's not really the battle, it's... it's
more having fun while flying.

Is the realistic aspect of games important to you?
Yeah pretty much like, I like.. if it is close to, you know like CS is not really similar you
know but that's why I play VR games as well.

And what about the the combat flying? Is that something you also do in real life?
I don't do it in real life, but I work on aircraft in real life. So like, I'm a mechanic on a
helicopter so I don't know, the interest in military and everything has always been
there. I'm a mechanic for the Netherlands Air Force. I work on Apaches.

Okay, alright.

I probably do behave different, but it's not on purpose or anything. It's more because I
really want to win. And I don't really have that you don't really encounter that stuff on a
daily basis I would say. And then right here in FiveM, it's a role-playing thing so, I act
different because my character is different, and not me.

I've been a chief of police in here for a long time and I try to be very strict. Sometimes
like, I'll get mad as my character... ...on purpose. And people think I'm very serious
and actually I'm just playing, staying in character. And I'm not really mad at all.

These emotions are just like acting for you?
Yeah some of them. No.. not like, sometimes you know, you get real mad. But that's
just the situation. Yeah yeah, like people, people can see it on what you know when I
stream people see my face. So they see if I'm serious or not. Because they'll see me
laughing afterwards or they won't.

You also stream video games?
Yeah. Well, I haven't been for a while but I used to.

You keep saying that you are quite strict in your.. when you are role-playing, are you also very
strict in real life?
No, not at all.

You can be strict in a virtual environment so maybe you can be in real life as well?
I probably could be, but it's not something I want to do.

Why it is easier for you to do it here then real life?
No, I don't have to do it in real life. So like, who would I be strict to? Well.. my dog,
but... that's about it.

Okay, and last question- do you prefer the virtual world or the real world?
Real world.

Can you give any examples why?
I don't know, I just, this is all .. all fun and I really like the people I play with here, right?
But they- you know, the personal connection of your friends coming over for a board...
like, I'll choose a board game night over video game.