THE POLITICAL EXPRESSIONS OF TURKISH VISUAL CULTURE IN THE TRAVIAN GAME
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THE POLITICAL EXPRESSIONS OF TURKISH VISUAL CULTURE
IN THE TRAVIAN GAME
Alper ALTUNAY, Assist. Prof.
Anadolu University, Turkey
aaltunay@anadolu.edu.tr
Alper ALTUNAY is an Assistant Prof of Cinema and Television Department at Faculty of Communication
Sciences in Anadolu University (Turkey) since 2000.
Abstract
This study concerns analyzing the visual and written political expressions of the Turkish user in Travian. 18
different servers in Turkey participate, each server has approximately 30.000 players, and about 450.000
Turkish Internet users play the game online. The goal of the game is building a World of Wonders that also
ends the game of the server. Although it is an individual game and based on individual decisions, alliance is
one of the most important concepts of the game because of its own rules. Even though the rules are the same
for every Travian user for every country, phenomenon is represented by the ideologies of different user’s
profiles. In the game there are two kinds of possibilities that the players can represent their selves; one of them
is the user’s profiles and the other one is the profiles of the alliances. The first choice which is called “players
profile pages” becomes a kind of place for exposing the identity of the players. In this section users introduce
themselves to other players and stress out how good players they are. By the way, in its Turkish version,
players express their ideologies with political visual readymade objects and written proverbs more than their
identities. Some of the profile pages are full of proverbs of Turkish elders and some of them are decorated with
the figures of Turkish nationalism. The alliance group pages are the same as the user’s profile pages. As a
conclusion, this research concerns the representations of the ideologies of Turkish culture in the Travian. How
the players carry the reality to the game how they are represented in the player profile pages and the alliance
group pages of the game will be observed. This is why Travian seems more than a game for Turkish online
game players.
THE POLITICAL EXPRESSIONS OF TURKISH VISUAL CULTURE IN THE TRAVIAN GAME
The Game: Travian
Travian is an online strategy game deeply rooted in classic antiquity. It surfaced in 2004 on
travian.com and it can be played in 2009 in 49 different countries. Since 2009, it has been translated
in 40 languages, has over 3 million participants and 250 servers worldwide. Gamers of Travian take
the part of being chief of a Romans, Gauls or Germans village. Each nation of the game has its own
advantages and also disadvantages. After the registration the game, gamers start building their
own villages and producing resources to up the main buildings of the villages. As soon as gamers
have erected the first few basic buildings, interaction with other gamers becomes possible. After
this interaction possibility gamers also built forces with other gamers. There are alliances to forge, a
market place for trading, and wars to be waged with the help of trained units. The goal of the
game is to use the right combination of tactics to make a small village become a mighty empire, and
finally build a world of wonder level 100. While Travian at the beginning can easily be played with
an active commitment of only 20 to 30 minutes a day, as the game continues, commitment
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increases. Diplomatic contacts, trade connections and supplying for villages leads to growing
identification with the game. And so, many gamers keep playing for up to a year. As a rule,
participation in Travian is free of charge. However, a fee is charged for several premium functions
which become more and more attractive to advanced players.
Figure 2. Message of a player whose
Figure 1. The main screen of Travian game. nickname is Fıratt.
The first version of Travian goes online at 2004, September 5th. In the year of 2009 new version 3.5 is
being playing by the funs of Travian. The gameʹs developers drew roughly from classical antiquity
and particularly from the Roman Empire to create a predominantly militaristic real-time strategy.
Along with three English versions, and the original German version, the game has been translated
into over 40 other languages, and has over 3 million players and over 250 servers worldwide
(Wikipedia, 2008).
The Game Theory and The Travian
It can easily seen that Travian game has many involvements with the game theory of Huizinga,
although it is a web based game. Huizinga, digresses the game from daily life. Game offers an
excuse of entering a temporary scope that has its own distinctive tendencies to escape from from
life’s realities. Also, he indicates that the game fulfils expectations that cannot be realized in the real
world (2006: 18). Travian as a game shows many similarities with this point of view. The game
offers the chance of experiencing the tactics of wars, attacking and defending strategies that the
players are not able to experience in real life. Apart from the amusement involved, the satisfaction
of acting in unison, challenging task and belonging to a certain group underpins Travian. Although
the place where people enjoy the collectiveness is virtual, the joy factor of a collective activity is
real.
A regular player stated that: “This is a game that implies how important it is to be united and fight
shoulder to shoulder with people you never know and support each other till the end. That is why I
love this game.” (The statement of a player with Firatt nickname, 2009).
392
This point of view emphasizes that this game is not only played for fun, but also played for the
satisfaction of the feelings such as acting in unison, ganging together and being a member of a
certain group. In a period in which people gradually become isolated and individualism is exalted,
it is thought provoking that collectiveness not seized in real life is being tried to be seized in a
virtual environment through a game. Although the place where people enjoy the collectiveness is
virtual, experiencing the joy of a collective activity is the very self of the reality. As the players
stated, this acquisition occurs depending on a willingness basis. Huizinga also defines game as a
voluntary action, not as a mission. The game is a voluntary action and may be cancelled, delayed at
any moment (2006:24). This case finds its correspondence differently in Travian game; the game is
played as a voluntary action and can’t be accepted as a mission; however, the game generally
proceeds within the frame of duties and obligations that are carried out together. In a sense, at the
whole game it is blessed to be together and to act all together; because there is little chance for the
players who are alone to progress. Establishing forces in the game; task sharing; forming groups as
attackers or defenders; can be all accepted as the samples of the collective structure of the game.
Despite the fact that there is no rule to do or to act together, there can many other samples be seen
during the end of the Travian. As an example, it is just known as a vintage tactic of players to be
separated as attackers or defenders according to their locations on the map. Even this application
serves for the collectiveness in the game.
Figure 3. (7 x 7) Borders of the game area.
According to Huizinga (2006), the game place needs to be different from the places of daily life. The
game place must be separated from the places of real life which is only valid for a certain game and
its limits and restrictions are also certain and accepted by every player. In this regard, Travian
offers the freedom of being inside the game’s autonomous place by getting rid of daily life
restrictions with a single click as it is in other online web based strategy games. Players’ passing to
the game place from the living space is as simple as a click. The game is played within some
limitations as time and place till the end, and with its own flow it has a distinctive time and space
structure.
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Country Registered Active Servers Country Registered Active Servers
Users Users Users Users
Europe America
Bosnia 24.426 21.723 4 Argentina 64.607 55.322 6
Bulgaria 36.833 32.659 4 Brazil 93.497 77.340 7
com 221.310 178.461 8 Chile 86.953 75.807 6
Czech R. 123.151 103.687 17 Mexico 64.608 55.323 6
Germany 138.676 121.426 11 US 90.208 78.040 8
Denmark 27.609 23.028 5
Estonia 9.037 7.793 2 Asia
Finland 47.118 39.429 8 Asia 44.878 38.627 1
France 192.954 165.196 10 China 159.111 107.255 14
Greece 30.625 27.341 4 Hong Kong 51.785 44.713 7
Croatia 48.855 42.505 5 Indonesia 202.269 173.948 6
Hungary 120.593 104.203 11 India 11.352 10.032 1
Israel 47.587 38.712 3 Japan 40.685 36.202 4
Italy 232.917 208.198 11 Korea 7.799 6.876 1
Latvia 11.356 9.985 2 Malaysia 41.090 38.046 4
Spain 155.066 136.774 10 Philippines 44.947 40.339 2
Holland 50.219 41.923 8 Vietnam 26.262 23.866 1
Norway 21.157 16.772 7
Poland 137.363 114.518 13 Middle East
Portugal 128.520 110.051 10 Emirates 978.272 843.453 37
Romania 104.704 93.260 8 Iran 34.208 30.827 1
Serbia 40.348 36.932 3
Russia 184.986 161.124 10 Africa
Sweden 36.092 29.267 8 S. Africa 2.912 2.391 1
Slovenia 48.985 44.101 7
Slovakia 62.415 53.071 9 Oceania
Turkey 437.249 376.456 19 Australia 28.644 23.881 3
Ukraine 29.327 25.414 3 N.Zealand 28.645 23.882 3
UK 83.093 70.916 7
Table 1. The registered and active user numbers of Travian game on Mart 22th 2009.
Every game, real or virtual; determined arbitrarily or compulsory, takes place in its own
predetermined space. (Huizinga, 2006:27) Travian’s game limitations first require an Internet
connection, and then with just a click, players enter the distinctive game space of Travian. Also the
mapping of the game’s borders determines the physical limits. Indeed this in itself is the main
reason of the fictional army strategies that shape game’s destiny. Hence, virtual limitations are
important variables in determining the player’s own locations and directing the interactions
involved.
In this respect, as Huizinga (2006) attributed to game concept, it can be said that Travian “is formed
upon the contrast of game concept and seriousness concept”. Game and seriousness relation is
prone to change at any time and it is possible that game may turn into seriousness or seriousness
may turn into game at any moment. The increase of the tension in the game up to a level swearing
among players and the players’ starting to use bad language to each other frequently can be
exemplified for this case. Although it is known that swearing is forbidden and abusive language
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users are expelled from the game, it is possible to run into such kind of conditions frequently. Such
that; owing to swearing complaints, Travian Game Management wanted their players to be more
sensitive in this matter by activating a “No to Swear” campaign.
Although tension is something strange to goodness and badness fields, it gives a certain ethical
scope to the game activity, because player’s power is tested in this tension; physical power,
endurance, skills, patience and his spiritual power at the same time; and the play depends on the
rules and should remain within the limits allowed despite the player’s winning ambition.
(Huizinga, 2006:28-29)
In this regard, swearing has the meaning of getting out of the limits of the game on purpose, and
this case, which is often encountered, revives the ethical values in the game. Actually, it is known
that every game has its own rules and those rules differ from the rules of daily life. Ethical values
that the game is based on, mostly matches up with the cultural values of the people playing the
game at the same time. Again according to Huizinga (2006), the game is already a cultural
phenomenon. However, the remarkable issue for the Turkish version of the Travian Game is not as
simple as to be explained with the cultural differences. As it is mentioned before, Travian game is
played in many countries and many servers at the same time. In this respect, Travian game which is
internationally approved presents features unique to Turkey. In Table 1, registered and active
players that appeared in the servers of all the countries that Travian game was played on March 22,
2009 are listed. As it is seen, Turkey is in the state of being the second country to have reached
maximum player numbers. If it is thought that all Arabic users utilize Emirates servers, in 19
different servers with the number of 437,249, Turkey might here he superior rank of Travian game.
This situation shows that Travian game has the largest user group in Turkey in proportion to other
countries. Even this proportion goes on like quadruple-quintuple and its multiples in many
countries. These numbers makes the research more meaningful.
Worldwide the same rules and win or lose design for all the players are standardized with the
exception of the “player’s profile”. The game is also played with the same graphic interface and the
same maps and the same rules for all the players around the world. Player profile pages also
indicate the fields where the game is localized. Hence, players can change an international game
into a place where local cultural values confer with the profile pages.
Player profile pages may also seem as the fields that the game is localized at the same time. Thus,
these pages go beyond being the only place that the players express themselves, they change into a
place where local cultural values are confessed with an international game, the differences of that
country become prominent. And this field carries a particular importance as being a main
difference distinguishing one game played in one country from the other. Huizinga (2006) defines
game concept as a cultural phenomenon itself at the same time and even defends that there was
game before the forming of the cultural elements. Here, those cultural values may be considered in
two different classifications on player profile pages; scripts and visual figures and symbols. Scripts
change stylistically within the limitations of the language used around the world. In every country,
the game uses the language of that country. Also language of the game takes place in the servers
after being translated into every country’s language. The game is played in German for a German,
in Turkish for a Turk. Texts in the player profiles are similarly written in the language of the
country where the game is played. In Turkey, player profiles are also filled mostly in Turkish.
395However, as it may be seen ahead, it is observed that some players add Arabic writings and verses
into their profiles. This case, that is although it is a country where Arabic is not spoken, its players’
using Arabic sentences in their profiles, is not seen in any other country’s servers except from
Turkey.
Another case which is not as frequent in any country’s servers as it is in Turkey Travian servers is
the frequency of the visual figures and symbols that are realized close to the pointillism conception.
The texts and the figures are two different profile definitions. Texts are mostly used in server’s own
language and figures are a kind of reflection of the visual culture of the players’ countries. These
figures are realized close to the pointillism conception and most reflect a kind of ideology,
especially in Turkish player profiles. For example, when 17th Turkish server is analyzed, figures
and symbols were found in 1003 of 2500 profiles; whereas in 500 players of the game’s international
site, only three players use visual figures. There is a profile page picture of a player who has a
Portuguese Flag in his profile, even though it doesn’t resemble its original so much. Figures and
symbols that are in Turkey servers which has tr extension, both offer much more variety and
present closer real-like samples, when compared to the central site that has com extension,
Figure 5. A sample of a Turkish player profile. Figure 6. Politic images that used in daily life in Turkey.
Huizinga states that images taking place in the game depend on the presentation of the reality in
some situations and while trying to size up those images, in a sense it is possible to comprehend the
cultural life’s components as well. Those figures and symbols that are encountered in player
profiles have cultural meanings and they are visual cultural elements that belong to Turkey.
Barnard indicates that this aspect of visual culture is related to ideology and politics, how visual
culture composed the society and how the situations are accounted for (2002: 35). Visual
expressions of Travian game are also corroborating this point of view. Both its political symbols and
396the frequency of ideological contents that take place in the scripts converts Travian game into a
game field where those kinds of expressions are used frequently.
These politic expressions that are found in player profiles are not the writings, figures and symbols
just produced for the game. These expressions already correspond to the political symbols and
discourses that are used by a part of Turkish people. It is possible to run across these expressions
within the limits of the virtual world as well as every field of daily life. “Today’s dense visuality
emphasis refers to a cultural extension that is defined as the visual culture at the same time, as well
as being seen as one of the components of postmodern climate” (Çoban, 2009: 13). The frequency of
the political and ideological discourses in the visual cultural elements that take place in the player
profiles of Travian game is remarkable. The analysis of the political expressions that takes place in
the game may help analyze what these kinds of symbols and images’ cultural values correspond to.
From this point of view, this research sees the political images and expressions in Travian game as
visual culture elements and aims to question the relationship of these elements between the game
and real life. In accordance with this main purpose, which political images how often used, by
whom they are used, if they are used in any social environment except from Travian game are
questioned and it is tried to be discovered how those players expressing themselves with political
discourses approach those kind of political discourses in both their real life and in internet
environment.
Figure 7. Some nationalist figures of Turkey.
Travian, contrary to many different digital games, contains quite simple interface. May be it is
possible to run across more creative samples of the game in player profiles than in visual design.
Binark and Sütçü gather the general of the computer games under the name of digital games and
try to explain these games as a product of the cultural industry. In their research aiming to present
topography of the games peculiar to Turkey shows their being low-cost, not needing high quality
graphic features and having a broad player group as the most important advantages of the web
based real-time strategy games (2008: 163). Travian highly answers to this definition. The
excitement curve of the game that doesn’t have an attraction as graphics is based upon the
relationship between the players, as it is mentioned before. But, the relationship between the
players at the same time interlaces with Internet, which is the place where the game is played. In
397this sense, it is beneficial to consider the new media’s main features in the context of Travian game.
New media Technologies’ main features are summarized under the headings of interactivity,
demassification and asynchronous (Rogers, 1995). As an online Internet game, Travian differs from
Rogers’ this definition in a great extent. Even it can be said that the game is formed upon this
differentiation. May be the only feature that Travian game assorts with Rogers’ new media theory is
the interactivity. Travian is based on interaction as a game. Players’ attacks, contra attacks, relations
and communications with each other can be seen as the elements composing the main rules of the
game. Demassification as one of the main features describing new media is not completely valid for
this game. The game rules are same for everyone and the process functions in the same way. The
game has no demassificated messages special to individuals. Construction techniques that are
peculiar to players’ characters or differences that may change according to players don’t seem
possible in this game. The basic principle of the game is that it is not played against a computer, it
occurs between clashing players. In this respect, demassification doesn’t make an effective sense for
the game and the players. Asynchronous feature which Rogers put forward for the new media
definition remains almost completely invalid for Travian game as well. Travian is a game which is
played online synchronous from beginning to end. Game has a certain playing time and players
join and exit the game in certain time slices of this playing time. It can be defended that even one of
the success benchmarks of the game is staying more in the game. The game is established on
synchronous from beginning to end, not based on asynchronous. Simple player tactics such as
player attacks, strategies, mass defense and mass attack can be realized thanks to this feature of the
play.
Method and Process
At first, in order to comprehend general rules and playing styles of the play, the game has been
played for three months. Within this period, not only the game rules were followed, general
behavioral patterns of the players, general unwritten rules in the game and structural features
unique to Turkey were tried to be followed as well.i
Figure 8. An aphorism of Ataturk.
Again within this period, the profiles of the players in the game were observed in general and it
was tried to hold a view about the general structure of the profiles. Besides, in the mean time
general profiles of Travian game players, which were in other countries, scanned and as an
observation it was detected that player profiles composed in Turkey included more political and
ideological messages then player profiles in the other countries do. To quantify this determination,
398firstly, 17th server, which started at the nearest date to the beginning of the current research, was
randomly selected. From the starting date of the game, player profiles and common features
displayed by the political expressions were reviewed.
Afterwards, for making content analysis, player profiles were divided into visual and textual
expressions. Moreover, images and texts embody the player’s profiles have been categorized.
Finally, the following images have been detected as the most used visual political expressions:
• Turkish Flag
• Greywolf Figure
• 3 Crescent Figure
• Ottoman Tughra Figure
It is observed that these images differ in themselves and they are figured differently from each
other visually. Different shapes versions encountered are collected under these four headings
anyhow and different versions of the images are evaluated in the same category. For example, as it
is seen in Figure 7, different versions of 3 Crescent images are accepted as one category. There are
different images encountered except from these; but both the usage rates of these images are very
low and they don’t have any political or ideological meaning. For this reason, other encountered
images are accepted as non-political and aren’t taken into the scope of the research.
Another type of the political expressions are the written texts. When these profile texts are
examined, it can be said that they vary more than the visual expressions. This requires a very hard
creation process owing to the images’ pointillist style; on the other hand, plain texts provide an
unlimited freedom as an expression tool when compared to the images. In the result of the
categorization, the texts including political expressions are classified as follows;
• Aphorisms of Atatürk, the founder of Turkey
• Proverbs, poems, stories praising Turkishness
• Prayers and verses (Arabic)
• Aphorisms, poems, stories belonging to Muslim scholars
• Expressions, poems, stories praising the Ottoman Empire
After these classifications, profile information of 2500 people in 17th server, in which there are about
25.000 active players, were examined and the usage frequency of the political expressions was
measured quantitatively. When the profiles of 2500 randomized people were examined, it was
detected that 796 people used written or visual political expressions. It was counted how many
times these people used which visual or written expressions and in the mean time a prepared
survey (questionnaire) was sent to the people that had such kind of expressions in their profiles. In
this way, while the frequency of the elements that had political representation was being detected
as a requirement of content analysis, users of these elements were contacted and prepared survey
questions were asked to them. The relation between the behavior patterns of the players using
political images in real life and the political manners that they displayed in the game underpin the
following survey questions:
• What is frequency of the political expressions used in the game by the categories
of text and images?
• What are the basic demographics of the players who prefer to use the political
expressions in the game?
399• Do players also use similar political images in their real life or do they use them only
for game?
• Do players use similar political images in different virtual social communities such as
Facebook or Friendfied?
• Do users take these political images into consideration while establishing game
strategies? (Do they act together with people who have similar political views by
contacting them or even if they don’t attack, do they have an aggression against to the
ones having opposite political views?)
In this period, survey was sent, not to 2500 people, but to 796 people in whose profiles political
images and texts were found by scanning 2500 people and feedback was received from 184 people.ii
More than half of the people that gave feedback were contacted, after specific interviews about the
reason, aim and the process of the survey, they were provided to fill the surveys. It was observed
that these interviews were beneficial in terms of understanding and filling the survey correctly.
Besides, surveys of two people who could not pass the control questions in the survey and who did
not give confidence were accepted invalid and the results were evaluated over 182 people. For this
reason, data was evaluated accepting that people expressed themselves correctly in the surveys and
they gave the right answers to the survey questions. In this period, a research on the players that
use political images in their profiles was aimed, not a generalization of all Travian game players.
But, since the political images were 90% chauvinist (nationalist) and conservative and except from
these there were little if any political images, it was observed that research’s axis moved to
chauvinist and conservative group.
Findings and Discussions
As it is mentioned above, when player profiles of 2500 people who were selected randomly
throughout the 17th server players in Travian Turkey internet site, it was seen that 796 player use
visual and written expressions including political discourses in their profiles. This number shows
that 25% of 2500 people use visual or written political expressions in their profiles. This case
expresses a contradiction which means putting the political images of daily life into the game field
that differs from the daily life limitations as Huizinga attributes to the game theory. As it is
mentioned before, building the website of the game may be accepted as the first stage providing the
alienation from the tension, stress and the conflicts of daily life with the point of view of Huizinga.
As a web based online strategy game, inside the Travian there are conflicts, quarrels and fights that
are the requirements and belongings of the game. But, putting messages most of which are the
symbols of real political fights and belong to daily life into a game field reflects the contradiction
that is meaningful in terms of the features and aims of game concept. Table 2 includes the number
of the players using written and visual expressions in their profiles and the numerical data of the
people using political expressions amongst these people.
The player profiles of 2500 people who were selected randomly throughout the 17th server players
in Turkey, it was seen that 796 player use visual and written political expressions in their profile.
This case expresses a contradiction with the game theory of Huizinga that separates the game space
form real life situations. As such, most Turkish players fill the game space with the signs and
symbols of daily life’s politics.
400Table 2. Data of the players who use political expressions.
Players who use visual expressions 387
Players who use written expressions 495
Total players who use visual and written expressions 1003
Players who don’t use any expressions 615
Total scanned player profiles 2500
Players uses politic expressions 796
Players uses visual politic expressions 88
Players uses written politic expressions 106
Players uses visual and also written politic expressions 602
Table 3. Data of the players who use visual and political expressions.
Visual Political Expressions
Turkish Flag 457
Greywolf 65
3 Crescent 89
Ottoman Tughra 47
Total 635
Written Political Expressions
Aphorism of Ataturk 363
Proverbs, poems, stories praising Turkishness 311
Prayers and verses (Arabic) 362
Aphorism, poems, stories belonging to Muslim scholars. 86
Expressions, poems, stories praising Ottoman Empire. 76
Total 1210
Table 4. Gender of the players uses political expressions.
Gender Frequency Percent
Female 10 5,5
Male 172 94,5
Total 182 100,0
Table 5. Ages of the players use political expressions.
Age Frequency Percent
10-15 1 0,5
16-20 13 7,1
21-25 64 35,2
26-30 39 21,4
31-35 33 18,1
36-40 17 9,3
41-45 9 4,9
46-50 4 2,2
51-55 2 1,1
Total 182 100,0
401Table 6. Educational status of the players uses political expressions.
Frequency Percent
Primary School 4 2,2
Intermediary School 5 2,7
High School 79 43,4
Undergraduate 86 47,3
Graduate 7 3,8
Postgraduate 1 0,5
Total 182 100,0
When the profile pages of 796 players having political expressions in their player profiles were
examined individually, visual and written expressions intermingled. The most common visual
element belongs to the Turkish Flag. Different versions of Turkish Flag were noted 457 times in
player profiles. Moreover, two different nationalist visual elements emerged; Greywolf 65 times
and 3 Crescent 89 times. Ottoman Tughra follows these usage frequency numbers with 47 times.
What is remarkable case here is that most of the visual elements used by Travian game players are
more nationalist and conservative images rather than being political. For example, in 2500 profiles,
different visual expressions such as center-left, far-left etc are not encountered during the
observation.
Frequency Percent Political View Frequency Percent
Yes 62 34,1 Kemalist - Republican 55 30,2
No 120 65,9 Islamic 20 11,0
Total 182 100,0 Liberal 1 0,5
Center Right 19 10,4
Table 7. Players who think they use
political expressions in their profiles. Center Left 2 1,1
Turkish Nationalist 55 30,2
Conservative 14 7,7
Frequency Percent
Socialist 3 1,6
Yes 60 33
Statist 4 2,2
No 122 67
Other 9 4,9
Total 182 100,0
Total 182 100,0
Table 8. Players who think using Table 9. Political view of the players uses political
political expressions in a game are fair. expressions in their profiles.
When the profiles of the players are counted, it can be seen that the players preferred more written
expressions than visuals. These written expressions are copied more easily and therefore shared
more than images. This could be a reason why players preferred written expressions twice as much
as visuals. The percentage of the use of aphorisms of Atatürk and proverbs, poems, stories praising
Turkishness are very close to the use of the percentage of the employment of the Turkish flag. Most
of the flag users preferred aphorisms of Atatürk too.
95% of the players possessing political images and texts in their profiles are males. This is an
expected result in terms that males are much more interested in computer games. Again, another
result that may correspond to these general percentages of this game is that 74.7% of players using
402such kind of expressions are between the ages of 21-35. This result is normal for Turkey, having a
young population and young Internet user group. Educational statuses of the players using
political expressions in Travian game run in accordance with the ages of the players of the game.
The vast majority of 90.7% are university or high school graduate.
Educational statuses of the players using political images in Travian game is in accordance with the
ages of the players of the game. Vast majority like 90.7% is university or high school graduate.
University graduates compose the large part of this majority with the ratio of 47.3%
Surprisingly 65.9% of the players using political images in their profiles don’t think they are using
political expressions. Although this question was asked only to players using political expressions,
65,9% answered no. Another surprising result was occurred when they were asked “Do you think it
is fair to use political expressions in players profiles?” 67% admitted no again. In other words, most
of the players already using political expressions in their profiles do not accept these expressions
are political and they oppose the use of political expressions in the profile pages.
Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
To represent my political point of Yes 129 70,9
76 41,8
view in the game
No 53 29,1
To establish my strategy in the game 67 36,8
To communicate and to act with the Total 182 100,0
players who have the similar political 39 21,4
point of view with me Table 11. Members of social networks
Total 182 100,0 like Facebook or Friendfied…
Table 10. The causes for the players to use political expressions
in their player profiles.
When the political views in their real lives were asked, Kemalist-Republican and Turkish
nationalists share the highest percentage at a ratio of 30%. This measurement which presents the
political views of the players corresponds with the content analysis results. It was detected that
options in the content analysis such as aphorisms of Atatürk and Proverbs, poems, stories praising
Turkishness were used in the frequency at approximately 30%. But prayers and verses option that
were counted as near to these two options in content analysis did not feature in the survey. While
those defining their political views as Islamic and Conservative were expected to be around 30% of
the ratio according to the analysis data, surprisingly this ratio achieved only 19%. This case shows
that the ones who do not see themselves as Islamic and Conservative also use Prayers and Verses in
their profiles. This could be read as not all the people who use Prayer-Verses texts in a game, define
themselves as Islamic or Conservative.
Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Yes 51 28,0 Yes 69 37,9
No 131 72,0 No 113 62,1
Total 182 100,0 Total 182 100,0
Table 12. Players who use political Table 13. Players use political expressions in
expressions also in their social networks’ their reel life.
profiles like Facebook and Friendfied…
403Frequency Percent
I communicate with the player and
58 31,9
strike up a friendship
I communicate with the player and
threat him until he ends his 1 0,5
membership
Complain the player to the multihunter
1 0,5
of the game
Attack the player until he ends his
2 1,2
membership
I do nothing 120 65,9
Total 182 100,0
Table 14. What shall the players do if they face with Turkish nationalist
expressions in others profiles?
Another data of the study is, 70% of the players using visual and written political expressions are
members of different virtual social networks such as Facebook and Friendfeed. When the survey
questions are cross-evaluated, it is understood that 62% of the players who say that they express
themselves politically in social sharing sites, use the Turkish Flag or cite aphorism of Atatürk. Only
2.5% of the players declare using Greywolf or 3 Crescent images in other virtual social networks.
When the same question is asked about real life, the yes-response ratio reflected as 28% to the
virtual social life rises to 37% in real life. This means that players express their political views 9%
more in their real life than they do in a virtual environment. Yet again, it was detected that this
increase only appeared in the case of the Turkish Flag and aphorisms of Atatürk. In this respect,
Travian players’ usage of political images shows proportional similarities with real life and other
virtual social sharing sites. More surprisingly, the usage frequency of 3 Crescent and Greywolf
images, which are considered to be painlessly used in virtual environments were as not preferred
as might here been expected.
When it was questioned how players having political images in their profiles assume an attitude
towards nationalist and conservative groups that are the most common groups, close results were
obtained. This questioning examines the players’ attitudes towards themselves, tries to
comprehend how players approach to the ones they see close to themselves. When it was
questioned “what do the players do if they encounter with Turkish nationalist expressions in others
profiles”, similar results were obtained. In fact, in the ease of Turkish nationalism contact, 32% is
achieved whereas this proportion declines to 22% when players make contact conservative or
Islamic expressions.
Table 15. What shall the players do if they face with conservative expressions in others profiles?
Frequency Percent
I communicate with the player and strike up a friendship 39 21,5
I communicate with the player and threat him until he ends his membership 2 1,1
Complain the player to the multihunter of the game 2 1,1
Attack the player until he ends his membership 2 1,1
I do nothing 137 75,2
Total 182 100,0
404This change shows that players are not willing to connect with Islamic or conservative groups, as
they are willing to do so with Turkish nationalist group. But the fact remains that between 65% and
75% of the players declared that they do nothing if they reach with both groups. This shows that
Turkish nationalists and Islamic or conservative groups are very close to each other than the others.
The question about the possible reactions against “the expressions belonging to Kurdish
nationalism” in other words, “the other” according to the players view, those who desires to be
friends decreased to 1.6% whereas who wants to attack in the game rose up to 46%. Of course, this
case may trigger an opinion that players describing themselves as nationalist will be aggressive
against the other, but the research results show that this may also be a false intuition. When the
survey responses of the people defining themselves as nationalist are cross-examined, the ratio of
the ones declaring attacking till the player closes his account is 21%, while the ratio of the
nationalist view who declare that they won’t do anything is 69%.
Table 16. What shall the players do if they face with Kurdish nationalist expressions in others profiles?
Frequency Percent
I communicate with the player and strike up a friendship 3 1,6
I communicate with the player and threat him until he ends his membership 5 2,7
Complain the player to the multihunter of the game 17 9,3
Attack the player until he ends his membership 72 39,7
I do nothing 85 46,7
Total 182 100,0
The question why players choose political expressions was asked in two different ways. a) Firstly as
multiple-choice, b) finally open-ended. As such, this maneuver demanded that, multiple-choice
questions would be answered, even if open-ended questions would have been ignored. Most
respondents admitted that they use political expressions in player profiles transfer as carrying their
point of view in real life into the game. The ratio of the similar responses given to this question in
open-ended responses is around 35%. Both the responses for open-ended and multiple-choice
question are very close. 36% view political expressions as a game strategy. At approximately 30%
the ratio of the answers given to open-ended questions is also close to this response. 21.4% declare
that they use this kind of expressions to communicate and to act with the players who share the
similar political point of view. But when open-ended answers were analyzed, some definitions are
interpreted differently: finding someone to participate, a sense of unison, showing how powerful
they are when they interact. 50% is registered when different interpretations of the answers are
counted. For this reason, in the direction of open-ended responses given to the survey, the greatest
expectation of the group close to 50% from the profile pages is socializing easier and it is also
virtual, experiencing the collectiveness feeling quicker was a noteworthy point.
Results and Suggestions
Travian is an online web based strategy game that is played in 49 different countries. Different from
other games, Travian serves with the same graphical interface and with the same rules in every
country. The only things that change from country to country is the player profile pages which not
only create a chance to express themselves, but also present an opportunity for the game to be
localized according to that country.
405When the user profiles of 17th server
played in Turkey were examined, it was
observed that players add political and
ideological messages and symbols into
their profile information in a frequency
that is unusual in other countries. In the
content analysis that was done with the
aim of changing this observation into
numerical data, it was detected that
Turkish Flag, 3 Crescent image, Greywolf
image and Ottoman Tughra are the most
common visual elements that are used and
the usage frequency of these visuals was
defined. The same process was realized
for the texts that take place in player
profiles and it was observed that words of
wisdom from Ataturk and proverbs
exalting Turkishness are the most
frequently used ones.
Figure 9. A Turkish acrostic sample of the union names.
Running parallel with the results that are realized in the later phase of the research, it was detected
that users of these kinds of images are undergraduate male students. The expressions used in the
game correspond with the political symbols and expressions used in other virtual social sharing
sites and even in real life. Considering Huizinga’s theory that claims the game to be a cultural
activity, the samples that visual cultural elements belonging to a society may be used with similar
functions and aims between real life and the game place are run parallel; it is witnessed that their
usage frequencies between real life and the game place may also be similar. Moreover, it was
observed that the ones expressing themselves by visual and textual political elements may act
similarly in either virtual or real life.
In this research, that does not have a generalization goal except in the framework of Travian game,
political elements used in the game are primarily used as a means of expression. Establishing
games strategy and contacting with people sharing the same views as stated by players are other
justifications. Besides, both in one-to-one interviews and in the responses given to the open-ended
questions, it was emphasized that players use political expressions in order to socialize easily and
although virtual, experiencing the collectiveness feeling involved couldn’t be dismissed.
While this research was being realized, because of some cases that appeared new research
opportunities which may be beneficial appeared with different point of views on Travian game.
Firstly, during the research, a difference between the attitudes towards male players and female
players was recognized and it was observed that the results of a research on gender differences in
Travian game might be meaningful. Furthermore, again a comparative visual content analysis in
which some of the different countries where Travian game is played are handled may be realized.
406From this point of view, a research questioning what kind of differences players from different
countries bring into the game in terms of visual culture can be made.
REFERANCES
Barnard, Malcolm. (2002). Sanat, Tasarım ve Görsel Kültür. Ankara: Ütopya Yayınları.
Binark, Mutlu ve Günseli Bayraktutan-Sütçü. (2008). Dijital Oyun. İstanbul: Kelkedon Yayınları.
Çoban, Barış (ed). (2009). Medya Milliyetçilik Şiddet. İstanbul: Su Yayınevi Yayınları.
Geray, Haluk. (2002). İletişim ve Teknoloji. Ankara: Ütopya Yayınları.
Huizinga, Johan. (1995). Homo Ludens. Oyunun Toplumsal İşlevi Üzerine Bir Deneme. Çev:
Mehmet Ali Kılıçbay. İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları.
Rogers E. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations. New York: The Free Press. Aktaran Geray, Haluk. (2002).
İletişim ve Teknoloji. Ankara: Ütopya Yayınları.
Fıratt (2009). Online discussion with the player who use Fıratt as a nickname.
Internet Referances
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travian
www.travian.com
END NOTES
i One of the general rules of Travian game is the cancellation of attacking in the game on special days like
Christmas. Most of the players react that it is not performed on special days peculiar to Turkey and express
this in their profiles. It was observed that by not attacking on those special days they apply a rule between
each other by localizing it even if it is not included in the rules of the game.
Questionnaire issued in the site of http://anket.aof.edu.tr/anketYayimla.aspx?anket=Travian was sent to the
ii
players having political images and texts in their profiles, not to all the players.
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