Online multiplayer games as virtual laboratories for collecting data on social-ecological decision making.

A Bradley Duthie,Gabriela Ochoa,O Sarobidy Rakotonarivo,Jeroen Minderman,Nils Bunnefeld

doi:10.1111/cobi.13633

A Bradley Duthie, Gabriela Ochoa + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13633

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Abstract

Article impact statement: Online games can improve the collection of data on human decision-making in situations relevant to conservation and stakeholder trade-offs. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Highlights

In the Anthropocene, human actions affect the persistence and abundance of most critical natural resources, including the biodiversity on which indispensable ecosystem services depend (Dirzo et al 2014; Ellis 2019)
The videogame platform that we propose could be used to efficiently create complex game designs and automate data collection in game sessions as they are currently conducted in social-ecological research
We have outlined a vision for videogames in research that we believe would benefit existing research programmes while simultaneously leading to entirely new avenues for big data collection

Summary

Introduction

In the Anthropocene, human actions affect the persistence and abundance of most critical natural resources, including the biodiversity on which indispensable ecosystem services depend (Dirzo et al 2014; Ellis 2019). This process could be creating a fictional character that the player embodies or building a city or farm from an empty simulated landscape that develops over the course of days, months, or even years (Burroughs 2014; Del-Moral Pérez & Guzmán-Duque 2014) Such development might be initially restricted by in-game barriers that must be gradually overcome (e.g., accruing sufficient in-game currency, production metrics, or tools through consequences of game play decisions). The videogame platform that we propose could be used to efficiently create complex game designs and automate data collection in game sessions as they are currently conducted in social-ecological research This platform could be used to deploy free and open online games allowing for game play on an unprecedented scale (e.g., Burroughs 2014; Del-Moral Pérez & Guzmán-Duque 2014). Players are often highly invested in the digital worlds that they create (Lofgren & Feff 2007)

Conclusion

Literature Cited