Massively Multiplayer Research Articles

PSYCHOLOGICAL PORTRAIT OF A MODERN YOUNG GAMBLER

This work is an attempt to describe the psychological profi le of a modern young gambler. We have made a suggestion that they are either characterized by aggressiveness or have expectations of aggression as an aggressive image of the world. In this work we studied hostility, while adhered to the principles of syndrome analysis. Methods and techniques included Mini-Mult Test, The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, The Humorous Phrases Test (HPT), The Hand Test, Psychological Conversation. Persistent attendants of computer clubs in Dubna, Moscow oblast,  young people aged from  to  –  young men and  young women – participated in the research. Among them % of the participants spend more than  hours per day gaming. Participation in the research was voluntary. Conclusions . The participants of the research prefer massive multiplayer online (MMO) games, role-playing games (RPG) being the most popular (%). Increases in profi le were identifi ed for  subjects on the hypochondria scale and for  subjects on the psychasthenia scale. The control group revealed more harmonic profi les. Personality traits are more balanced; in most cases the leading peak is registered on scale  (optimism scale). For average MMPI profi les differences between gamblers and the control group on the schizoid disorder scale are at a trend level (p = .). Most basic scales of the MMPI test have strong positive correlation with hostility as a factor of being ready for aggression. . According to the Humorous Phrases Test, the most important topics among gamblers are human folly, gender relationships, fashion, carrier, and money. Hypochondriasis, depressiveness, hysteria, and psychopathy in the MMPI profi les are related to the topics of the HPT. Sensitivity of gamers to fashion and folly topics can be interpreted as problems with communication, fear to look ridiculous, unattractive. Fear to look ridiculous proves that gamblers are maladaptive.

Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games to Enrich Vocabulary to Foreign Language Learners: The Implementation

Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are increasingly used to improve language learning. Many games have been created as products to help players improve their learning abilities. This research explores the execution of the MMORPGs to improve their vocabulary. The information was gathered through observation, documentation, and interview. There are seven chosen experienced players of MMORPG in worldwide servers who meet the requirements. Results demonstrated that implementing MMORPG can assist the EFL learners with acquiring new vocabulary from the aspect of the game like socializing, guild, mission, storyline, trading market, and things depiction assist the EFL learners with learning new vocabulary. The results of the study were expected to help the EFL learner gamer learn English, especially vocabulary, since the game has many aspects that help the EFL learners who play this game to enrich their vocabulary.

The Dark Side of Massive Multiplayers Online Role’s Game (MMORPG) among Malaysian Gamer Addiction’s and Aggressive Behaviour: Systematic Literature Review

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games or MMORPG is a real-time game that requires a strong internet connection and interaction with millions of players. Youths use MMORPG for leisure, stress relief, or to escape their lonely lives by interacting with people in a virtual world. This systematic literature review aimed to study the negative impact of MMORPG addiction among Malaysian youths. Systematic searches of Scopus, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Dimension database were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines which resulted in more than 13,000 articles, of which seven journal articles met the inclusion criteria. This study identifies negative impacts of MMORPG addiction among Malaysian youths such as psychological distress, depression, poor time management and reducing sense of empathy. We discuss and categorise the findings into two sub-themes: (1) Proactive Action Effects (PAE) and (2) Reactive Action Effects (RAE). We also suggest that each negative impact causes a short- or long-term effect which provides an in-depth understanding of the prediction of aggressive behaviour. This study ends with recommendations for future research.

The Orc—Playing the “Wholly Other”: Investigations of Kant's Sublime and The Technological Sublime in Blizzard Entertainment's Massive Multiplayer Online Game World of Warcraft

While the complicated scheme of the philosophical sublime may at first hand seem mere platitude when brought to life in computer games, this article claims that the action/adventure game World of Warcraft wedges open a space in which to operate the sublime and navigate radically “other” subjectivities. The hypothesis is that the assembly of fantastic elements in World of Warcraft duplicates the Kantian sublime while at the same time commenting upon and even radicalizing it. The Romantic tradition of the sublime as it unfolds in Immanuel Kant's third Critique is outlined followed by an attempt to topologize elements of the fantastic in Blizzard's game design philosophy leading to a clarification of what we call “the knotted point of play” where game object, game interaction, and game subject intervene. Finally, we explore how the notion of the technological sublime relates to World of Warcraft and beyond.

The Science of Virtual Culture Wars

Much of today’s geopolitical conflict is taking place online, carried out in significant measure by volunteers, even as governments seek to emphasize information technology cooperation. Computational social scientists have discovered multiple online environments in which to collect relevant statistical data, including Wikipedia pageviews, archives of government research grant abstracts, and behavior in massively multiplayer online war games. Three very different examples of the dynamics of collaboration and conflict provide alternative perspectives: (1) the Pirate Parties that seem to have been an overly ambitious attempt to transform democracy in the Information Age, (2) citizen science that had some success attracting volunteers to donate labor to academic research projects, but generally avoided controversial research projects in areas such as human conflict, and (3) a genre of online role-playing games that emphasized spontaneous organization of volunteer armies to develop skills and resources for victory. Without claiming to offer strict rules for success, this article considers the organizational structures and practical methodologies that might be adapted for achievement of goals by ethical social movements.

Investigating the knowledge structure of research on massively multiplayer online role-playing games: A bibliometric analysis

As the concept of the Metaverse rapidly spread, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), one of the Metaverse games, received public's attention again. Additionally, MMORPGs have garnered significant academic interest in multidisciplinary fields, including human-computer interaction, computer science, and psychology. This study provides a general overview of the knowledge structures on MMORPGs in various academic fields using a bibliometric approach. To this end, we collected articles on MMORPGs published between 2001 and 2021 from the Web of Science. Then, main research forces in the field of MMORPGs are identified by examining productive authors, institutions, and countries/regions. Additionally, we applied VOSviewer to conduct co-citation analyses for identifying highly cited authors, journals, and literatures on MMORPGs. The results revealed that the USA and South Korea are the most productive countries. In addition, players' motivation, players' demographics, in-game social interaction, and pathological usage are the main research topics in the field. We expect that our results will help researchers and stakeholders to gain a general understanding of the development of the MMORPG academic field.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving: Generosity is Contagious in Multiplayer Online Games

Understanding social interactions and generous behaviors have long been of considerable interest in the social sciences community. While the contagion of generosity is documented in the real world, less is known about such phenomenon in virtual worlds and whether it has an actionable impact on user behavior and retention. In this work, we analyze social dynamics in the virtual world of the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Sky: Children of Light. We develop a framework to reveal the patterns of generosity in such social environments and provide empirical evidence of social contagion and contagious generosity. Players become more engaged in the game after playing with others and especially with friends. We also find that players who experience generosity first-hand or even observe other players conduct generous acts become more generous themselves in the future. Additionally, we show that both receiving and observing generosity lead to higher future engagement in the game. Since Sky resembles the real world from a social play aspect, the implications of our findings also go beyond this virtual world.

Governing Online Goods: Maturity and Formalization in Minecraft, Reddit, and World of Warcraft Communities

Building a successful community means governing active populations and limited resources. This challenge often requires communities to design formal governance systems from scratch. But the characteristics of successful institutional designs are unclear. Communities that are more mature and established may have more elaborate formal policy systems (as cause or effect of their success). Alternatively, they may require less formalization precisely because of their maturity: because they have more latitude and capacity to select and acculturate new members, or because their reputations encourage greater self-selection. Indeed, scholars often downplay the role that formal rules relative to unwritten rules, norms, and values. But in a community with formal rules, decisions are more consistent, transparent, and legitimate. To understand the relationship of formal institutions to community maturity and governance style, we conduct a large-scale quantitative analysis applying institutional analysis frameworks of self-governance scholar Elinor Ostrom to 80,000 communities across 3 platforms: the sandbox game Minecraft, the MMO game World of Warcraft, and Reddit. We classify communities' written rules according to several institutional taxonomies in order to test predictors of institutional formalization. From this analysis we extract two major findings. First, institutional formalization, the size and complexity of an online community's governance system, is generally positively associated with maturity, as measured by age, population size, or degree of user engagement. Second, we find that online communities employ similar governance styles across platforms, strongly favoring "weak" norms to "strong" requirements. These findings suggest that designers and founders of online communities converge, to some extent independently, on styles of governance practice that are correlated with successful self-governance. With deeper insights into the patterns of successful self-governance, we can help more communities overcome the challenges of self-governance and create for their members powerful experiences of shared meaning and collective empowerment.?

An Evaluation of the Factors Related to Internet Gaming Disorder in Young Adults.

Game addiction is a growing problem all over the world. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and psychological, social, and behavioral effects of internet gaming disorder (IGD) on young adults. A preliminary study was conducted and the game types most commonly played on the internet were determined. Then, approximately 60 gaming site managers were contacted. After obtaining consent, the questionnaires were sent to gaming site members and they were asked to complete the questionnaires. Data were collected through a sociodemographic form, Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS9-SF), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The study was conducted with 613 participants. The age of the participants ranged from 15 to 30 years, with a mean age of 20.80±4.63 years. The prevalence of IGD was 10% (n=67). Those with low-income families and low academic performance were identified as more likely to develop IGD. Moreover, IGD was revealed to be more likely in individuals with fewer close friends, playing games from an early age, and those with a habit of devoting extensive time to watching online game videos on Twitch or YouTube. In addition, the risk of gaming disorder was approximately two times higher in individuals who preferred First Person Shooter (FPS) games and Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). The results of this study could be useful for estimating the level of IGD and carrying out more comprehensive studies to possibly be able to control IGD.

An Area Recommendation Method Using Similarity Analysis for Play Patterns in MMORPG

Recently, game companies have been increasingly offering a variety of content in their games. The more this happens, the more players will need to consider what is best for them. Players who have played such a game may not find it difficult to play, but those who are not used to play may have a hard time finding content. Therefore, in this paper, we try to give a customized guide to players in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). We compare the similarity of growth speeds and visited areas, and then utilize this information to recommend the most similar characters. In this work, the K-means algorithm is used for clustering based on location, the Euclidean distance is calculated to recommend similar characters with similar growth speeds. In addition, Jaccard Similarity is introduced to recommend similar characters with similar access areas. Finally, we propose a method to recommend suitable areas by applying the access speed to the recommended characters in the previous steps. Our method achieves Precision and Recall of 0.74 and 0.81, respectively, on the real-life PvE (Player VS Environment) dataset.

Digital joint action: Avatar-mediated social interaction in digital spaces

This article proposes a framework to characterize joint action in digital spaces. “Digital joint action” maintains many known elements from physical, real-world joint action including representations relating to joint goals and individual subgoals, processes such as predicting and monitoring own and others' actions, and supporting coordination through signaling and direct communication. In contrast to social interaction in the real world, joint action performed online comes with a unique additional feature: Digital joint action is mediated through (more or less vividly visualized) avatars that are controlled by the individual users but also imply particular personas that come with their own skills and acting abilities. This makes digital joint action a highly interesting research field as it allows to investigate the cognitive principles of joint action that lie outside of the constraints of human physicality but are nevertheless embodied (i.e., in a virtual body). The aim of this article is two-fold: First, we introduce digital joint action as joint action between avatars in a digital environment, and we specify commonalities and differences between joint actions in the real world and in digital spaces to provide a framework for further research. Second, using a survey study among users of the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Final Fantasy XIV, we provide empirical validation for our approach.

Promoting collaborative learning in virtual worlds: the power of “we”

Purpose As digital spaces for team collaboration, virtual worlds bring considerable verisimilitude to technology-mediated social interaction and change the process of traditional team learning. The purpose of this study is to understand how to promote collaborative learning in virtual worlds by leveraging the power of we-intention to participate in virtual worlds. The authors further use the valence–instrumentality–self-efficacy–trust model (VIST) model as a means of understanding the formation of we-intention to participate in virtual worlds, during which behavioral desire serves a bridging role.Design/methodology/approach The authors tested the research model using the data gathered from 298 users of a prominent form of virtual world, i.e. massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The authors used the structural equation modeling approach and the partial least squares technique for data analysis.Findings Results show that the four factors of the VIST model (i.e. valence on team goals, instrumentality of contribution, self-efficacy in team tasks and trust in team members) all positively influence we-intention to participate in virtual worlds through behavioral desire for team actions. We-intention to participate in virtual worlds further exerts a stronger positive effect on collaborative learning in virtual worlds, compared with I-intention to participate in virtual worlds.Originality/value This work advances the information systems literature by introducing a relevant and important concept, i.e. we-intention, to explain collaborative learning in virtual worlds. This study especially compared the effect of we-intention and I-intention on collaborative learning in virtual worlds. The results of this work also provide practitioners with insights into the role of we-intention in promoting collective actions in virtual worlds.

Learner perceptions and effectiveness of using a massively multiplayer online role-playing game to improve EFL communicative competence

Although previous studies have investigated the effect of digital games on learning foreign languages, no research has examined how effective they are on learners’ perceptions regarding foreign language communicative competence development. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) by English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners affects their communicative competence and perceptions. A case study was adopted as a research method in this study. The participants were undergraduate students from a state university in Turkey. A questionnaire and open-ended questions were administered online to collect the participants’ attitudes toward gaming as an EFL tool and their learning games experience. The findings showed that the participants had a positive experience as they could practice daily used vocabulary and phrases while speaking or chatting with other EFL speakers in the games. Further, they thought that these games provided plentiful opportunities to promote EFL learning through speaking and writing, and new vocabulary use. Finally, a large majority of the participants preferred to communicate with players from different countries. The results of this study implicate that MMORPG can be an effective support tool for EFL learners.

Toxicity and prosocial behaviors in massively multiplayer online games: The role of mutual dependence, power, and passion

AbstractUnderstanding factors that predict toxic and prosocial behavior in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games has drawn a great deal of scholarly attention. Prior work on this topic has primarily focused on individual and technological factors while overlooking the role of interpersonal dynamics. To fill this gap, this study examines if and how players’ perceptions of mutual dependence and power in MMO games are related to toxicity and prosocial behavior in games. Results from a survey of 782 Chinese game players suggest that players’ perceived power is positively related to prosocial behavior in games. Perceived mutual dependence and power are also indirectly related to prosocial and toxic behaviors through players’ passion for games. This study has theoretical implications for scholarship on toxicity, prosocial behaviors, and gameplay, while also providing design and policy implications for MMO games.

The seriousness of massive multiplayer online games: the case of Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes

ABSTRACT The massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMOG), Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes (SWGoH), inspired by the iconic film Star Wars, attracts many players who form guilds and play as a form of entertainment. This study aimed to explore how the activities performed in this online video game may help players develop certain types of competencies, and whether the competencies developed could be considered key elements in the performance of other, more serious, leisure-related activities. An explanatory case study research strategy was chosen with participant observation as the main method of data collection. Results show that SWGoH promotes the development of competencies before, during, and after play. The competencies most often observed were leadership, time management, team management, and goal-setting, while four key elements of the serious leisure perspective predominated: systematisation, perseverance, obligations and responsibilities, and skills and knowledge.

Development and Psychometric Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of ICD-11 Gaming Disorder.

Video game use is associated with addiction-like behaviors in 6 to 15.6 percent of video game players. There were no formal diagnostic criteria for video game addiction until gaming disorder (GD) was added to the International Classification of Diseases 11th Edition (ICD-11), and there are no published instruments designed to diagnose GD. The aims of the current study were to develop a self-report measure of GD (using the Lee Morrell Gaming Disorder Questionnaire [LMGDQ]) and test its factor structure, reliability, validity, and relationships with participant demographic characteristics. Participants included 3,481 adult video game players (M = 25.08, SD = 7.02; 79.8 percent cisgender male; 77.4 percent Caucasian) who completed an online survey. Factor analyses suggested retaining 14 items and indicated the presence of two factors. The scale had excellent reliability (α = 0.919), and LMGDQ scores were positively correlated with existing scales measuring problematic video game use as well as video game use and age, p values <0.01. Participants who were Asian and Asian American, cisgender men, single and dating, unemployed, had completed some high school or their GED, and who played massively multiplayer online role-playing games the most reported significantly greater LMGDQ scores, p values <0.05. Results suggest that the LMGDQ is a psychometrically sound and valid measure of GD.

The components of the gaming consumption experience: From virtual realisation to real-world virtualisation

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) attract consumers looking for fun, experiences, and challenges. This research adopts an integrative perspective to focus on the gaming experience and its major components. This research studies how gaming affects real life and how real life affects virtual experience. We use in-depth interviews, a netnographic study, and a three-year ethnographic immersion. The results provide an overview of gamers’ consumption experience, its major components, and their links. MMORPGs appear to be a complex experience where virtual and real-life continuously interrelate. Gaming as a virtual experience affects gamers’ real lives (virtual realisation), and gamers’ real lives affect how they experience the game (real-world virtualisation). A significant contribution of our study is to show that gaming is not a process with clear, separated chronological steps. Gaming is an experience where boundaries between virtual and real-life are not delimited and where the virtual and real-life are far from disjointed experiences.

Predicting subscription renewal using binary classification in World of Warcraft

Multiplayer online video games in the past decade have become one of the world's most popular gaming formats. Analyzing player data can provide insights into player behavior, such as how long players continue to play or where they stop playing. This information can help developers to come up with solutions to retain their players. We have compared binary classification algorithms on different time frames of player history data along with level and guild from World of Warcraft – a previously popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), to assess the probability of subscription renewal. Our findings suggest that random forest and decision tree algorithms give the highest accuracy in all cases (more than 90 %). This was achieved using level and guild as parameters along with a combination of active days and total playing time taken from different time frames in the past month along.

Becoming others

By revisiting Gilles Deleuze's notion of the virtual, this work examines what the virtual world means for our identity and intimacy. We sketch three effects of the virtual world: 1) the complete disintegration of public-private boundary; 2) the emerging performativity of virtual identities; 3) the destabilization of our ontology. From public life to multiplayer online role-playing games, we show the changing meaning of play in various contexts: performing, acting, and becoming. Following Richard Sennett's dramaturgical perspective of the public Man, we see people proactively perform the image to construct the real-world identity. Then in the video games, players choose a virtual identity to act in the game world, transforming it into a liminal space where continued identity transitions become possible. We analyze several cases, including Otherkin and Otaku subculture, to argue that virtual identity and community can bring ontological indeterminacy and propose a program that coexists with otherness.

Exploring the meaningful qualities of transactions in virtual environments for massively multiplayer online role-playing gamers

ABSTRACT To date, most research on massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has focused on the effects playing MMORPGs have on players’ health and wellness. The virtual environment of MMORPGs has yet to be explored as a space where meaningful occupations occur. This qualitative descriptive study examined the virtual environment using a transactional perspective to describe the qualities of gaming to which MMORPG players ascribe meaning. Participants included six MMORPG players with experience playing World of Warcraft, Runescape, or Guild Wars 2. Data were gathered using interviews, participant observation, and a focus group, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes were generated: Creating collective occupational experiences, Facilitating personally transformative occupational experiences, and Unlocking immersive virtual environments. Participants described collective occupational experiences of gaming as creating a sense of community and belonging. Transactions in the virtual environment facilitated a transformative occupational experience to foster identity development and personal growth. The virtual environment was described as meaningful by unlocking an immersive experience through the aesthetics of the environment and engagement with in-game occupations. These findings provide occupational scientists with an increased understanding of the qualities of transactions within games that are meaningful for MMORPG players.