Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games Research Articles

Identifying player skill of dota 2 using machine learning pipeline

The esports industry is one of the prominent business sectors in the digital era, particularly, Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games which gain much attention from gamers and streaming audiences. Among such games, Defense of the Ancient 2 or Dota 2 is the record holder for the highest prize esports tournament. Therefore, various companies and investors start their esports teams to compete in the Dota 2 tournaments, the Internationals. To success in the competition, player recruitment is a crucial process as it usually takes considerable effort to find a skillful player. Watching the game replay to evaluate the player’s skill is one of the approaches. However, it can be too exhaustive, also some player’s ranking, which represent the player’s skill, are often not available. In this paper, we propose an effective machine learning pipeline to evaluate the player’s skill. Our designed pipeline includes data collection, feature engineering, and machine learning modeling. We show the data collection process using open-source API. An effective method for feature engineering is proposed. Features, e.g., end-game, or tactical decision related statistics, are incorporated along with the resource in the game distribution, harassment tactic, or spatiotemporal features, in order to provide effective models. Subsequently, we apply major machine learning models based on a single game data, i.e., logistic regression and random forest, to the processed data. The most effective model can achieve up to 0.7091 precision, 0.5850 recall, 0.6411 F1-score, and 0.8123 ROC AUC score.

Behavioral dedication, constraint or obligation? A tripartite model of active participation in multiplayer online battle arena game community

PurposeActive participation is critical to the survival and development of the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game community. However, this issue has not received much attention in the information systems literature. To address this issue, we develop a tripartite model that accounts for the roles of behavioral dedication, constraint, obligation mechanisms on active participation in the MOBA community.Design/methodology/approachThe research model is empirically validated by online survey data among 971 users of a popular MOBA community.FindingsThe results show that perceived enjoyment, perceived escapism, and affective commitment are key behavioral dedication factors, which further promote active participation in the MOBA community. In addition, past investment, self-efficacy for change, and calculative commitment are important behavioral constraint factors, which ultimately influence active participation in the MOBA community. Finally, subjective norm, group norm, social identity, and normative commitment are influential behavioral obligation factors, which in turn facilitate active participation in the MOBA community.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the theoretical understanding of active participation in the MOBA community and offers practical guidance for promoting active participation in the community.

Emotional analysis of multiplayer online battle arena games addiction.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games have garnered widespread popularity as a form of recreational activity. The launch of League of Legends (LoL), a prominent MOBA game, has captivated the enthusiastic pursuit of gamers in the MOBA community. The surge in MOBA game fervor, coupled with the influence of personal emotions, can result in excessive engagement, ultimately leading to addiction. This study aimed to investigate the moderating effects of visceral perception, behavior, and reflection on game players' addiction within the framework of Leisure Theory (LT), Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT), and Emotional Design Theory (EDT). A hypothesized theoretical model was developed and empirically evaluated based on 236 self-reported validated responses from MOBA gamers. SPSS (version 26) was employed for demographic analysis and game duration analysis. The measurement model and structural model analyses were conducted in two stages using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.1.0 to validate the nine theoretical hypotheses. It has been observed that personal emotions significantly contributes to MOBA game addiction during gamers' leisure time or moments of gratification. Specifically, a noteworthy connection exists between two dimensions, namely gamers' behavior and reflection, demonstrating a positive correlation with gaming addiction. Without taking entertainment as a motivating factor, there is no significant relationship between gamers' leisure-time and visceral perception. This study enhances the theoretical model of gamers' behavioral motives in engaging with MOBA gaming and contributes to the expansion of research on game addiction theory. These findings offer valuable theoretical insights for emotional design in games and the design of mechanisms for preventing game addiction.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games: Attractive Matchmaking via Group Role Assignment

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games: Attractive Matchmaking via Group Role Assignment

The application of artificial intelligence in MOBA games

With the development of science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI) has developed rapidly and made great progress in various fields, and its application in the field of electronic games has also continued to expand. Currently, front-end companies in all major gaming fields are trying to apply AI technology to games. This article will review some specific application projects of artificial intelligence in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games, and explore its application, impact and future development direction in games. The paper found that AI can currently adapt well to the game development rhythm of MOBA games, helping developers solve many problems related to game design or enhance the fun of the game, such as: using AI to improve the intelligence of intelligent non-player characters (NPCs), helping to adjust and improve Game balance and adaptability, as well as helping to predict game results and improve players' gaming experience. In the future, AI will not only be further used in MOBA games, but many games will also apply AI to games to achieve game development and market competitiveness.

Gaya Komunikasi Komunitas BRIC Esports dalam Upaya Meningkatkan Efektivitas Strategi Dalam Bermain Mobile Legends

The development of online games itself cannot be separated from the development of computer technology and computer networks themselves. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a type of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game that features 5 vs 5 battles, classic 3 lane battles. The method used in this research uses a qualitative approach as a method or way to achieve research objectives. This research uses a data analysis method that includes reduction and interpretation. Researchers collected data in the field by writing down findings into small notes on observations made and transcribing the results of interviews that have been obtained. This research explains how the BRIC Esports community's communication style in an effort to increase the effectiveness of strategies in playing Mobile Legends. This research is useful to be a reference and information for other communities or organizations in order to be better at choosing communication styles, especially in efforts to increase the effectiveness of strategies in playing Mobile Legends. The results of this study indicate that the communication style of the BRIC Esports community in an effort to increase the effectiveness of strategies in playing Mobile Legends, namely equalitarian style, dynamic style, controlling style, structuring style, and relinguishing style.

Deep learning in multiplayer online battle arena games

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games, known as MOBA in abbreviation, are developing rapidly, and more and more new players are growing interests to it. But some parts of these games are quite complicate for those beginners, such as how to pick appropriate champions, how to choose suitable items for purchasing, what is the win rate for current game session and how to make correct strategy decisions. This paper summarized some works, that can help players to solve those complicate parts and understand the game well, using machine learning and deep learning models. These works have all proved their feasibility according to either their result comparing with other baseline methods, or simulating some game sessions played by or against AI using their champion picking, item purchasing and strategy making suggestions. There are also some limitations of these works and some improvements of using machine learning and deep learning in MOBA game industry mentioned in this paper.

Bibliometric Analysis Toxicity Levels of MOBA Game Players Among Students and the General Public

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games have become a global phenomenon in the gaming industry. This article aims to examine the evolution, impact, and social aspects of MOBA games. We analyzed various literature sources, including scientific journals, articles, and research reports relevant to the keyword "MOBA." In our analysis, we see the development of MOBA games from their beginnings as modified real-time strategy (RTS) games to become a very popular standalone game genre. We also investigated the influence of MOBA games on mental health, social behavior, and addiction rates among players. Abstract P-ISSN: 2302-8734 Abstract Additionally, we explore social aspects such as communication within teams, development of collaborative skills, and learning related to MOBA gaming. Our research results show that MOBA games have a significant impact on players, both positive and negative. In a positive aspect, this game can improve social skills, strategic thinking skills, and team coordination. http://jurnal.umt.ac.id/index.php/jt/index E-ISSN: 2581-0006 Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games have become a global phenomenon in the gaming industry. This article aims to examine the evolution, impact, and social aspects of MOBA games. We analyzed various literature sources, including scientific journals, articles, and research reports relevant to the keyword "MOBA." In our analysis, we see the development of MOBA games from their beginnings as modified real-time strategy (RTS) games to become a very popular standalone game genre. We also investigated the influence of MOBA games on mental health, social behavior, and addiction rates among players. Additionally, we explore social aspects such as communication within teams, development of collaborative skills, and learning related to MOBA gaming. Our research results show that MOBA games have a significant impact on players, both positive and negative. In a positive aspect, this game can improve social skills, strategic thinking skills, and team coordination. However, there is also a risk of high levels of addiction and mental health disorders associated with excessive use. This research provides in-depth insight into the MOBA gaming phenomenon and the importance of understanding social aspects and their impact. However, there is also a risk of high levels of addiction and mental health disorders associated with excessive use. This research provides in-depth insight into the MOBA gaming phenomenon and the importance of understanding social aspects and their impact.
 Keywords: Bibliometric, Online Games, MOBA, Toxicity, Student.

Study of the Influence of Online Games on Adolescent Psychology in Parungponteng District: Analysis of Intensity of Use, Type of Game, and Psychological Impact

This research aims to examine the influence of online games on adolescent psychology in Parungponteng District. By collecting data from 30 respondents through questionnaires, this research analyzed the intensity of game use, the types of games played, and the psychological impact of online game addiction on teenagers. The research results show that teenagers tend to spend an average of 15 hours per week playing online games, with the majority choosing Role-Playing Games (RPG) and Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games. The psychological impacts of online gaming addiction include a lack of interest in other activities and feelings of anxiety when unable to play. The implications of this research include educational awareness of game use, development of educational games, the active role of parents and educators, as well as the development of time management skills.

Artificial Intelligence in MOBA Games: A Multivocal Literature Mapping

Esports - games played competitively - comprise a major sector of the global games industry. Esports has been used as a testbed for game AI and game analytics for two decades. This article presents a multivocal literature mapping of available research that focuses strictly on the use of artificial intelligence approaches in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games, one of the most popular esports genres and the one most widely used for game AI and game analytics research. A mapping is performed on relevant publications published between 2011 and 2022 and systematically examines them to extract similarities, gaps, and main findings. We analyzed 124 publications to identify the most studied topics, the most commonly used techniques, and the most commonly applied evaluation methods. The results show that League of Legends and DOTA are the most studied games, with outcome prediction being the most popular research topic. Finally, we provide an analysis of the potential future flagship areas for research in the domain, considering the gaps found in the white and grey literature.

Game Behaviors among Adolescent MOBA Gamers in China: The Effects of Demographics, Trait Aggression, and Game Motivations

Abstract Game behaviors affect gamers’ psychological and behavioral development in real life. Previous studies have shown that demographic and basic personality traits are associated with game behaviors in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. However, little is known about the roles of trait aggression and game motivations, especially in multiplayer online battle arena games. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate how demographic, trait aggression, and game motivations affect multiplayer online battle arena game behaviors. A total of 1,316 Chinese adolescent gamers who play Honor of Kings responded to questions related to demographic information, trait aggression, game motivations (socializer, competitor, escapist, story-driven, completionist, and smart-enhance), and game behaviors (aggressing, winning, creating, and helping). The multiple linear regression model results showed that males, socializers, completionists, and smart-enhance were more likely to exhibit aggressing, winning, creating, and helping behaviors. Trait aggression predicted aggressing, winning, and creating behaviors. Moreover, age and competitor scale positively predicted aggressing and winning behaviors. Meanwhile, escapists tended to engage in aggressing and creating behaviors, and story-driven players exhibited creating and helping behaviors. These results may be useful in explaining individual differences in game behaviors and the relationships between video-game and real-life behaviors for gamers.

Beyond the Screen: Do Esports Participants Really Have More Physical Health Problems?

This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the association between esports participation and physical health and examine the difference in physical health problems between esports participants and non-esports participants. A total of 1549 young adults participated in this investigation. A total of 633 participants were categorized as esports participants, and they were involved in six types of esports games: shooting games, multiplayer online battle arena games, strategy card games, sports games, real-time strategy games, and fighting games. An online survey was conducted to gather data on their demographic information, gaming behavior, traditional sports behavior, and physical health problems. The results demonstrated that esports players reported significantly higher participation in traditional sports compared to non-esports players. No significant differences were found in sleep duration or the selected physical health issues between the two groups. Overall, the findings suggest that esports participation was not associated with negative physical health in this sample of young adults. Furthermore, this study found that players who conscientiously took intermittent breaks and maintained a standardized sitting posture during gameplay had a lower likelihood of reporting neck and back pain. These findings have important implications for challenging conventional negative perceptions of esports and promoting a more objective understanding and appreciation of esports and the sustainable development of esports players. Future research is necessary to explore potential causal relationships between esports participation and health outcomes and to develop a healthier esports practice modality from a sports science perspective.

Taking the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) Game "League of Legends" as a Study Case

By 2020, the actual sales of China's game market reached 296.513 billion yuan, an increase of 17.826 billion yuan over the previous year, a year-on-year increase of 6.40%. Officially, in 2021, games and e-sports were written into the "14th Five-Year Plan" cultural industry plan, and in the people, more and more e-sports schools have sprung up, and more parents have begun to understand and accept the existence of games. As a hot topic in recent years, the game industry should receive more attention, so this article takes the design of characters in video games as the starting point to make some research on how games develop and maintain customers, hoping that everyone can trigger more thinking about the game industry.

The Cycle of Toxicity: Exploring Relationships between Personality and Player Roles in Toxic Behavior in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games

Toxic behavior remains a salient challenge for online gaming environments, such as multiplayer online battle arena video games (MOBAs). In this study, we sought to understand player roles and settings in which toxicity occurs using a mixed-methods approach. First, we conducted ethnographic observations and interviews with players of the most popular contemporary MOBA, League of Legends (Study 1). During the qualitative analysis three main themes emerged: (1) the fluidity of roles, (2) the subjectivity of the toxic experience, and (3) cascading effects and changing modalities of toxicity. Based on the themes, we formulated hypotheses regarding players’ experience with toxicity. To test these hypotheses, we gathered cross-sectional data from MOBA players (n = 216), which we analyzed with co-variance-based statistics (Study 2). Our quantitative findings showcase the complexity of toxicity as well as players’ ambivalence toward the topic. We found indicators of substantial influences of personality and a cycle of retaliation toxicity spread as victims retaliated against the perpetrator.

Synchronous measurements of prefrontal activity and pulse rate variability during online video game playing with functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Interactions between the central nervous system (CNS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) play a crucial role in modulating perception, cognition, and emotion production. Previous studies on CNS–ANS interactions, or heart–brain coupling, have often used heart rate variability (HRV) metrics derived from electrocardiography (ECG) recordings as empirical measurements of sympathetic and parasympathetic activities. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a functional brain imaging modality that is increasingly used in brain and cognition studies. The fNIRS signals contain frequency bands representing both neural activity oscillations and heartbeat rhythms. Therefore, fNIRS data acquired in neuroimaging studies can potentially provide a single-modality approach to measure task-induced responses in the brain and ANS synchronously, allowing analysis of CNS–ANS interactions. In this proof-of-concept study, fNIRS was used to record hemodynamic changes from the foreheads of 20 university students as they each played a round of multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. From the fNIRS recordings, neural and heartbeat frequency bands were extracted to assess prefrontal activities and short-term pulse rate variability (PRV), an approximation for short-term HRV, respectively. Under the experimental conditions used, fNIRS-derived PRV metrics showed good correlations with ECG-derived HRV golden standards, in terms of absolute measurements and video game playing (VGP)-related changes. It was also observed that, similar to previous studies on physical activity and exercise, the PRV metrics closely related to parasympathetic activities recovered slower than the PRV indicators of sympathetic activities after VGP. It is concluded that it is feasible to use fNIRS to monitor concurrent brain and ANS activations during online VGP, facilitating the understanding of VGP-related heart–brain coupling.

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) Games: Improving Negative Atmosphere with Social Robots and AI Teammates

Electronic sports show significant user churn caused by a toxic gaming atmosphere, and current GUI-based interventions are insufficient to address the issue. Based on the theoretical framework of Perceiving and Experiencing Fictional Characters, a new hybrid interaction interface and paradigm combined with tangibles is proposed to counter negative mood. To support the frustrated users of Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games, we added AI teammates for better personal performance and social robots for the disclosure of negative mood. We hypothesized that AI teammates’ invisibility and anonymity would mitigate negative emotions; an effect amplified by the presence of social robots. A comparative experiment was conducted with 111 participants. Social robots for emotion-oriented coping improved user mood but AI teammates for problem-oriented coping did so better, although their higher levels of experienced anonymity may not have been preferred. Unexpectedly, conversing with a robot after playing with an AI teammate brought the mood back to that experienced when talking to a robot alone, while increasing the distancing tendencies. With this in mind, AI and social robots can counter the negative atmosphere in MOBA games, positively contributing to game design and empathic human–computer interaction.

What constitutes victims of toxicity - identifying drivers of toxic victimhood in multiplayer online battle arena games.

Toxic behavior (i.e., toxicity) is a pervasive problem in online gaming communities such as League of Legends. This issue arises from factors such as frustrating and stressful in-game experiences and online disinhibition. Prior research on addressing toxicity has focused primarily on the perpetrators and how to mitigate their negative behavior and the consequences. The aim of this study was to approach toxicity from the perspective of the victims instead, and consequently, to investigate the factors that contribute to the experience of victimhood in multiplayer online battle arena games. A global sample of League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2 players (n=313) was collected to test hypotheses based on three theoretical approaches drawn from previous work, namely, the online disinhibition effect, social cognitive theory and theory of planned behavior. Participants were asked to complete a survey that included variables related to the three theoretical approaches. The results of the study indicated that self-efficacy, and benign and toxic disinhibition, were the most relevant antecedents for the experience of being a victim of toxicity. Accordingly, the findings thus suggest that players with low self-efficacy and high online disinhibition may be more likely to experience victimhood in multiplayer online battle arena games. In general, insights based on our study demonstrate that individual characteristics partially explain why some players are more susceptible to toxic behavior than others. The study's results have practical implications for game developers and policymakers, particularly in the areas of community management and player education. For example, game developers may consider incorporating self-efficacy training and disinhibition reduction programs into their games. Overall, this study contributes to the growing body of literature on toxicity in online gaming communities and invites further research into toxicity from the perspective of the victims.

Predicting Events in MOBA Games: Prediction, Attribution, and Evaluation

The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games have become increasingly popular in recent years. Consequently, many efforts have been devoted to providing pre-game or in-game predictions for them. However, these works are limited in the following two aspects: 1) the lack of sufficient in-game features; 2) the absence of interpretability in the prediction results. These two limitations greatly restrict the practical performance and industrial application of the current works. In this work, we collect and release a large-scale dataset containing rich in-game features for the popular MOBA game Honor of Kings. We then propose to predict four types of important events in an interpretable way by attributing the predictions to the input features using two gradient-based attribution methods: Integrated Gradients and SmoothGrad. To evaluate the explanatory power of different models and attribution methods, a fidelity-based evaluation metric is further proposed. Finally, we evaluate the accuracy and Fidelity of several competitive methods on the collected dataset to assess how well machines predict events in MOBA games.

Categorical Learning-based Line-up Prediction in the Drafting Process of MOBA Games

<p>In recent years, the e-sports industry has witnessed a rapid development, setting a wave of social and economic influence all over the world. Among these, multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, represented by Dota2 account for the largest share in the number of games, audience, and prizes. As the beginning of the MOBA games, the drafting phase is of great importance due to its impact on the outcome of the game. Therefore, line-up prediction in the drafting process is an important research field in e-sports. Nonetheless, different MOBA games have different hero pools, different rules for drafting, and different non-player factors, while the available game data are sparse, hindering the prediction of line-up in the drafting phase. To solve this problem, we i) identify the key steps in lineup prediction through statistical analysis, ii) based on which we propose an orderless prediction method that achieves 7% higher accuracy than existing models, and iii) further improve the accuracy by 1.6% with an attention layer in line-up predictions. Our finding of orderless key steps in MOBA game lineup drafting may also be used to expand the lineup dataset, which is crutial to learning-based automatic game analysis.</p> <p> </p>

PEMILIHAN KARAKTER PADA PERMAINAN MULTIPLAYER ONLINE BATTLE ARENA DENGAN METODE AHP ( ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS )

Multiplayer Online Battle Arena ( MOBA ) game is an online game where players are placed into a specified area to battle with other players to reach a goal, be it in team or individually. Nowadays, there are kinds of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena ( MOBA ) game released and free to be accessed by everyone. This is causing developers aggressively looking for a way to compete. One of the way is releasing new characters. The impact is new players hardly choose proper character to play. Therefore, researcher will make a calculation using AHP ( Analytic Hierarchy Process ) method in choosing the proper characters to suit the player’s desire or skill. The methods will start with defining problems, determining hierarchy structures, and determining criteria as well as alternative choices. The result of the research is a decision support system to choose proper character accurately and efficiently.