Good discussion of what MMOGs are, with some ethnographical information about its players
see p. 37- many social science questions posed. Why do people have marriages in MMOGs? What's the significance of people choosing avatars that are not like their real-world selves (opposite sex, values, etc.)?
How important is the ethnographical data about MMOG participants? All seem to get some of the five motivational factors out of playing a MMORPG.
3 Gaming Types: Stand-alone (SimCity); LAN/WAN (Age of Empires); MMORPG (World Of Warcraft)
MMOGs have a large age range and appeal among its players (avg. 22 hrs/week)
- average age close to 30, not just adolescents
- not the stereotypical violent, negative gameAuthor shows a 'multi-faceted appeal' of MMOGs - a factor analysis showed five user motivations:
- Achievement
- Relationship
- Immersion
- Escapism
- Manipulation
- Males favored achievement and manipulation while females favored relationship
Properties of MMOGs: different characters / identities with different goals / rewards; social networks / guilds of characters; persistent, large, dynamic worlds
MMOGs favor positive social interactions: people have greater anonymity, physical appearance is less important, the Internet transcends physical space problems, and users have more control over the time / pace of their interactions (p. 12-13)
p. 13: behavioral confirmation is at work as well: we can project the qualities we want with the right avatar (we can be a knight in shining armor if we want to)
p. 37: many social science questions posed- why / when people choose opposite sex avatars, get married, other socio-cultural phenomenon
"MMOGs are more than just games" (author's conclusion) - very complex social phenomena going on in them
- MMORPG / MMOG: Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game
see paper (circled)