Social Networks in Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs)

Transcription

1 Social Networks in Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) the elusive boundary between the real and the virtual Iro Voulgari, Vassilis Komis {avoulgari, Department of Educational Sciences in Early Childhood Education University of Patras 1/12

2 MMOGs as Social Spaces Internet: the world s largest social science observatory (Contractor, 2009) MMOGs: Petri dishes for social science (Castronova, 2006), designed civilizations, digital nations, third places (Squire, 2006; Steinkuehler, 2005; 2004) 2/12

3 Environment Affordances for the Development of Player Networks Groups Friend Lists Awareness tools Communication Tools, channels, media Virtual places for socialisation, social activities 3/12

4 The Social Aspect of In-Game Groups In-game groups of players: main research units for player interactions, practices and group dynamics Limited tools by the environment for the formation and management of a group (Ducheneaut, Moore & Nickell, 2007) The impact of the social aspect on the formation and effectiveness of an in-game group Structure, orientation, goal, rules, player churn depend on decisions, preferences, links, social ties, and relations Special Abilities for Clan Members in Lineage II Clan Management Window in Lineage II 4/12

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6 Real Life and its Implications: the virtual and the real character of the player Design decisions, environment affordances, and the architecture of the virtual environment for interactions and social networks (Koster, 2009; Schell, 2008; Yee, 2008, 2009) Networks in virtual, fantasy world & linked to real life personality, motivations, attitudes of players 6/12

7 The Convergence of the Real and the Virtual: transfer of social networks between RL and MMOG Transfer of real life social networks to the game & Transfer of in-game social networks to real life Real-life friends, relatives, colleagues play together In-game friends meet and develop relations in real life 7/12

8 MMOGs & Social Networking Online communities, fora, websites discussion about the game, exchange of player-developed gamerelated content Link of MMOGs to social networking sites general social networks (e.g. Facebook), specialised networks for MMOG players 8/12

9 Social Networking Platforms vs MMOGs MMOG Networks: Based on: virtual identity/avatar, limited id cues/anonymity, fantasy aspect, game-related practices, achievement, in-game behaviour, personality, quality of communication Consist of: wide range of player real-life profiles and backgrounds, expansion of social capital SNP: Based on: similar interests, real life identity Consist of: real life friends, similar cultural background 9/12

10 Conclusions SNP & MMOGS: similarities (social networks) and differences (fantasy, gaming aspect) MMOGs: communities and networks for social & instrumental interactions (e.g. achievement in the game) In MMOG networks: Game + Player personality, behaviour, attitude, practices Implications of real-life characteristics & the fantasy and virtual aspect for the formation, the features, and the dynamics of the social ties and networks in MMOGs? 10/12

11 References Castronova, E. (2006). On the Research Value of Large Games: Natural Experiments in Norrath and Camelot. Games and Culture, 1(2) Contractor, N. (2009). The Emergence of Multidimensional Networks. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(3) Ducheneaut, N., Moore, R.J., & Nickell, E. (2007), Virtual Third Places : A Case Sudy of Sociability in Massively Multiplayer Games. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 16(1) Koster, R. (2009). Ways to make your virtual space more social. Raph Koster s Website Schell, J. (2008). The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses. Morgan Kaufmann. Squire, K. (2006). From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience. Educational Researcher, 35(=), Steinkuehler, C. A., (2005). The New Third Place: Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming in American Youth Culture. Tidskrift Journal of Research in Teacher Education, 3(3), Steinkuehler, C. A., (2004). Learning in massively multiplayer online games. In Y. B. Kafai, W. A. Sandoval, N. Enyedy, A. S. Nixon, & F. Herrera (Eds.), Proceedings of the 6th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp ). Mahwah, NJ, USA: Erlbaum. Yee, N. (2008). Social Architectures in MMOs Yee, N. (2009). Befriending Ogres and Wood-Elves: Relationship Formation and the Social Architecture of Norrath. Game Studies. The international journal of computer game research, 9(1), /12

12 Thank you! Iro Voulgari Vassilis Komis Department of Educational Sciences in Early Childhood Education University of Patras 12/12