1 Online Gaming JORGE PEÑA University of California, Davis, USA Playing online video games is a powerful social experience. Because playing online games often requires competing against other players and also cooperating with those in the same team, interpersonal communication processes have been repeatedly documented in online games. Online gaming refers to video games played over a computer network. Early examples include multiuser dungeons (MUDs). MUDs are text based multiplayer virtual worlds, and players communicate using emotes or scripted actions (e.g., *Raul starts dancing*), emoticons (e.g., :D ), and linguistic conventions (e.g., LOL, BRB). Lucasfilm s Habitat was one of the first large scale commercial multiuser environments, and it presented a real time graphical online world in which thousands of users could communicate, play games, go on adventures, fall in love, start businesses, and self govern. Habitat also allowed users to represent themselves in the game using humanoid figures called avatars. The first person shooter game Doom was also an online gaming milestone, as it featured competitive networked play and also allowed players to modify the game (e.g., create new maps). This facilitated the rise of communities of networked gamers and modders (players that modified the game). People also play competitive real time strategy games (e.g., StarCraft 2, League of Legends) and venture into massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) featuring large worlds populated by player avatars and computer controlled agents (e.g., World of WarCraft or WoW, EverQuest 2 or EQ2). According to Klimmt and Hartmann (2008), prototypical forms of interpersonal communication in online games include (1) encounters with unacquainted human players, (2) communication among players organized in stable groups or clans, and (3) communication among members of social units existing within the game s narrative (e.g., the Elf faction, a game s version of NATO). Online game interactions also occur (4) among people in pre existing relationships (e.g., family, friends, romantic partners; see Ledbetter & Kuznekoff, 2012). Interpersonal processes among unacquainted human players The formation of new relationships with unfamiliar human players is a key interpersonal communication process in online games. For example, nearly all MUD/MOO (MUD, object oriented) players formed personal relationships with other users (Parks & Roberts, 1998). These relationships included acquaintances, colleagues, friends, The International Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Communication, First Edition. Edited by Charles R. Berger and Michael E. Roloff. 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. DOI:10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic0243
2 close friends, and romantic and sexual partners (Parks & Roberts, 1998). Factors affecting the formation of new relationships in online video games include motivations to play the game, time spent playing, and message exchange dynamics among players. For example, Richard Bartle classified MUD players (http://mud.co.uk/ richard/hcds.htm) as achievers (i.e., players interested in leveling up and acquiring in game assets), explorers (i.e., players interested in mapping the depth and breadth of the game world), socializers (i.e., players interested in inter player relationships and role playing), and killers (i.e., players interested in distressing other players). Also, the motivations of MMO players included achievement, social, and immersion factors, and players were motivated to achieve and get immersed in the game and less motivated to socialize. MUD players were primarily interested in role playing, and player traits such as sociability had a moderate effect on the formation of online relationships (Utz, 2000). Additionally, WoW players interested in socializing had more pronounced personality traits such as extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness to experience, while game achievement oriented players were high on extroversion and neuroticism (Graham & Gosling, 2013). Increased game achievement motivation was not associated with conscientiousness, thus implying that achievement motivation in online games is unrelated to traditional measures of achieving personality, such as conscientiousness (Graham & Gosling, 2013). Overall, interpersonal processes in online games were a consequence of playing for achievement or role playing purposes, though some players showed a pronounced motivation to socialize and achieve in online games. Game motivations were associated to personality traits in expected ways, with the exception of the failed link between game achievement and conscientious personality. Time spent playing online games affects the formation of new relationships in ways congruent with the social information processing approach (SIP; Walther, 1992). SIP predicts that people reduce the uncertainty associated with meeting strangers online by developing and testing impressions. Given time, this may result in more refined interpersonal knowledge that fosters change from impersonal to more interpersonal communication (Walther, 1992). Over time, people may also acquire experience in encoding relational communication using text (Walther, 1992). In support of SIP, MUD players used more paralanguage over time, and paralanguage use was linked to developing more MUD friendships (Utz, 2000). In addition, more experienced players exchanged more positive and fewer negative social and emotional text messages than less experienced players in a Star Wars online game, and they also used more linguistic conventions including emoticons, emotes, and abbreviations (Peña & Hancock, 2006). Spending time playing online games has intricate effects on interpersonal relationships. For example, time spent playing MMOs was beneficial for those who played with their family but was detrimental for those who did not (Shen & Williams, 2011). MMO players that played with existing strong ties such as family and friends reported decreased loneliness compared to those who played with strangers. MMO playtime also intruded on time spent with family if players did not play with their family, while time spent on EQ2 increased family communication time for those who played with their family (Shen & Williams, 2011). Additionally, sending more messages and increasing the number of unique partners one received messages from was associated
with more loneliness among MMO players. Though this finding seems paradoxical, it is possible that players were making shallow connections (i.e., bridging to weak ties), or that players with problematic psychosocial tendencies, including a preference for online social interactions, spent more time playing online and making more game connections only to end up lonelier (Shen & Williams, 2011). In addition, increased social online video game play was associated with smaller and lower quality offline social circles (Kowert, Domahidi, Festl, & Quandt, 2014). Overall, spending more time playing online games allowed people to form connections with other players (e.g., bridging social capital and increasing the number of weak ties) but this affected the quality of relationships with family and friends. These findings imply that time spent playing online games may result in social displacement effects or trade offs between offline connections for newly formed online connections (Kowert et al., 2014). However, spending more time playing online games with family and friends fortified interpersonal connections (e.g., bonding social capital with strong ties). Online game players use relational messages, along with wordplay, humor, and other social expressions when communicating in online games. For instance, two thirds of all messages in an online Star Wars game were socioemotional in nature, and the majority of these messages expressed solidarity, agreement, and jokes (Peña & Hancock, 2006). Players also used task oriented messages to coordinate the game and thus gave suggestions, opinions, and orientation to other players. Players were more likely to make statements and provide a running report of their game actions than to ask questions (Peña & Hancock, 2006). Players in online games also communicated creatively and indirectly through avatar design, online names, logos, and map design. A menacing avatar may intimidate foes, the name Trick Daddy may imply a cunning player, players can display funny countercultural logos, and maps may give a sense of context and affect the pace of the game. 3 Communication among players organized in stable groups Massive online video games are akin to third places or spaces that afford informal sociability among visitors (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006). From this standpoint, online games are similar to pubs, coffee shops, sports leagues, and other hangouts. Third places have several characteristics (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006), such as (1) providing neutral grounds where individuals come and go; (2) acting as levelers, in the sense that outside pecking orders (e.g., social status) may not matter in comparison to game proficiency; (3) conversation is a main activity in which wit is valued; (4) online games are accessible all day and accommodate large numbers of players, provided that there are no access constraints; (5) online games attract regular visitors that shape the social environment of the game (e.g., competitive or helpful patrons); (6) online games feature extraordinary locations and characters; (7) the mood of third spaces and online games is playful; and (8) online games provide a home away from home by offering familiar and stable locations (e.g., houses, virtual castles, etc.). Several interpersonal dynamics have been identified among members of stable online gaming groups (e.g., clans, guilds, outfits). For example, perceived trust among EQ2 guild
4 members was higher than trust toward others in the game, implying that player interdependence, persistent game identities, and in game reputation increased trust among online gamers (Ratan, Chung, Shen, Williams, & Poole, 2010). Self disclosure among players was also linked to increased trust, thus implying that personal disclosure fosters trust in close knit online gaming groups. This was particularly the case among guild members that communicated using voicechat instead of text messages, as voicechat improved social experiences and assisted with team coordination (Ratan et al., 2010). The social life of online game guilds was affected by goals, size, formal practices, member turnover, and leadership dynamics (Williams et al., 2006). In terms of guild members goals, guilds may specialize in player versus player (PvP) games (i.e., PvP guilds battling against individual players, other guilds, and large in game factions), raiding (i.e., hunting or adventuring in groups), role playing (i.e., players pretending to be a character), and socializing, though guild members may perform all of those activities. Though some guilds may be more social in nature, socializing was pervasive because coordinating PvP games, raids, and role playing required organization among players (Williams et al., 2006). The most common reason to join and create guilds was to accomplish game goals and access more challenging game content that required more and more dexterous players (Williams et al., 2006) Guild size also affected interpersonal dynamics in online games. In general, smaller guilds (i.e., fewer than 10 members) were more focused on social bonds than larger guilds (i.e., more than 35 members). However, small guilds may also work on achieving game objectives, and large guilds may also exhibit intense personal relationships among players (Williams et al., 2006). Small guilds were frequently composed of people in pre existing friendship or family relationships, and had selective recruiting practices. Large guilds were more likely to feature strangers that met while playing, and also developed formal management and organizational practices. In general, small guilds resembled recreational sports leagues or clubhouses and valued humor and sarcasm, while larger guilds resembled military organizations (Williams et al., 2006). The formal practices of guilds included creating a Web site, mission statement, and recruitment and expulsion policies (Williams et al., 2006). Recruiting was based on large impersonal calls or done by personal referral. Players also recruited others with whom they had a positive experience while exploring the game world. Female guild members were accomplished recruiters, and they brought in real life relationships (e.g., boyfriends, spouses, family members). Guild expulsion was rare as players left of their own accord if they did not have strong guild connections, though uncivil and problematic members were removed. More than half of guild members used voicechat as it helped coordinate large groups (Williams et al., 2006). Member turnover in guilds was an issue. Twenty one percent of WoW guilds disappeared after a month (Williams et al., 2006). Players left if they and their guild had different objectives. Elitism, social distance, poor leadership, lack of players at an acceptable game level, and too high/low game focus also caused players to leave their guilds. Nonetheless, WoW incentivized grouping when tackling more challenging game content, and thus players recognized the advantages of being in a guild (Williams et al., 2006). Players in leadership positions (e.g., guild masters) were key to the existence of guilds. Seasoned members in smaller guilds were more social, humorous, and casual when communicating (Peña & Hancock, 2006). Being a leader
usually required much time and energy, and bad leaders had pronounced negative effects on guild life (Williams et al., 2006). The loss of leaders and high level players was linked to personal reasons (e.g., work, children) and moving on to play other online games. Structural network factors including brokerage and closure can also influence player dynamics in MMOs (Shen, Monge, & Williams, 2014). Brokerage refers to players linking to unconnected individuals in a network, and it implies access to more varied information and resources from linking to different groups. Closure refers to players connecting to whom they were already associated, and it implies redundant and consistent information and opinions, along with more trust and group solidarity. Players who brokered more had higher character levels than those with more interconnected contacts (Shen et al., 2014). In regard to closure, player dyads in closed networks showed more trust. This implies that players who made more varied game connections performed better in the game, while players with more redundant networks had more trusting bonds with other players (Shen et al., 2014). 5 Communication among members of large social units in the game s narrative It is unclear whether playing in a certain large unit or faction in a game s narrative affects interpersonal behaviors. For example, WoW features two main factions: the Alliance and the Horde. The Alliance has a more Western or first world aesthetic and fights for restoring order to the game world, while the Horde has a more non Western and third world aesthetic and has a more outcast, tribal, and brutal look. This may translate into more aggressive and committed PvP players selecting the Horde, while Alliance players are seen as more conservative and careful (Mosley, 2010). Though core guild members and PvP players in the Horde faction were more egalitarian and had a more pronounced PvP warrior ethic than Alliance guilds, these differences were minimal (Williams et al., 2006). Horde players did spend more time playing PvP compared to Alliance players, thus fitting the stereotype of more committed Horde players (Mosley, 2010). It is possible that the narrative and aesthetic of different online game factions may be more attractive to some players. This may lead to unexplored selfselection effects (e.g., more committed players selecting the warrior like underdog faction; Mosley, 2010) or the formation of group norms in ways congruent with the game s narrative. Additionally, PlanetSide 2 presents a narrative with three militaristic factions engaged in civil war (Poor, 2014). In PlanetSide 2, players can join outfits or the militarist equivalent of a fantasy guild, along with smaller squads (i.e., 2 12 players) and platoons (i.e., 2 4 squads). Imbalances among the factions can affect the game s three way civil war narrative, and makes gameplay less enjoyable. Game faction arrangement affected the way players connect with each other. Small outfits played with other same faction outfits, thus resulting in increased player linkages to same faction outfits and more bonding among same faction players (Poor, 2014). PlanetSide 2 requires opponents and, thus, players also linked to outfits in the other two factions to coordinate playing against rivals. In doing so, players engaged in social bridging functions and acted as
6 hubs between factions (Poor, 2014). Overall, assignment into factions may increase interpersonal connection among same faction players, but game design features also promote linking to players in other game factions in order to have ready opponents. Interpersonal communication between pre existing relationships playing games Online video games allow people to play with collocated or geographically distributed friends and family members. As noted above, people playing MMO games with existing relationships experienced more positive relational outcomes (Shen & Williams, 2011). In addition to MMOs, players also communicate through paid console services such as Xbox Live. In this context, the interpersonal outcomes of playing online games with existing personal relationships have been linked to media multiplexity theory and user attitudes toward relating via online games (Ledbetter & Kuznekoff, 2012). Media multiplexity theory states that people with stronger social ties communicate via more channels (e.g., e mail, face to face, social networking sites, video games), and that communication media functions as a means of maintaining work and social connections (see Ledbetter & Kuznekoff, 2012). In addition, online gamers may have specific attitudes toward online self disclosure (e.g., being embarrassed or comfortable sharing personal information with others while playing the game), along with attitudes toward online communication as (un)important to social life (Ledbetter & Kuznekoff, 2012). In a survey of players describing online connections, more positive attitudes toward connecting socially through Xbox Live were linked to increased relational maintenance behaviors with friends through Xbox Live. Relational maintenance through Xbox Live was associated with increased relational closeness at low and medium levels of offline communication frequency but not at high levels of offline communication. Thus, relational maintenance through Xbox Live was more effective when offline communication was less frequent (Ledbetter & Kuznekoff, 2012). Future directions In the studies reviewed above, interpersonal factors were mostly studied with surveys and content analysis of player logs. Future studies should also examine these processes in more controlled contexts. For example, researchers may assign individuals with similar or different personality types or motivations in order to document the development of online social processes among players with same/different motivations and personality. For example, it would be informative to study if guilds populated with socializers and extroverts show more positive interpersonal dynamics, as well as documenting the interpersonal processes of experimental groups composed of hardcore gamers (e.g., achievers, role players, killers). It would also be informative to examine how temporal processes affect the social life of online gamers as predicted by SIP. For example, people in long term computer mediated
groups with a common group identity showed more affection, while short term group members with no common group identity showed the least affection (Walther, 1997). These effects have not been studied in online games. Also, guild decline has been examined post hoc, and so it would be informative to use controlled experiments to isolate the interpersonal dynamics of failing guilds. Also, people in virtual worlds maintained avatar distances that correspond to the proxemics of offline interpersonal encounters (Yee, Bailenson, Urbanek, Chang, & Merget, 2007), thus suggesting that avatar distances in online games are similar to their offline counterparts. Additionally, people kept larger interpersonal distances when virtual partner avatars were dressed in black compared to white clothes, as avatars in black were perceived as less trustworthy (Peña & Yoo, 2014). Future studies should investigate nonverbal behavior in avatar based online games as this is also an understudied research area. Although online games may resemble informal third places, there are few studies examining how features of the third place itself (e.g., formality, casualness) affect interpersonal processes. For example, MMO players communicated informally in virtual areas of ostentatious visual decorum (Steinkuehler & Williams, 2006). Although these effects may be difficult to observe in naturalistic gaming contexts, in a controlled setting participants that met in a virtual library perceived greater self and partner formality compared with those that met in a virtual café (Peña & Blackburn, 2013). Additionally, increased self disclosure was linked to reduced formality in the library but not in the café, thus showing how self disclosure goes against (virtual) library norms (Peña & Blackburn, 2013). Future studies should examine how the features of virtual settings can affect interpersonal processes in more controlled game contexts. SEE ALSO: Relationship Maintenance Strategies; Social Information Processing Theory (CMC); Virtual Communities; Virtual Teams 7 References Graham, L. T., & Gosling, S. D. (2013). Personality profiles associated with different motivations for playing World of Warcraft. CyberPsychology, Behavior, & Social Networking, 16, 189 193. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0090 Klimmt, C., & Hartmann, T. (2008). Mediated interpersonal communication in multiplayer videogames: Implications for entertainment and relationship management. In E. A. Konijn, M. A. Tanis, S. Utz, & S. Barnes (Eds.), Mediated interpersonal communication (pp. 309 330). London, UK: Routledge. Kowert, R., Domahidi, E., Festl, R., & Quandt, T. (2014). Social gaming, lonely life? The impact of digital game play on adolescents social circles. Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 385 390. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.04.003 Ledbetter, A. M., & Kuznekoff, J. H. (2012). More than a game: Friendship relational maintenance and attitudes toward Xbox LIVE communication. Communication Research, 39, 269 290. doi: 10.1177/0093650210397042 Mosley, I. D. (2010). Personality and character selection in World of Warcraft. McNair Scholars Research Journal, 6. Retrieved April 24, 2015 from http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/mcnair_ journal/vol6/iss1/12/
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