Consider the following from Yee’s, “The Psychology of MMORPG’s”:
“Ultimately, each user decides which form of advancement they will pursue, and the richness and complexity of the environment eliminates the need for super-ordinate goals or storylines. Every user is motivated by a different combination of the possible rewards. The result is that adventures, stories, and most importantly, meaningful interactions and relationships between users emerge. Functional constructs within the environment facilitate these social networks – combat groups (temporary collaboration between a few users), guilds (persistent user-created membership organizations), and ideological alliances (agreements between guilds or “racial” groups).”
Also remember that different users have different personalities (risk-taking propensities, assertiveness, and so on) and different stakes at this point of their adventure, and differ in their loyalty to the group and each other. In the span of 5 to 10 seconds, the risk-analysis, opinions and decisions of the group communicated over typed chat, or the solitary actions of a particular user, will determine the life or death of all members of the group. This particular type of crisis is also embedded into the larger context of existing tensions such as emergent leadership, group polarization, and personality differences.
The environment has mechanisms allowing users to survey for resources, harvest those resources, research schematics for assembling resources into sub-components, construct factories to mass-produce finished goods, and market those goods to the public. The process is so complex, time consuming, and distributed over several skill sets that users typically specialize as resource brokers, manufacturers, or retailers, and typically form quasi-business entities with other users to facilitate that process. These entities have to communicate effectively, develop a coherent product strategy, assess market competition, and ensure the production chain is running smoothly. Many users comment that being part of such entities feels like having a second job.
Yee’s analysis produced five factors.
The “Relationship” factor measures the desire of users to interact with other users, and their willingness to form meaningful relationships that are supportive in nature, and which include a certain degree of disclosure of real-life problems and issues.
The “Manipulation” factor measures how inclined a user is to objectify other users and manipulate them for his personal gains and satisfaction.
Users who score high on the “Manipulation” factor enjoy deceiving, scamming, taunting and dominating other users.
Users who score high on the “Immersion” factor enjoy being in a fantasy world as well as being “someone else”. They enjoy the story-telling aspect of these worlds and enjoy creating avatars with histories that extend and tie in with the stories and lore of the world.
The “Escapism” factor measures how much a user is using the virtual world to temporarily avoid, forget about and escape from real-life stress and problems.
And finally, the “Achievement” factor measures the desire to become powerful in the context of the virtual environment through the achievement of goals and accumulation of items that confer power.
| Factor | Male | Female |
| Relationship | | X |
| Manipulation | X | |
| Immersion | | X |
| Escapism | | X |
| Acheivement | X | |
| Factor | Younger Male | Older Male | Younger Female | Older Female |
| Relationship | | | | |
| Manipulation | X | | X | |
| Immersion | | | X | |
| Escapism | | | | |
| Acheivement | X | | | |
Other survey data also show that the majority of users indicate that the way they behave and interact with others in these environments is very close to how they behave and interact with others in the material world [31]. In other words, most users are simply being themselves rather than experimenting with new identities or personalities.
It has also been suggested that there are factors unique to MMORPGs that facilitate relationship formation [35]. The kind of high-stress crisis scenario outlined earlier in the chapter occur with great frequency in these environments under different guises. When paired with the degree of emotional investment users place in these environments, many relationships are in fact triggered by these trustbuilding scenarios, analogous to boot camps and fraternity initiations in the material world.
Are these features also in MUVE’s? In what way?
What did you think of the discussion about the effects of MMORPG’s on romantic partner relationships and parent-child relationships?
“Leaders deal with both administrative as well as higher-level strategy issues, most of which arise and have to be dealt with spontaneously.
Administrative tasks include:
role assignment
task delegation
crisis management
logistical planning
how rewards are to be shared among group members
Higher-level strategy tasks include:
motivating group members
dealing with negative attitudes
dealing with group conflicts
encouraging group loyalty and cohesion”
What do you think of this? Are people really learning leadership skills in these environments?
Remember that this is only a measurement of what users felt they learned, not what they actually learned.
Addiction results: On 5-point Likert scales
15% of respondents (n = 3989) agreed or strongly agreed that they become angry and irritable if they are unable to participate.
30% agreed or strongly agreed that they continue to participate in the environment even when they are frustrated with it or not enjoying the experience.
18% of users agreed or strongly agreed that their usage patterns had caused them academic, health, financial or relationship problems.
50% of respondents (n = 3166) considered themselves addicted to an MMORPG in a direct “yes”/”no” question.
Do you see the use of operant conditioning to develop sophisticated reward cycles as a legitimate business decision? Or should it be compared to the use of nicotine in cigarettes?
“These environments are seductive for some users because it empowers them in ways specific to their anxieties.”
Isn’t this a good thing, though? Kind of like virtual therapy?
MMOG’s as Social science research platforms
The arguments that Blascovich et al. [39] make for the use of immersive virtual reality technology as a methodological tool for social psychology can also be applied to MMORPG environments. The movements, interactions and preferences of large numbers of users can all be tracked unobtrusively and recorded.
The MMORPG environment allows us to answer social psychology questions on a social level rather than an individual level. How does non-zero-sum gaze or other transformed social interactions reshape social networks, alter the flow of information, or affect trust in a social organization? As social organizations proliferate in MMORPG environments, research in transformed social interactions becomes even more important as it will inform us of how designers could engineer these environments to encourage the formation of strong and trusting social networks.
Might certain worldviews be cultivated by heavy exposure to online environments? For example, users are given a high degree of control and agency in MMORPGs, and all events are based on underlying numeric variables. So it might make sense to ask whether heavy users have a stronger internal locus of control, or apply a more closed-system perspective on thinking about events in the material world.
“As these environments become more sophisticated, we can imagine them transforming into predominantly sites of economic activity under the guise of interactive entertainment.”
Do you agree? Why or why not? Would you say that “griefers” against this kind of economic exploitation? Are you?
References
Blascovich, J., (2002). Immersive virtual environment technology as a methodological tool for social psychology. Psychological Inquiry, 13(2), 103-124.
Yee, N., The Daedalus Project. 2004. Available at http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus
Yee, N., Inside Out. 2003. Available at http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000523.php
Read the following excerpts from “The Role of Flow Experience in Cyber-Game Addiction” and consider the questions.
Previous studies into addiction have shed light on our understanding of habit-formation in three
ways. First, the amount of current consumption of certain goods is a function of past consumption. This
suggests that addiction could be developed through a repetition of certain events or behaviors. Second,
addictive behavior is rational, which means that people develop habits on purpose. Third, the purpose
of addiction is to maximize utility, and utility is a function of preference. Therefore, addiction can be
evoked intentionally through a continuous repetition of certain activities that conform to one’s preference.
Csikszentmihalyi17 sees flow as a “shift into a common mode of experience” when people “become absorbed in their activity.” Therefore, flow experience is more an emotional state during the process of a particular activity than a coping strategy for the post-activity sensitization.
To supplement Csikszentmihalyi’s concept17 of flow experience, Ghani and Deshpande18 suggest
two attributes as the principal components of optimal flow: concentration and enjoyment.
Holbrook uses “play value” to describe a sense of fun. He highlights three qualities especially associated
with play value: self-initiated experience, active value, and intrinsic value. As a self-initiated experience, play advances an individual’s value through maximizing his or her very private utility.’
Hoffman and Novak21 provide a model to illustrate the antecedent and subsequent variables associated
with flow experience. They highlight five episodes as the immediate consequences of flow state: consumer learning, perceived behavioral control (or confidence), exploratory behavior, positive subjective
experiences (e.g., happiness), and distortion in time perception.
In sum, evidence from flow studies has shown that playfulness is of key value to generate optimal flow. Though the state of flow is temporal and highly subjective, it is suspected that people who enjoy
flow experience during an activity may develop a tendency to repeat the activity. Additionally, with
insight from rational addiction theory, repetition of a particular activity may eventually develop into a
tendency toward addiction. Hence, flow experiences may play a key role in activating addiction through
repetition of certain favorite activities.
Based on the findings of latent variable path analysis, repetition alone may not be a sufficient condition
of addiction, as suggested by rational addiction advocates. The effect of repetition upon addiction
is largely diminished when introducing flow variables as moderators to their causal relationship.
Additionally, our evidence suggests that addictive behaviors are formed when behavioral repetition
triggers a flow state. That is, the repetitive behaviors as observed by the economists may be the precursor or earlier version of flow. The flow experience, as we have witnessed in the models, might play a key role in the mentality evolution that bridges the gap between preference-based rational repetition
and quasi-lunatic addiction.
Individuals with too much behavioral repetition in their favorite activity can trigger flow experiences. Ultimately, these individuals will be dominated by flow experiences and bogged down in the addiction swamp.
This article is not primarily about multi-user virtual environments (MUVE’s), yet it applies to our discussion on addiction from Yee. What are your initial comments?
If repetition is not a factor in MUVE’s, yet flow is, what ramifications are there for educators, parents, policy makers, etc.?
Oscar Wilde said, “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” Is there a way to take advantage of the positive aspects of flow without falling prey to the pitfalls of addiction?
No comments:
Post a Comment