Loyalty Due to Others: The Relationships Among Challenge,Interdependence, and Online Gamer Loyalty

Previous studies have established that online gamers favor online social activities, implying that gamer loyalty to a game may be associated with that of other gamers. However, exactly how gamer loyalty to a game depends on the presence of other gamers remains unknown. This study investigates relationships among gaming challenge, interdependence, and gamer loyalty. The study sample comprises 994 online gamers. Analytical results indicate that (1) gaming challenge is positively related to interdependence; (2) interdependence is positively related to gamer loyalty; and (3) gaming challenge is positively related to gamer loyalty. Results of this study provide game designers with further insight into how to strengthen gamer loyalty directly and indirectly by enhancing gamer‐gamer interdependence.     

Typology and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Massively Multiplayer Online Game Players

To date, there has been relatively little research comparing different types of online gamers. The main aim of this study was to provide robust benchmark data on different types of Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) players using a large sample of online gamers. An online survey was used to recruit 4,374 Hungarian online gamers from websites offering different types of MMOGs. In addition to sociodemographic characteristics, the study also collected data on gaming preference, amount of time spent gaming, amount of money spent on the game, and whether they played at an amateur or professional level. A latent profile analysis of gaming preferences differentiated between eight specific gamer types, of which four types emerged as clear categories, indicating clear preference for a specific type of game (role-playing games, first-person shooter games, real-time strategy games, and other games). Overall, 79% of gamers belonged to these four categories. First-person shooter gamers were almost exclusively male, younger aged, lower educated, and of lower socioeconomic status. Real-time strategy gamers were older. Female gamers were most likely to play “Other” games and/or role-playing games. In relation to time spent gaming, role-playing gamers appeared to be the most vulnerable. The results indicated that a significant number of gamers have clear gaming preferences, and these specific gaming types are associated with significant differences regarding sociodemographic and gaming characteristics of gamers.     

Mediating roles of self-presentation desire in online game community commitment and trust behavior of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games

Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), which allow simultaneous participation of several gamers, have attracted a great deal of attention recently. Since MMORPGs can be categorized as a type of online community, the behavior of MMORPGs users needs to be considered as the general behavior in online communities. However, previous studies of online communities did not pay enough attention to MMORPGs, in which users can express themselves by interacting actively through games and game avatars. Understanding the characteristics of MMORPGs as online game communities where users communicate and interact will allow games to be vitalized and users to be immersed in games in a more positive way. Hence, using self-presentation theory and social identity theory, this study examined the factors influencing self-presentation desire and the mediating role of self-presentation desire examined in terms of trust of and commitments to online game communities. The results showed that the interactivity in the spaces of MMORPGs had the biggest impacts on self-presentation desire; personal innovativeness and game design quality also was influential. The results also indicated that self-presentation desire caused trust of online games and eventually led to even stronger commitments to gamers.     

How Do Online Game Communities Retain Gamers? Social Presence and Social Capital Perspectives

While online game communities have been found to be useful for retaining gamers, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is not fully understood. Knowledge about such mechanism enables managers of online games to effectively retain their customers. This study thus investigates how network convergence and interdependence—2 characteristics of online game social networks—fuel gamers' continuance intention. Social presence and social capital theories were used for developing the study hypotheses, and responses from 1,467 online gamers were used in the analysis. The findings indicate that both network convergence and interdependence are positively related to sense of community and relational switching cost (coefficients ranging from .20 to .50), which further contribute to gamer continuance intention (coefficients ranging from .13 to .72).     

The relationship between online game playing motivation and selection of online game characters – the case of Taiwan

The alarming growth rate in the online game industry calls for a need of understanding the determinants of online gamers’ behaviour. Investigating how online gamers choose different online characters assists online game vendors to design characters that match the needs of different online gamers. Recently, numerous online game designers have introduced celebrity figures as characters for certain online games. The popularity of those celebrities has resulted in greater awareness of these games, and hopefully further increases the playability of online games. While different online gamers are motivated by different desires for playing, it is insufficiently researched whether these online celebrity characters have actually altered players’ choice in giving preference to these games. Thus, this study conducts an experimental design to study the reasons behind players’ choice of characters by studying how online games perceive the interpersonal attractiveness of celebrity online characters, and how online gamers with different playing motivations display different behaviours in their choice of online game characters. Results from the survey filled out by participants after the experiments show that the attractiveness of celebrity online characters is significantly higher than that of non-celebrity characters. Further, online game players with a social playing motivation tend to choose celebrities as their online game characters.     

Online game bot detection based on party-play log analysis

As online games become popular and the boundary between virtual and real economies blurs, cheating in games has proliferated in volume and method. In this paper, we propose a framework for user behavior analysis for bot detection in online games. Specifically, we focus on party play which reflects the social activities among gamers: in a Massively Multi-user Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG), party play is a major activity that game bots exploit to keep their characters safe and facilitate the acquisition of cyber assets in a fashion very different from that of normal humans. Through a comprehensive statistical analysis of user behaviors in game activity logs, we establish threshold levels for the activities that allow us to identify game bots. Based on this, we also build a knowledge base of detection rules, which are generic. We apply our rule reasoner to AION, a popular online game serviced by NCsoft, Inc., a leading online game company based in Korea.     

Modeling the efficacy of persuasive strategies for different gamer types in serious games for health

Persuasive games for health are designed to alter human behavior or attitude using various Persuasive Technology (PT) strategies. Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of such games, which treat players as a monolithic group by adopting a one-size-fits-all design approach. Studies of gameplay motivation have shown that this is a bad approach because a motivational approach that works for one individual may actually demotivate behavior in others. In an attempt to resolve this weakness, we conducted a large-scale study on 1,108 gamers to examine the persuasiveness of ten PT strategies that are commonly employed in persuasive game design, and the receptiveness of seven gamer personalities (gamer types identified by BrianHex) to the ten PT strategies. We developed models showing the receptiveness of the gamer types to the PT strategies and created persuasive profiles, which are lists of strategies that can be employed to motivate behavior for each gamer type. We then explored the differences between the models and, based on the results, proposed two approaches for data-driven persuasive game design. The first is the one-size-fits-all approach that will motivate a majority of gamers, while not demotivating any player. The second is the personalized approach that will best persuade a particular type of gamer. We also compiled a list of the best and the worst strategies for each gamer type. Finally, to bridge the gap between game design and PT researchers, we map common game mechanics to the persuasive system design strategies.     

The differences in motivations of online game players and offline game players: A combined analysis of three studies at higher education level

Computer games have become a highly popular form of entertainment and have had a large impact on how University students spend their leisure time. Due to their highly motivating properties computer games have come to the attention of educationalists who wish to exploit these highly desirable properties for educational purposes. Several studies have been performed looking at motivations for playing computer games in a general context and in a Higher Education (HE) context. These studies did not focus on the differences in motivations between online and offline game players. Equally the studies did not look at the differences in motivations of people who prefer single player games and people who prefer multiplayer games. If games-based learning is to become a recognised teaching approach then such motivations for playing computer games must be better understood. This paper presents the combined analysis of three studies at HE level, performed over a four year period from 2005 to 2009. The paper focuses on differences of motivations in relation to single player/multiplayer preference and online/offline game participation. The study found that challenge is the top ranking motivation and recognition is the lowest ranking motivation for playing computer games in general. Challenge is also the top ranking motivation for playing games in HE while fantasy and recognition are the lowest ranking motivations for playing games in HE. Multiplayer gamers derive more competition, cooperation, recognition, fantasy and curiosity from playing games and online gamers derive more challenge, cooperation, recognition and control from playing games. Multiplayer gamers and online gamers ranked competition, cooperation and recognition significantly more important for playing games in HE than single players and offline participants.     

Customization,immersion satisfaction,and online gamer loyalty

Software designers often attempt to increase the customizability of their products to facilitate human–computer interaction and improve user response. However, exactly how customizability affects online gaming is unclear. This study posits that customization enhances gamer immersion satisfaction and loyalty. The study sample consists of 865 online gamers who provided valid responses to an online survey.     

Motivational characteristics of Turkish MMORPG players

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) attract millions of online gamers all over the world. However, very few studies have addressed the nature of participants in these games through a robust theoretical background. Thus, the need for theory-based attempts to understand the characteristics of players in different contexts is urgent. The current study adapted a contemporary scale on gamer motivations with Turkish MMORPG members. Confirmatory factor analyses with 307 Turkish MMORPG players revealed that the scale worked effectively. Furthermore, the proposed factor structure and the structural equation model sheltering the interrelationships among the motivation components were supported with a theoretical background on the Self-determination Theory (SDT). It was observed that Turkish MMORPG players were mostly non-working and young males who demonstrated unique playing patterns. Their playing time was correlated with the level of education, body mass index and age. Advancement in the game, game mechanics and socializing were the leading motivations whereas teamwork has been given less importance. The study also revealed that the autonomy, competence and relatedness needs which are proposed by the SDT are not mutually exclusive components. Findings were discussed followed by implications and suggestions for further studies.     

The impact of perceived risk,intangibility and consumer characteristics on online game playing

Online game is the most popular entertainment application in the virtual world and online gamers demonstrate high attachment to playing online games. Previous studies have linked to the numerous negative outcomes in playing online games. The factors contribute to the negative consequences on using online game have been relatively neglected. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of perceived risk, intangibility, gender and age (adolescent/adult) difference on online game playing consequences and intentions. Past usage frequency is also made to look into the influence additional purchase intention. A total of 1418 useful questionnaires (including 1018 from public interview and 400 from online questionnaire feedback) were collected for final data analysis. The results demonstrated the important roles that time risk, psychological risk, financial risk, physical intangibility, mental intangibility and generality play on the negative consequences associated with online game playing. The results also indicated that male and adolescent individuals spent much more time on online game and intented to act the entertainment more than females and adults did. Finally, past online game playing frequency was showed to be a positive predictor of future online game playing intention.     

Learning Virtual Community Loyalty Behavior From a Perspective of Social Cognitive Theory

Drawing upon social cognitive theory (SCT), this research postulates several personal and environmental factors as key drivers of virtual community loyalty behavior in online settings. An empirical testing of this model, by investigating undergraduate students' participation in communities of online games, reveals the applicability of SCT in virtual communities. The study's test results show that the influences of both affective commitment and social norms on community loyalty behavior are significant, whereas the influences of both exchange ideology and social support on community loyalty behavior are insignificant. This research contributes to the online community literature by assessing critical antecedent factors to the unexplored area of community loyalty behavior, by validating idiosyncratic drivers of community loyalty behavior and by performing an operationalization of affective commitment and social norms in a virtual world. Last, managerial implications and limitations of this research are provided.     

Group identification as a mediator of the effect of players’ anonymity on cheating in online games

This study aims to add to the discussion about the applicability of the classical deindividuation theory and social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) in explaining online behaviours. It explores the effect of anonymity in facilitating social influence of group identity in online game cheating. A nationally representative survey was conducted face to face. Results from the survey administered in Singapore confirm predictions derived from the SIDE and challenge the classical deindividuation theory. Specifically, it was concluded that the frequency of gaming with online strangers (anonymous gaming) significantly predicted the frequency of cheating in online games. The effect of anonymity on game cheating was found to be significantly mediated by the group identification with online gaming communities/groups. Gender differences were found. Male gamers cheated more frequently than female gamers. Female gamers are more likely to cheat as a consequence of group identification than male gamers. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Sexism in online video games: The role of conformity to masculine norms and social dominance orientation

Sexism toward women in online video game environments has become a pervasive and divisive issue in the gaming community. In this study, we sought to determine what personality traits, demographic variables, and levels of game play predicted sexist attitudes towards women who play video games. Male and female participants (N = 301) who were players of networked video games were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey. Social dominance orientation and conformity to some types of masculine norms (desire for power over women and the need for heterosexual self-presentation) predicted higher scores on the Video Game Sexism Scale (i.e., greater sexist beliefs about women and gaming). Implications for the social gaming environment and female gamers are discussed.     

An investigation of social casino gaming among land-based and Internet gamblers: A comparison of socio-demographic characteristics,gambling and co-morbidities

Social casino games are free-play online games that feature gambling themes, but do not payout winnings in monetary form. These games are distinct from Internet gambling; however, the cross-over between these consumer markets is not well understood. This study compared the use of social casino games among a population of 2010 Australian adult Internet and land-based gamblers who completed a nationally representative telephone survey. The most popular social casino games were poker, gaming machines and casino table games and this popularity differed by gender. Social casino game players were more likely to be younger than non-social casino game players and had more similarities with Internet than land-based gamblers. Internet gamblers were more likely to also play social casino games than land-based gamblers, and use of these games was related to high engagement with gambling. Social casino gamers were more likely to smoke and use illicit drugs, and to have higher levels of psychological distress and gambling problems compared to non-social casino game players. This study is highly significant as it is one of the first comprehensive studies to examine the relationship between social casino game play and gambling in a representative adult population. Consumer protection measures should be strengthened where social casino games are offered in close proximity to gambling and when social casino players are encouraged to migrate to gambling opportunities.     

Multi-agent simulations for the evaluation of Looting Systems design in MMOG and MOBA games

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are persistent worlds where a huge number of players interact with each other in order to improve their avatar's characteristics. Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) - also known as Action Real-Time Strategy (ARTS) games - are video games in which each player controls a single character in one of two competing teams; goal of the game is to destroy the antagonist team. In both genres, players’ characters typically exploit their special abilities, which contribute to the overall strategy of their faction or team. Social interactions among players are at the core of both these game types, and a careful design of the game social architecture is a key factor in determining the success of a specific product.The attention of researchers and practitioners has, till now, focused mainly on several game features, while others have been considered secondary, possibly underestimating their importance in terms of the game overall quality. For instance, in MMOGs, loot items (a type of in-game reward) are not distributed evenly, and the competition for getting the best prize, often, is left in the hands of the players. To handle this issue, players have created resource allocation algorithms called Looting Systems (LS). Generally, the adoption of a specific LS is based on a gentlemen's agreement among the players, and the respect of its outcomes largely depends on mutual trust. Quite recently, ad hoc forms of LS have been introduced also into MOBAs.This topic has received moderate attention by the scientific community, anyway, we sustain that a LS could influence the players' behaviour and, if mismanaged, possibly the survival of the whole community of players in a game. Hence, detecting and tracking the hidden social effects of apparently minor features could become a critical factor in the development of games genres which heavily depend on the quality of social interactions among players. To tackle this issue, we present a simulative study - based on Agent-Based Model (ABM) techniques - of the effects of the adoption of different LSs on heterogeneous player bases. The final goal of our study is to provide several guidelines and hints about the design of LSs to game designers working on MMOs or MOBAs.     

The impact of online game character’s outward attractiveness and social status on interpersonal attraction

Online games resemble miniature societies, in which social interactions occur within a virtual world. Previous studies have realized that the main motivation in playing games is to fulfill interpersonal needs. Players expect to own great interpersonal attraction to help them develop ideal interpersonal relationships. In the real world, individual outward appearance and social status are two important factors having influence on interpersonal attraction. In online games, the outward appearance of characters can be manipulated by changing the clothes and accessories used by those characters. This study proposes that difference in outward appearance, as in real society, affects player interpersonal attraction assessments. Additionally, when game experience and performance of players are accumulated, their grade in game would be raised. This study also proposes that the variation of role grade would influence its social status and the attitude of others. This study conducts experiments, and the results verify that a game character with high outward attractiveness and social status acquires higher online interpersonal attraction than one with low outward attractiveness and social status, and vice versa.     

‘Migrating to a new virtual world’: Exploring MMORPG switching through human migration theory

Online gaming has become a popular leisure-time activity. In this study, we enlisted and adapted the Push-Pull-Mooring model, which analyzes human migratory behavior based on the Demographic Migration Theory, to study the game switching of gamers. Data was obtained via an empirical survey of 654 online gamers and then was analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. The results indicate that the Push-Pull-Mooring model can be extended to explain the switching intentions of online gamers. The “mooring effect” appears to have a stronger influence on the player’s switching intention than the “pull effect”, while the “push effect” appears to have no influence at all. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer possible avenues of exploration for managers of online game providers in order to help them understand their customers better.