Resources, capital, and players inside the game worlds: Bourdieusian approach to game cultures

Online gaming is all the time more ubiquitous. With the World becoming increasingly digitized and inter-connected, it is no wonder that the most popular pastime, gaming, is reachable quite literally anywhere. With this popularity comes the multitude of choices to fulfil any gamer’s needs and satisfaction for interactive media as companies are trying to tap into the ever-growing market. Some play to spend time with family and friends, some play to dominate others, some play to become rich, and everything in-between. The online game worlds, especially the games in the genre of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, can house inhabitants of all backgrounds, with all types of motivations, and offer more than enough activities for the inhabitants to enjoy. Despite the immense success of certain games that have defined the future of their respective genre, the research into the immersive and complex virtual worlds has been heavily focusing on aspects and effects external to the game and the act of gaming itself. There is a stern lack of focus on the happenings and lives of the inhabitants of the virtual worlds, apart from very few autoethnographies that attempt to go beneath the surface to explain the affordances that exists. Studies still largely focus on the players before and after they play the games where the in-game actions are rather nuance than the focus. This dissertation shifts the focus upside-down and explores, and explains, deeply through the resources circulating in and around the online multiplayer game worlds with the players themselves being rather side-lined. Used methods include quantitative survey, scoping review, qualitative, and frequency count. This dissertation shows that there just as many ways to live inside the game worlds as there are players. Thus, the main arguments of the work are related to: 1) socializing, the numerous ways to do so, and the importance of it inside the game worlds; 2) the ways avatars and players are able to, or willing to, accumulate resources; 3) using Bourdieusian approach to resources as types of capital is feasible and offers unique insight into the happenings of game worlds; 4) the types of capital as they have more nuance to them in the domain of video games than their broad definitions might let one expect. The results promote the view, that despite the sheer power of statistical analysis to categorize players, there can be found unique approaches to the games varying from the motivations and demographical attributes to focusing on the betterment of the game’s community through discussion forums. Every instance and every approach to gaming is just as valid as any other, which might seem like an obvious statement, but it is clear that the player-bases and sometimes even scholars forget about those playstyles that are in the margin. Further, the results increase the knowledge of how resourceful avatars can be, and what are possibly some intra-game and extra-game limiting factors on how well an entity can utilize the possible affordances. The academia has studies about the social life inside the game worlds, and studies about capital as resource around the game worlds, but they are rarely combined. Even more rare are the comprehensive studies taking a wider look on the life of the citizen of the game worlds with specific research aims or questions in mind. This dissertation gives multi-layered insight into this phenomenon with tangible examples to deliver a very precise message. For one to understand the avatars of games, one must think and approach them as conscious entities rather than only as tools for enjoyment. There is so much more going in the virtual worlds than one mere dissertation can ever include within its pages.Resurssit, pääomat ja pelaajat pelimaailmojen sisällä: Bourdieulainen lähestyminen pelikulttuureihin Verkkopelaaminen on enenevissä määrin kaikkialla läsnä. Maailman muuttuessa jatkuvasti digitaalisemmaksi ja verkostoituneemmaksi, ei ole ihme, että suosituin vapaa-ajan viete, pelaaminen, on saavuttanut lähes jokaisen kodin. Tämä kasvava suosio takaa sen, että jokaiselle pelaajalle on useita vaihtoehtoja, miten lähestyä ja käyttää interaktiivista mediaa, sillä yritykset taistelevat siivusta markkinoilla. Jotkut pelaavat viettääkseen aikaa kavereiden ja perheen kanssa, jotkut taas dominoidakseen toisia, joillekin rikkaus on ainoa tavoite, ja kaikkea tältä väliltä. Verkossa olevat pelimaailmat, etenkin massiivisten monen pelaajan verkkoroolipelien genreen kuuluvat, pystyvät tarjoamaan kodin pelaajille taustasta ja motivaatiosta huolimatta, sekä tarjoamaan heille enemmän kuin tarpeeksi aktiviteetteja ja tekemistä. Huolimatta tiettyjen pelien valtavasta menestyksestä, jotka ovat määrittäneet oman genrensä tulevaisuuden, tutkimus mukaansatempaaviin ja monimutkaisiin virtuaalimaailmoihin on keskittynyt voimakkaasti pelin ja itse pelaamisen ulkopuolisiin näkökohtiin ja vaikutuksiin. Virtuaalimaailmojen asukkaiden tapahtumiin ja elämiin keskittyvässä tutkimuksessa on suuria puutteita, lukuun ottamatta hyvin harvoja autoetnografioita, jotka yrittävät mennä pinnan alle selittääkseen kuinka erilaista kahden eri avatarin elämä voikaan olla. Tutkimukset keskittyvät edelleen suurelta osin pelaajiin ennen ja jälkeen itse pelisessioiden, jolloin pelin sisäiset toimet ovat enemmän vivahde kuin painopiste. Tämä väitöskirja kääntää painopisteen ylösalaisin ja tutkii sekä selittää syvällisesti verkkomoninpelien maailmoissa ja niiden ympärillä liikkuvia resursseja pelaajien itsensä ollessa melko sivussa. Käytettyihin menetelmiin sisältyy kvantitatiivinen kysely, kartoittava tarkastelu, laadullinen tutkimus sekä frekvenssilaskenta. Tämä väitöskirja osoittaa, että tapoja elää pelimaailmoissa on yhtä monta kuin pelaajiakin. Siten työn pääargumentit liittyvät: 1) lukuisiin tapoihin sosialisoida ja sen tärkeyteen pelimaailmassa; 2) tapoihin, joilla niin avatarit kuin pelaajat voivat, tai haluavat, kerätä resursseja; 3) Bourdieulaiseen lähestymistapaan, jossa pääomatyypit käsitellään resursseina, on käyttökelpoista ja tarjoaa ainutlaatuisen käsityksen pelimaailmojen tapahtumista; 4) pääomatyyppeihin, sillä niillä on enemmän vivahteita videopelien piirissä kuin niiden laajat määritelmät antavat odottaa. Tulokset tukevat näkemystä, että vaikka tilastollisen analyysin voimasta kategorisoida pelaajia, pelitutkimukseen voidaan löytää ainutlaatuisia lähestymistapoja, jotka vaihtelevat motivaatioista ja demografisista ominaisuuksista peliyhteisön parantamiseen keskustelufoorumeiden kautta. Jokainen tapaus ja jokainen lähestymistapa pelaamiseen on yhtä pätevä kuin mikä tahansa muu, mikä saattaa tuntua itsestään selvältä väitteeltä, mutta on selvää, että pelaajakannat ja joskus jopa tutkijat unohtavat marginaalissa olevat pelityylit. Lisäksi tulokset lisäävät tietoa siitä, kuinka neuvokkaita avatarit voivat olla ja mitkä ovat mahdollisesti joitain pelin sisäisiä ja pelin ulkopuolisia rajoittavia tekijöitä sille, kuinka hyvin he voivat hyödyntää resursseja. Akatemiassa on tutkimuksia pelimaailmojen sosiaalisesta elämästä ja tutkimuksia pääomasta resurssina pelimaailmoissa, mutta niitä yhdistetään harvoin. Vielä harvinaisempia ovat kattavat tutkimukset, jotka tarkastelevat pelimaailmaa asuttavien pelaajien elämää laajemmin erityisiä tutkimustavoitteita tai kysymyksiä silmällä pitäen. Tämä väitöskirja antaa monitasoisen käsityksen tästä ilmiöstä konkreettisten esimerkkien avulla. Ymmärtääkseen pelien avatareja, niitä täytyy ajatella ja lähestyä tietoisina kokonaisuuksina eikä vain viihteen työkaluna. Virtuaalisissa maailmoissa tapahtuu paljon enemmän kuin yksi väitöskirja voi koskaan pitää sisällään

PLATO: A Coordination Framework for Designers of Multi-Player Real-Time Games

Player coordination is a key element in many multi-player real-time digital games and cooperative real-time multi-player modes are now common in many digital-game genres. Coordination is an important part of the design of these games for several reasons: coordination can change the game balance and the level of difficulty as different types and degrees of coordination can make the game easier or more difficult; coordination is an important part of ‘playing like a team’ which affects the quality of play; and coordination as a shared activity is a key to sociality that can add to the sociability of the game. Being able to exercise control over the design of these coordination requirements is an important part of developing successful games. However, it is currently difficult to understand, describe, analyze or design coordination requirements in game situations, because current frameworks and theories do not mesh with the realities of video game design. I developed a new framework (called PLATO) that can help game designers to understand, describe, design and manipulate coordination episodes. The framework deals with five atomic aspects of coordinated activity: Players, Locations, Actions, Time, and Objects. PLATO provides a vocabulary, methodology and diagram notation for describing and analyzing coordination. I demonstrate the framework’s utility by describing coordination situations from existing games, and by showing how PLATO can be used to understand and redesign coordination requirements

Online gaming and addiction: a psychosocial investigation using mixed methods

Online virtual worlds known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have gained increased popularity over the last decade. MMORPGs provide a sophisticated environment that enables complete immersion within the virtual world to the extent that it may become an alternative reality to its users. Some researchers have suggested that online gaming addiction is growing in prevalence among adolescents and adult gamers. It has been proposed that research is needed to establish the incidence and prevalence of MMORPG addiction. The aim of this body of research was to examine the impact of MMORPGs (psychologically and socially) on peoples' lives for the purpose of providing an empirical research base on which future research in the area can build. Using a mixed methods approach for data collection and analysis, an online scoping study, interview study and two questionnaire studies were conducted. The thesis provides a detailed conceptualisation of the psychological processes involved in MMORPG playing. The thesis was directed by previous research into video games, online gaming and addiction which provided a substantive picture of the psychosocial effects of online gaming. The findings showed that there were both positive and negative effects associated with online gaming; gamers used MMORPGs to alleviate negative feelings and to meet new people, learn about new cultures, and build friendships. Gamers also provided detailed descriptions of personal problems that had arisen due to playing MMORPGs. A small percentage of gamers (3.6%) were classified as addicted to MMORPGs, these gamers may find it difficult to control their game playing behaviour. However, there are still gaps in our knowledge of MMORPGs. Overall, the research has shown that the psychology of MMORPGs is an important topic that requires further in-depth investigation. The present research has revealed valuable information about the impact of MMORPGs on the lives of gamers that can be built upon by other researchers. Implications of the findings regarding excessive playing and addiction to MMORPGs, and social responsibility were discussed, and recommendations for future research studies were proposed

To Play or Not to Play: Non/Participation in Eve Online

This dissertation addresses a gap in the academic study of digital games whereby investigations remain focused on current players and the experiences of former or non-players are rarely accounted for. Using EVE Online (EVE), a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) known for its difficult learning curve and homogenous community as a case study, I conducted an investigation of who does/does not play this particular game and their stated reasons for playing or not. I argue that while EVE is positioned in the MMOG market as a sandbox style game where in-game activities are only limited by a players imagination, in reality only a very particular type of play (and player) is publically acknowledged by EVEs developer (CCP Games), the gaming enthusiast press, and academics investigations of this game, emphasizing just how little is known about who plays EVE beyond the stereotypical imagined player. Drawing on literature from leisure studies to articulate a framework for exploring barriers/constraints to gameplay and theoretically informed by feminist theories of technology, I conducted an Internet-based survey to capture the thoughts and experiences of current, former, and non-EVE players. A total of 981 participants completed the survey. In my analysis of open-ended responses, I found that current players described the game in a way that emphasized its exceptionality, relied heavily on jargon, and assumed their reader was already familiar with EVE, its player community, and its surrounding norms and conventions. Non-players who were familiar with the game described their perceptions of EVE being an unwelcoming community meant they had opted out of playing without ever downloading the trial. Former players fell into three groupings: ex-players who had permanently quit EVE, a group who want to play but felt forced to take a temporary break due to external constraints (e.g. exams at school or financial limitations), and a third group would consider returning if changes to their personal circumstances and/or the game happened in future. Ultimately this research complicates what it means to play or not play MMOG, opening up avenues for future research about how access and barriers to digital game play inevitably shift over time

Mimetic rivalry in shared virtual environments: A study of conflict and imitation in World of Warcraft

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonMounting evidence from neuroscience, clinical psychology and human development points to significance of imitation in human behaviour, interpersonal relationships and collectively pursued activities. These group activities include participation in online multiplayer computer games, massively multiplayer online games or other kinds of socially situated gaming. However, despite the growing salience of either subject, a wide-scale research of imitation in collective play is yet to be carried out. This study addresses this gap in knowledge by looking at imitative phenomena in massively multiplayer online gaming from the conceptual perspective of René Girard’s mimetic hypothesis. The hypothesis proceeds from the following assumptions: goal commitment is activated by reflexive imitation and regulated by goal proximity; extrinsic goal value is reciprocally accrued within the goal pursuing group; competing motivations towards collectively pursued goals result in intra-group aggression. Mimetic impulse is, therefore, formally equivalent to conflictual imitation. This thesis seeks to register how conflictual imitation may be encouraged by the game and reproduced by the players. The study applies a combination of formal and phenomenological approach to World of Warcraft player experience, specifically, that obtained at the highest difficulty of collective play. Subjective analytical outcomes are corroborated by evidence from fieldwork which took place over the period of two years and enabled the researcher to engage with the subject from the perspective of high competence and literacy. To offset the possible confirmation bias and support the analytical findings and field observations with quantitative data, the study introduces a comparative survey of World of Warcraft players. The 334 respondents include 164 Russian-speaking gamers: a representative sample for what is widely regarded as a hyper-competitive gamer community

Battlefields of Negotiation

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft has become one of the most popular computer games of the past decade, introducing millions around the world to community-based play. Within the boundaries set by its design, the game encourages players to appropriate and shape the game to their own wishes, resulting in highly diverse forms of play and participation. This illuminating study frames World of Warcraft as a complex socio-cultural phenomenon defined by and evolving as a result of the negotiations between groups of players as well as the game’s owners, throwing new light on complex consumer-producer relationships in the increasingly participatory but still tightly controlled media of online games

Management and Visualisation of Non-linear History of Polygonal 3D Models

The research presented in this thesis concerns the problems of maintenance and revision control of large-scale three dimensional (3D) models over the Internet. As the models grow in size and the authoring tools grow in complexity, standard approaches to collaborative asset development become impractical. The prevalent paradigm of sharing files on a file system poses serious risks with regards, but not limited to, ensuring consistency and concurrency of multi-user 3D editing. Although modifications might be tracked manually using naming conventions or automatically in a version control system (VCS), understanding the provenance of a large 3D dataset is hard due to revision metadata not being associated with the underlying scene structures. Some tools and protocols enable seamless synchronisation of file and directory changes in remote locations. However, the existing web-based technologies are not yet fully exploiting the modern design patters for access to and management of alternative shared resources online. Therefore, four distinct but highly interconnected conceptual tools are explored. The first is the organisation of 3D assets within recent document-oriented No Structured Query Language (NoSQL) databases. These "schemaless" databases, unlike their relational counterparts, do not represent data in rigid table structures. Instead, they rely on polymorphic documents composed of key-value pairs that are much better suited to the diverse nature of 3D assets. Hence, a domain-specific non-linear revision control system 3D Repo is built around a NoSQL database to enable asynchronous editing similar to traditional VCSs. The second concept is that of visual 3D differencing and merging. The accompanying 3D Diff tool supports interactive conflict resolution at the level of scene graph nodes that are de facto the delta changes stored in the repository. The third is the utilisation of HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for the purposes of 3D data management. The XML3DRepo daemon application exposes the contents of the repository and the version control logic in a Representational State Transfer (REST) style of architecture. At the same time, it manifests the effects of various 3D encoding strategies on the file sizes and download times in modern web browsers. The fourth and final concept is the reverse-engineering of an editing history. Even if the models are being version controlled, the extracted provenance is limited to additions, deletions and modifications. The 3D Timeline tool, therefore, implies a plausible history of common modelling operations such as duplications, transformations, etc. Given a collection of 3D models, it estimates a part-based correspondence and visualises it in a temporal flow. The prototype tools developed as part of the research were evaluated in pilot user studies that suggest they are usable by the end users and well suited to their respective tasks. Together, the results constitute a novel framework that demonstrates the feasibility of a domain-specific 3D version control

Semiotic machines : software in discourse

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-259).This study develops new theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of software as a medium of communication. This study analyses voting software, educational software, search engines, and combat and narrative in digital games. In each case it investigates how proprietary software affords discourse, and suggests a way of characterising users’ experience of this discourse. These affordances constitute the rules of communication, or ‘rules of speaking’, ‘rules of seeing’, and ‘writing-rights’ which proprietary software makes available to users, situating them within specific power-relations in the process