Internet Gaming Disorder Behaviors in emergent adulthood: a pilot study examining the interplay between anxiety and family cohesion

Understanding risk and protective factors associated with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been highlighted as a research priority by the American Psychiatric Association, (2013). The present study focused on the potential IGD risk effect of anxiety and the buffering role of family cohesion on this association. A sample of emerging adults all of whom were massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers (18–29 years) residing in Australia were assessed longitudinally (face-to-face: N = 61, Mage = 23.02 years, SD = 3.43) and cross-sectionally (online: N = 64, Mage = 23.34 years, SD = 3.39). IGD symptoms were assessed using the nine-item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form (IGDS-SF9; Pontes & Griffiths Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 137–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.12.006, 2015). The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck and Steer, 1990) and the balanced family cohesion scale (BFC; Olson Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, 3(1) 64–80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2009.00175.x, 2011) were applied to assess anxiety and BFC levels, respectively. Linear regressions and moderation analyses confirmed that anxiety increased IGD risk and that BFC weakened the anxiety-related IGD risk

Knowledge at play. Studies of games as members’ matters

On a general level, this thesis seeks some answers to the broad question of what one can learn from digital games. With an analytical approach informed by ethnomethodology, the main thrust of the work is an exploration of members’ matters in the area of games and gaming. In response to prevailing discussions about how, where and what gamers learn, the aim is to examine emerging forms of knowledge embedded in practices in and around digital games. The first part of the thesis addresses three themes: the question of whether leisure gaming could be understood to have transfer effects; how games are positioned in a state of restlessness and multistableness; and how the domain encompassing gaming and game development is advancing in terms of professionalization and institutionalization. The second part is comprised of three empirical studies based on two sets of video recordings: collaborative gaming in The Lord of the Rings Online, and assessment practices in game development education. The studies begin to unravel the elusive phenomena of gaming by making some gameplay practices and conventions visible. For instance, the findings suggest that there are specialized coordination practices, developed through long-term engagement with the online game. Furthermore, from the perspective of the institutional framing, it is argued that understandings from other media are not applicable in a straightforward manner, but must be carefully calibrated to matters such as game genre conventions and control over gameplay conduct. By describing the reasoning and knowledge displayed by gamers and game developers, the thesis contributes to interrelated discussions about knowledge development, currently carried out in educational science, interaction studies and game studies. In conclusion, it is suggested that digital games are establishing autonomy from other forms of entertainment media and software industries as a result of the ways games and gaming as multistable objects of knowledge have become deeply embedded in society

What to be disclosed? Attributes of online games for the market transparency policy

This paper identifies main features of online games to be disclosed to the market for policy makers. It tests the positive relationships between information disclosure for online games and stock returns using event analysis method. Based on data collected from online game companies between 2004 to 2009 in South Korea, the paper finds positive and significant correlation between game rating information and stock reactions. Specifically, the positive reactions are clear when a company introduces casual games, and a company has development capability. However, we do not find any significant relationships between stock reactions and voluntary information releases after the game rating information released. The findings support the feasibility of introduction of mandatory information disclosure scheme for online game industry.</p

Recruitment, Work and Identity in Community Management: Passion, Precarity and Play

This chapter examines the recruitment, work and identity of community managers in online games. Community management has emerged as a new occupational role in the past decade with the rise of networked games. They play a core intermediary function between game players and game developers which can be conceptualised as a form of creative and emotional labour. Drawing upon an analysis of job advertisements and face to face interviews Kerr argues that the location of these jobs is shaped by existing labour mobility and geo-linguistic markets, while recruitment practices, working conditions and working practices are shaped by gendered and heteronormative norms. Recruiters target gamers in order to convert informal forms of social and cultural capital into relatively low paid, precarious and largely invisible forms of work

Learning outcomes and processes in massively multiplayer online games: Exploring the perceptions of players

Over the past decade research has recognised the learning potential of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). MMOGs can be used by the technology-enhanced learning research community to study and identify good educational practices that may inspire engaging, creative and motivating approaches for education and learning. To this end, in this research paper, we aim to explore the learning outcomes and processes emerging in the environment of MMOGs by initially studying the relevant perceptions of the players. Based on a theoretical framework referring to the cognitive, the social, and the affective aspects of a technology-supported learning environment, and through a mixed-method research and the analysis of qualitative data from 22 individual and group interviews, and quantitative data from a wider survey (minimum N = 221), we map and examine the cognitive, the skill-based, the social, and the affective potential impact of MMOGs. More specifically this study presents the perceptions of players on the learning impact of MMOGs, the potential transfer of skills to other domains, the learning practices they employ, and elements of the design of the environment that may present positive conditions for learning. We attempt to contribute to the research field and also provide insights for the design of technology-enhanced learning environments, by examining and mapping elements of MMOGs from the perspective of the design of an effective learning environment and based on empirical data. © 2013 Association for Educational Communications and Technology