Restorative Magical Adventure or Warcrack? Motivated MMO Play and the Pleasures and Perils of Online Experience

Abstract

Combining perspectives from the new science of happiness with discussions regarding “problematic” and “addictive” play in multiplayer online games, the authors examine how player motivations pattern both positive and negative gaming experiences. Specifically, using ethnographic interviews and a survey, the authors explore the utility of Yee’s three-factor motivational framework for explaining the positive or negative quality of experiences in the popular online game World of Warcraft (2004-2012). The authors find that playing to Achieve is strongly associated with distressful play, results that support findings from other studies. By contrast, Social and Immersion play lead more typically to positive gaming experiences, conclusions diverging from those frequently reported in the literature. Overall, the authors suggest that paying attention to the positive as well as negative dimensions of inhabiting these online worlds will provide both for more balanced portraits of gamers’ experiences and also potentially clarify pathways toward problematic and addictive play.

Keywords

computer games MMOs motivation problematic Internet use addiction happiness anthropology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Atlas ti v5.2. (2002–2012). Berlin: Scientific Software Development GmbH. Retrieved from www.atlas.ti.com

Bartle

. (2003). Designing virtual worlds. New Riders Publishing: Indianapolis, IN.

Bartle

(1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDs. Journal of Online Environments. Retrieved March 3, 2012 from http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm.

Blizzard Entertainment. (2008). Press release: World of Warcraft Subscriber Base Reaches 11.5 Million Worldwide. Retrieved June 25, 2010, from http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/press/pressreleases.html?081121

Caplan

S. E.

(2002). Problematic internet use and psychosocial well-being: Development of a theory-based cognitive-behavioral measurement instrument. Computers in Human Behavior, 18, 553–575.

Caplan

S. E.

(2003). Preference for online social interaction: A theory of problematic internet use and psychosocial well-being. Communication Research, 30, 625–648.

Caplan

Williams

Yee

(2009). Problematic internet use and psychosocial well-being among MMO players. Computers in Human Behavior, 25, 1312–1319.

Charlton

J. P.

Danforth

I. D. W.

(2007). Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing. Computers in Human Behavior, 23, 1531–1548.

Choi

Kim

(2004). Why people continue to play online games: In search of critical design factors to increase customer loyalty to online contents. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7, 11–24.

10.

Chou

T. J.

Ting

C. C.

(2003). The role of flow experience in cyber-game addiction. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 6, 663–675.

11.

Colburn

R. A.

Cohen

M.F.

Drucker

S. M.

2000. “The Role of Eye Gaze in Avatar Mediated Conversational Interfaces” Microsoft Research Tech Report: MSR-TR-2000-81, July 2000. Retrieved March 3, 2012 from http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/69800/tr-2000-81.pdf

12.

Csikszentmihalyi

(1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

13.

Davis

R. A.

Flett

G. L.

Besser

(2002). Validation of a new scale for measuring problematic internet use: Implications for pre-employment screening [Special issue: Internet and the workplace]. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 5, 331–345.

14.

Deci

E. L.

Koestner

Ryan

R. M.

(1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 627–668.

15.

Ducheneaut

Moore

R. J.

(2004). Social side of gaming: A study of interaction patterns in a massively multiplayer online game. Proceedings of the 2004 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW04). New York, NY: ACM Press.

16.

Ducheneaut

Yee

Nickell

Moore

R. J.

(2006). ‘‘Alone together?”: Exploring the social dynamics of massively multiplayer online games. Paper presented at the 2006 proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

17.

Hsu

S. H.

Wen

M. H.

M. C.

(2009). Exploring user preferences as predictors of MMORPG addiction. Computers and Education, 53, 990–999.

18.

Jenkins

(2000). Game design as narrative architecture. In Wardrip-Fruin

Harrigan

(Eds.), First person: New media as story, performance, and game (pp. 118–130). Boston: MIT Press.

19.

Kahneman

Diener

Schwarz

(Eds.). (2003). Well-being: Foundations of hedonic psychology. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

20.

Kelly

R. V.

(2004). Massively multiplayer online role-playing games: The people, the addiction and the playing experience. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

21.

Koster

(2005). A theory of fun for game design. Scottsdale, AZ: Paraglyph Press.

22.

S. M.

Chung

T. M.

(2006). Internet function and internet addictive behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 22, 1067–1071.

23.

Lyubomirsky

(2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York, NY: Penguin.

24.

Malone

T. W.

Lepper

M. R.

(1987). Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In Snow

R. E.

Farr

M. J.

(Eds.), Aptitude, learning, and instruction, III: Conative and affective process analysis (pp. 223–253). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

25.

McKenna

K. Y. A.

Bargh

J. A.

(2000). Plan 9 from cyberspace: The implications of the internet for personality and social psychology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 681–694.

26.

Moore

R. J.

Ducheneaut

(2007). Doing virtually nothing: awareness and accountability in massively multiplayer online worlds. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 16, 265–305.

27.

Morahan-Martin

Schumacher

(2003). Loneliness and social uses of the internet. Computers in Human Behavior, 19, 659–671.

28.

Nardi

B. A.

(2010) My life as a Night Elf priest: An Anthropological account of World of Warcraft. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press and the University of Michigan Library.

29.

B. D.

Wiemer-Hastings

(2005). Addiction to the internet and online gaming. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 8, 110–113.

30.

Pisan

(2007). My guild, my people: Role of guilds in massively multiplayer online games. Paper presented at the proceedings of the fourth Australasian conference on interactive entertainment, Melbourne, Australia.

31.

PlayOn. (2008). What are the most important avatar customization features? Retrieved from http://blogs.parc.com/playon/

32.

Rieber

L. P.

(1996). Seriously considering play: Designing interactive learning environments based on the blending of microwords. Educational Technology Research and Development, 44, 43–58.

33.

Seay

A. F.

Kraut

(2007). Project massive: Self-regulation and problematic use of online gaming. Proceedings of the 2007 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 829–838). New York, NY: ACM Press.

34.

Seay

A. F.

Jerome

W. J.

Lee

K. S.

Kraut

R. E.

(2004). Project massive: A study of online gaming communities. Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1421–1424). New York, NY: ACM Press.

35.

Seligman

(2002). Authentic happiness. New York, NY: Free Press.

36.

Snodgrass

J. G.

Francois Dengah

H. J.

II Lacy

M. G.

Fagan

Most

(2011a). Magical flight and monstrous stress: Technologies of absorption and mental wellness in Azeroth. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry. 35(1):26–62.

37.

Snodgrass

J. G.

Lacy

M. G.

Francois Dengah

H. J.

II Fagan

(2011b). Enhancing One Life Rather than Living Two: Playing MMOs with Offline Friends. Computers in Human Behavior. 27(3):1211–1222.

38.

Snodgrass

J. G.

Lacy

M. G.

Francois Dengah

H. J.

II Fagan

(2011c). Cultural Consonance and Mental Wellness in the World of Warcraft: Online Games as Cognitive Technologies of “Absorption-Immersion.” Cognitive Technology. 16(1):11–23.

39.

Snodgrass

J. G.

Francois Dengah

H. J.

II Lacy

M. J.

Fagan

(2012). An Anthropological View of “Motivation” Models of Problematic MMO Play: Achievement, Social, and Immersion Factors in the Context of Culture. Transcultural Psychiatry. Accepted for publication.

40.

Song

Larose

Eastin

M. S.

Lin

C.A.

(2004). Internet gratifications and internet addiction: On the uses and abuses of new media. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7, 384–394.

41.

Steinkuehler

C. A.

Williams

(2006). Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as ‘third places’. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 885–909.

42.

Strauss

Corbin

(1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

43.

van den Eijnden

R. J. J. M.

Meerkerk

Vermulst

A. A.

Spijkerman

Engels

R. C. M. E.

(2008). Online communication, compulsive internet use, and psychosocial well-being among adolescents: A longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 44, 655–665.

44.

Williams

Ducheneaut

Xiong

Zhang

Yee

Nickell

(2006). From tree house to barracks: The social life of guilds in World of Warcraft . Games and Culture, 1, 338–361.

45.

World of Warcraft (2004–2012). [Computer software]. Irvine, CA: Blizzard Entertainment.

46.

Yee

(2006). The demographics, motivations and derived experiences of users of massively-multiuser online graphical environments. Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15, 309–329.

47.

Yee

(2007). Motivations of play in online games. Journal of Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 9, 772–775.

48.

Young

K. S.

(1998) Internet addiction: Emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 1, 237–244.

49.

Young

K. S.

Rogers

R. C.

(1998). The relationship between depression and internet addiction. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1, 25–28.