Coye Cheshire & Andrew Fiore June 28, 2015 // Computer-Mediated Communication Games!
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore1 The many faces of “online” gaming…
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore2 Online Gaming 58% of Online Game Players are Male
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore3 Some general stats from the ESA
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore4 Research Example: World of Warcraft (WoW) Currently, largest Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) Players create characters and then play in a large, open virtual world As you play, more abilities, options, and places are made available (“leveling up”)
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore5 Why do people keep playing?
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore6 Play Time and Reward Cycle in WoW
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore7 Group vs. Solo Gaming by Role
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore8 “Grouping” Behavior and Leveling in WoW
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore9 Together…yet apart. “Guilds” as social communities
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore10 Guild Membership and Playing Time in WoW
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore11 Social Network Density by Guild Size in World of Warcraft
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore12 The real-world benefits of managing CMC in online gaming? “In late 2004, Stephen Gillett was in the running for a choice job at Yahoo! - a senior management position in engineering. He was a strong contender. Gillett had been responsible for CNET's backend, and he had helped launch a number of successful startups. But he had an additional qualification his prospective employer wasn't aware of, one that gave him a decisive edge: He was one of the top guild masters in the online role-playing game World of Warcraft… …The day may not be far off when companies receive resumes that include a line reading ‘level 60 tauren shaman in World of Warcraft.’”
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore13 Rethinking the ‘social’ aspect of online gaming “MMORPGs are COMMUNITIES. Not games” (Raph Koster) Social Presence,‘audience,’ and the spectator experience
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore14
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore15 “Socially Interpretable Information” Goffman revisited: expressions given versus given off
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore16
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore17 The Truth According to SouthPark…
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore18 But are there REALLY no ‘tells’ in online poker? Behavioral Cues Speed of behaviors (checking, pauses, bet) “chattiness” and know-it-alls
6/28/2015Computer-Mediated Communication — Cheshire & Fiore19 More Social Research in Online Gaming…