Quantification of human group-behavior has so far defied an empirical, falsifiable approach. This is due to tremendous difficulties in data acquisition of social systems. Massive multiplayer online ...games (MMOG) provide a fascinating new way of observing hundreds of thousands of simultaneously socially interacting individuals engaged in virtual economic activities. We have compiled a data set consisting of practically all actions of all players over a period of 3 years from a MMOG played by 300,000 people. This large-scale data set of a socio-economic unit contains all social and economic data from a single and coherent source. Players have to generate a virtual income through economic activities to ‘survive’ and are typically engaged in a multitude of social activities offered within the game. Our analysis of high-frequency log files focuses on three types of social networks, and tests a series of social-dynamics hypotheses. In particular we study the structure and dynamics of friend-, enemy- and communication networks. We find striking differences in topological structure between positive (friend) and negative (enemy) tie networks. All networks confirm the recently observed phenomenon of network densification. We propose two approximate social laws in communication networks, the first expressing betweenness centrality as the inverse square of the overlap, the second relating communication strength to the cube of the overlap. These empirical laws provide strong quantitative evidence for the Weak ties hypothesis of Granovetter. Further, the analysis of triad significance profiles validates well-established assertions from social balance theory. We find overrepresentation (underrepresentation) of complete (incomplete) triads in networks of positive ties, and vice versa for networks of negative ties. Empirical transition probabilities between triad classes provide evidence for triadic closure with extraordinarily high precision. For the first time we provide empirical results for large-scale networks of negative social ties. Whenever possible we compare our findings with data from non-virtual human groups and provide further evidence that online game communities serve as a valid model for a wide class of human societies. With this setup we demonstrate the feasibility for establishing a ‘socio-economic laboratory’ which allows to operate at levels of precision approaching those of the natural sciences.
All data used in this study is fully anonymized; the authors have the written consent to publish from the legal department of the Medical University of Vienna.
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Nowadays, the use of the Internet and social networks has become a widespread practice, seen as a means of meeting various needs necessary for adolescent development. However, excessive use can lead ...to serious problems such as Problematic Internet Use (PIU), which can adversely affect academic performance. To determine the association between the level of PIU among students at the Higher Institutes of Nursing Professions and Health Techniques of Oujda (HINPHTO) in Morocco and the average duration of internet use, number of social networks, and use of online games, a cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted among 558 students enrolled in the Bachelor’s degree course at the same institution. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of two parts: the first part focused on data regarding social media use, and the second included Young’s (1998) cyber addiction test. The average duration of Internet use was 5 hours and 21 minutes per day (SD=3 hours and 25 minutes). The level of internet addiction is significantly associated with the number of hours spent on the Internet, as well as the number of social networks and online games among nursing and health technology students. These results can serve as a basis for implementing preventive measures to protect nursing students from the potentially harmful effects of excessive Internet use, social networking, and online gaming.
Introduction: Playing Video Games without control can lead to Gaming Disorder (GD) which is also called a problematic gaming pattern or video game addiction. This study is to determine the prevalence ...of video game disorders and the various associated factors leading to them.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was done among 930 medical students studying MBBS in a private medical college in Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu. Data was collected by pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Gaming disorder was assessed by Internet Gaming Disorder Short Form – 9 (IGD-SF 9), depression by Patient Health Questionnaire – 9, and anxiety by Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 Questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26.
Results: Among the study participants, 37% were males, and 63% were females. The prevalence of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) was 9.7%. Greater than 2 hours of gaming per day, online game genre, having academic impact due to gaming, sleep problems, and neck pain/back pain due to gaming were found to be important predictors of gaming disorder.
Conclusion: Awareness has to be created among students and stakeholders regarding gaming disorders among medical college students. Further research should be done to understand the relationship between GD and psychological problems like depression and anxiety.
Ethnography as Play Taylor, T.L
American journal of play,
09/2021, Volume:
14, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The author argues that ethnography is a kindred of play. Based on her research of play in digital gaming environments, she draws several parallels between the practices of ethnography and the ...practices of play. She explores the complexities of play in games and expands our understanding of the work of ethnography as play. Key words: ethnography; fieldwork; games; play; research
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Selling virtual items is one of the major revenue sources for online game operators. Therefore, the design of game currency systems is important. This research shows that the game currency exchange ...rate (e.g., $1 = 1,000 game currency is a higher rate than $1 = 10 game currency) affects price perception of virtual items. When the rate is not prominent in players’ minds (e.g., the rate is not mentioned or players have sufficient game currency in their account), players consider a virtual item as more expensive if the rate is higher. In contrast, when the rate is prominent in players’ minds (e.g., the rate is mentioned and no additional information indicates that players already have sufficient game currency, and thus it is irrelevant), players consider a virtual item as cheaper if the rate is higher. In the latter case, higher rate leads to stronger purchase intention of nonsocial, but not social, virtual items. Our findings show currency system design can affect players’ willingness to spend on virtual items thus affecting the revenue of game operators. Moreover, reminders of the actual monetary value of virtual items might help to reduce players’ overspending driven by the biasing effect of the game currency exchange rate.
Selling virtual items (e.g., clothing, weapons, or virtual furniture) serves as one of the major revenue sources for online game operators. Therefore, exploring what specific factors and design attributes may affect the sales of virtual items has become an important issue. This research draws upon prior studies on currency numerosity, contextualizing them to online game contexts to develop several theory-based predictions about how online game currency numerosity affects players’ perceived expensiveness and consequently their purchase intention of virtual items. To test these predictions, we conducted six experiments that investigate numerosity effects in massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) where players can exchange real money for game currency based on an exchange rate in order to purchase virtual items. Results indicate the following: (1) when the game currency exchange rate is not salient (e.g., game currency exchange rate is not mentioned or players have sufficient game currency in their account), players consider a virtual item as more expensive if the price is high (versus low) in numerosity; but (2) when the game currency exchange rate is salient (e.g., game currency exchange rate is mentioned and no additional information indicates that it is irrelevant), players consider a virtual item as cheaper if the price is high (versus low) in numerosity; in addition, (3) in the latter case, numerosity increases players’ purchase intention of nonsocial, but not social, virtual items through the mediating effect of perceived expensiveness. Our notable findings contribute to the existing literature on numerosity and provide guidance for the design of virtual currency systems in MMOs.
Pattern recognition and classification of images are key challenges throughout the life sciences. We combined two approaches for large-scale classification of fluorescence microscopy images. First, ...using the publicly available data set from the Cell Atlas of the Human Protein Atlas (HPA), we integrated an image-classification task into a mainstream video game (EVE Online) as a mini-game, named Project Discovery. Participation by 322,006 gamers over 1 year provided nearly 33 million classifications of subcellular localization patterns, including patterns that were not previously annotated by the HPA. Second, we used deep learning to build an automated Localization Cellular Annotation Tool (Loc-CAT). This tool classifies proteins into 29 subcellular localization patterns and can deal efficiently with multi-localization proteins, performing robustly across different cell types. Combining the annotations of gamers and deep learning, we applied transfer learning to create a boosted learner that can characterize subcellular protein distribution with F1 score of 0.72. We found that engaging players of commercial computer games provided data that augmented deep learning and enabled scalable and readily improved image classification.
Selling in-game content has become a popular revenue model for game publishers. While prior research has investigated latent motivations as determinants of in-game content purchases, the prior ...literature has not focused on more concrete reasons to purchase in-game content that stem from how the games are being designed. We form an inventory of reasons (19) to buy in-game content via triangulating from analyses of top-grossing free-to-play games, from a review of existing research, and from industry expert input. These reasons were operationalized into a survey (N = 519). Firstly, we explored how these motivations converged into categories. The results indicated that the purchasing reasons converged into six dimensions: 1) Unobstructed play, 2) Social interaction, 3) Competition, 4) Economical rationale, 5) Indulging the children, and 6) Unlocking content. Secondly, we investigated the relationship between these factors and how much players spend money on in-game content. The results revealed that the purchase motivations of unobstructed play, social interaction, and economical rationale were positively associated with how much money players spend on in-game content. The results imply that the way designers implement artificial limitations and obstacles as well as social interaction affects how much players spend money on in-game content.
•Inventory/questionnaire of in-game purchase motivations (19) was formed.•Motivational dimensions of in-game purchases were investigated via survey (N = 519).•Nineteen motivations converged onto six main dimensions:•Unobstructing, Social, Competition, Economical, Children, and Unlocking content.•Unobstructing, Social and Economical motivations predicted in-game purchases.
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In the last few years, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of everyday activities were shifted online. Therefore, marketing strategies had to adapt to this shift. This led to ...the development of new forms of marketing, including influencer marketing. Although credibility is often theorised as the reason why the audience prefers to follow influencers over celebrities, empirical evidence is mixed and unrelated to the gaming industry. Therefore, our aim in this study was to test if source credibility (and its three elements: attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise) predicts video games purchase intentions, as well as to check if the model misspecifications caused by ignored links of causality led to inconsistent conclusions in earlier studies. The results based on an international sample of PewDiePie's followers (N = 238) have confirmed both ideas: source credibility predicts purchase intentions and model misspecifications of source credibility could have led to inaccurate estimates in earlier studies. Keywords: source credibility, purchase intentions, attractiveness, trustworthiness, expertise U zadnje vrijeme, a posebno tijekom pandemije COVID-19, vecina svakodnevnih aktivnosti premjestena je na internet. Stoga su se marketinske strategije morale prilagoditi ovoj promjeni. To je dovelo do razvoja novih oblika marketinga, ukljucujuci influencerski marketing. Iako se vjerodostojnost cesto teoretizira kao razlog zasto publika radije slijedi influencere nego slavne osobe, empirijski se dokazi razlikuju i nisu povezani s industrijom igara. Stoga je nas cilj u ovom radu bio ispitati predvida li vjerodostojnost izvora (i njegova tri cimbenika: privlacnost, pouzdanost i strucnost) namjeru kupnje videoigara, kao i provjeriti jesu li pogresne specifikacije modela uzrokovane zanemarenim uzrocno-posljedicnim vezama dovele do nedosljednosti zakljucaka u dosadasnjim studijama. Rezultati utemeljeni na medunarodnom uzorku PewDiePiejevih sljedbenika N = 238) potvrdili su obje ideje: vjerodostojnost izvora predvida namjere kupnje, a pogresne specifikacije modela vjerodostojnosti izvora mogle su dovesti do netocnih procjena u dosadasnjim studijama Kljucne rijeci: vjerodostojnost izvora, namjere kupnje, privlacnost, pouzdanost, strucnost
Seamless cooperation between individuals is essentially a crucial aspect of any successful endeavor. A host of literature has been published in the academic realm about how cooperation could be ...cultivated. However, true cooperation often forms organically without external enforcement. Recently, there has been one special example of a context where cooperation seemed to have effortlessly sprung up between people who might not even have had previous connections. The context is video/online games; games such as Ingress, Pokémon Go, and World of Warcraft bind people together to work against insurmountable odds and to overcome jointly held challenges. Organizations of many types have recently begun to gamify their structures and services in order to cultivate such seamless cooperation. However, before this potential of games can be successfully wielded outside video games, we need to understand better how games are able to cultivate such cooperation. Therefore, in this study we investigate how games can induce and cultivate we-intention of working as a group. Specifically, we investigate how cooperative game features affect different forms of group dynamics and how they further translate into we-intentions. We employ data from users of the augmented reality game Ingress (N = 206). The results show that cooperative game features induce we-intentions via positively increasing group norms, social identity, joint commitment, attitudes toward cooperation, and anticipated positive emotions. The findings imply that practitioners who are looking to increase cooperation should find that gamification inspired by cooperative game design is beneficial and preferable over individual-based gamification efforts.
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•Players' use of cooperative game features is associated with we-intention.•This association is mediated by group dynamics:•group norms, social identity, joint commitment, attitudes and anticipated emotions.•Overall, players' use of single player features was not associated with we-intentions.•Features of cooperative games can support practitioners cultivating cooperation.
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