Games People Play

Another Ph.D. dissertation focusing on virtual worlds -- this one is in the field of psychology.  Jennifer Jamieson Bortle, Games People Play: Identity and Relationships in an Online Role-Playing Games.  The research focuses on three players of Everquest.  The abstract is below.

Abstract

The following is a study of online relationships and identity formation in Everquest, a multiplayer online role-playing game. Using a phenomenological and reflexive approach, the study seeks to explicate the attractions of this type of online forum, which draws hundreds of thousands of players who spend many hours each week playing the game. Three Everquest players' experiences are considered in light of literature from mainstream psychological, social constructionist, psychodynamic, and cyborg theory, with special focus on the players' reports of the dialogue between player and character, and of the nature of their relationships in Everquest. Subjects participated in a non-directive, qualitative interview and submitted and discussed gameplay logs. Findings challenge the notion that these players' online identities are escapist paradoxes of their offline personae, but highlight the ways in which their ego-ideal colors and limits their online identifications. The participants' ambivalence about the limits of Everquest relationships is also explored, especially such as the Everquest community might be understood as an example of hyperreality structuring the experience of the real. Finally, suggestions for further research in the area are suggested.

PDF (230 pages, 719 kb)

I'm always interested in seeing recent Ph.D. theses on MMORPGs, because they situate their research within their particular academic disciplines (of course) while at the same time they address issues that are peculiar to virtual worlds and found in "game studies" more generally. 

Here are a few Ph.D. dissertations related to MMOGs available via a simple URL. 

• Torill Elvira Mortensen, Pleasures of the Player; Flow and control in online games (about MUDs, but close enough, I think)
• Constance A. Steinkuehler, Cognition and Learning in Massively Multiplayer Online Games: A Critical Approach
• Dmitri C. Williams, Trouble in River City: The Social Life of Video Games (MS Word 11MB) (mostly about video games generally, but has an extended section on Asherson's call).

There are more, I know, and if you want, feel free to add links below in the comments -- it might be a good resource.  Raph and Richard both have plenty of links, btw, but I'm (somewhat arbitrarily) honing in on MMORPG-related Ph.D. dissertations here.

Btw, just in case anyone isn't aware, the format for hyperlinking in comments on Typepad is standard HTML (& thanks, James!):
<a href="http://linkurl">link visible text</a>

Credit for tasteful graphic: Animation Factory

Comments

[Matt Mihaly]

1.

Is a Bortle anything like a Bartle?

God, I'm sorry about that. I just couldn't help myself.

--matt

[Zac]

2.

Despite the fact that the Abstract is almost coma-inducingly obtuse to a layperson like me, the thesis ended up being quite a compelling read.

However, at the end of the day, it didn't present any conclusions that aren't obvious to anyone who has spent some serious time in Everquest.

I tried to explore myself, somewhat crudely and hamhandedly, the essence of the "addiction" on my own blog. The article is here: http://www.secularsense.org/2006/06/gods-among-mortals.html

[Richard Bartle]

3.

Matt Mihaly>Is a Bortle anything like a Bartle?

Maybe that's why she doesn't cite me...

Is a Mihaly anything like a Csikszentmihalyi? She doesn't cite him, either.

Probably a good thing in both cases.

Richard

[Scott Borre]

4.

Its a good thing there is nothing surprising. It means its fairly accurate, and that its more useful for those that know nothing of mmorpgs and Everquest. Often these analyses are not to enlighten those "in the know." Most of the current ones are developing a building block for more extensive research.

[Zac]

5.

Fair enough, I realize that this wasn't written for me as a non-student of psychology. However as someone with an interest in the socio-economic aspect of these games, I'm fascinated by the idea of from whence their "juice" comes and why some games have it and some games don't. Everquest had it until Sony made the unbelievably boneheaded move of releasing Everquest 2. Now the ball is squarely in World of Warcraft's court, and I'm curious how, when and why that might come to an end.

[D Lacey]

6.

Insightful, especially the application of various analytical techniques to the interviews; it was enlightening how each technique revealed different results, and how the author synthesized them.

How the author showed that online interaction percolates out into interpersonal relationships not actually mediated by technology was also particularly intriguing to me.

Do you think that N might have so internalized the lesson M elucidated, that short summation answers communicate better than long, detailed ones (from N's five years spent playing Everquest, ages 15-20, and even before that being involved with various online role-playing communities) that would account for his style of answering Bortle in a way she at first found uncommunicative? I was suprised she didn't at least consider that as an explanation.