This study is a comparative analysis of the personality characteristics of a sample of World of Warcraft players (n = 147) and a large normative sample (n = 20,993). The 120-item International Personality Item Pool, based on the five factor model, is used. Independent t-tests were conducted and statistical significance was found for some factors; however, the effect sizes were small, indicating a limited practical difference between the two groups.

Syftet i uppsatsen behandlar frågan om hur representation av etniciteter ser ut inom spelindustrin, med fokus på spel i genren RPG. Fokus för undersökningen är spel som tilldelats högst betyg sorterat efter User Score på hemsidan Metacritic.com.    Två analysmetoder har använts för att undersöka i vilken grad som de utvalda speltitlarna är representativa för olika etniciteter. En kvantitativ innehållsanalys har genomförts för att undersöka de representativa möjligheterna inuti spelen, med fokus på spelbara karaktärer. Metoden använde sig av ett kodschema för att genomföra analysen och tydligt kunna redovisa resultaten.    För att skapa en bild av hur representativ den visuella marknadskommunikationen är har en kvalitativ innehållsanalys genomförts genom en semiotiskt bildanalys av de utvalda spelomslagen. Analysen gjordes på en denotativ- och en konnotativ nivå utifrån ett analysschema med definierade frågeställningar.   Resultatet från de båda analysmetoderna visar på en underrepresentation av POC, och en överrepresentation av vita karaktärer. En något bredare representation av olika etniciteter kunde ses i den kvantitativa analysen, medans en stor avsaknad av representation kunde ses i den semiotiska bildanalysen. Slutsatsen visade att spelindustrin i dag inte är tillräckligt representativ för den mångkulturella målgruppen. / The aim of this essay deals with the question of how representation of ethnicities looks like in the gaming industry, with a focus on games in the RPG genre. The focus of the survey are games that have been given the highest rating sorted by User Score on the website Metacritic.com.   Two analytical methods have been used to examine the extent to which the selected game titles are representative of different ethnicities. A quantitative content analysis has been conducted to examine the representative possibilities within the games, with a focus on playable characters. A code scheme was used in the method to carry out the analysis and be able to clearly present the results.   To create an image of how representative the visual marketing communication is, a qualitative content analysis has been conducted through a semiotic image analysis of the selected game covers. The analysis was performed on a denotative and a connotative level based on an analysis scheme with defined issues.   The results from the two analysis methods show an underrepresentation of POC, and an overrepresentation of white characters. A somewhat broader representation of different ethnicities could be seen in the quantitative analysis, while a large lack of representation could be seen in the semiotic image analysis. The conclusion showed that the gaming industry today is not sufficiently representative of multicultural communities.

En kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie som undersökts via en digital frågeenkät i syfte att se omdet fanns en korrelation mellan antal spelade timmar och självuppskattad livstillfredsställelsebland gamers och esportare.Livstillfredsställelse beskrivs enligt Kobau et al. (2010) som “Ett dynamiskt och relativttillstånd där man maximerar sin fysiska, mentala och sociala funktion i samband med stödjandemiljöer för att leva ett fullständigt, tillfredsställande och produktivt liv”. Denna definition går isamma linje som World Health Organization WHO (2012) definition av livskvalité. Till grundför studien ligger den exponentiella tillväxten inom spelbranschen med sina 3,22 miljarderdeltagare, där man kan anse att forskningen för dess potentiella negativa och positiva effekter ärobalanserade och fokuserade på olika områden och avgörande faktorer.I studien deltog 51 respondenter varav 49 med kompletta enkätsvar. Den insamlade datananalyserades med hjälp av statistikprogrammet SPSS och analysverktyget Spearmansrankkorrelationskoefficient.Studiens resultat visade på att det inte finns en signifikant korrelation mellan antalspelade timmar och självuppskattad livstillfredsställelse bland gamers och esportare. Resultatetgår alltså inte i hand med stora delar av tidigare forskning. Framtida forskning bör därför iakttapotentiella bakomliggande faktorer till gamers och esportares livstillfredsställelse, så som detsociala umgänget via Discord och Teamspeak där större delar av gamers och esportarekommunicerar och socialiserar sig i samband med spelandet. / A quantitative cross-sectional study investigated via a digital questionnaire in order to see whether there was a correlation between number of hours played and self-rated life satisfaction among gamers and esports players. Life satisfaction is described according to Kobau et al. (2010) as “A dynamic and relative condition in which one maximizes one's physical, mental and social functioning in connection with supporting environments to live a full, fulfilling and productive life”. This definition goes into the same line as the World Health Organization WHO (2012) definition of quality of life. Basis for the study, the exponential growth lies within the gaming industry with its 3.22 billion participants, where one can consider the research for its potential negative and positive effects unbalanced and focused on different areas and decisive factors. 51 respondents took part in the study, of which 49 provided complete survey responses. The collected data was analyzed using the statistical program SPSS and the analysis tool Spearmans rank correlation coefficient.The results of the study showed that there is no significant correlation between numbers hours played and self-rated life satisfaction among gamers and esports players. The result thus does not go hand in hand with large parts of previous research. Future research should therefore take note potential underlying factors to gamers' and esporters' life satisfaction, such as that social interaction via Discord and Teamspeak where larger parts of gamers and esports playerscommunicates and socializes in connection with playing.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine video games, gamers and gaming from an information science perspective. The purpose of the study is partly to study video games as a type of information system and partly to study gamers information use, information seeking and also the experience of gaming. A selection of five games have been analysed using a topology for video game analysis created by Espen Aarseth. A quantitative investigation has also been made, in the form of a web survey distributed through four Swedish online forums, the result of which was analysed using Carol Collier Kuhlthaus model of the information seeking process. The study showed that video games can partly be understood as information systems with built in obstacles, uncertainty and supportive structures. It also showed that gamers are largely independent in their game related information seeking and information use, but that they are also accustomed to turning to informal mediatiors for help. Lastly, the study showed that some similarities can be found in the cogntive and affective experiences of the information seeking process and the gaming experience respectively. These findings may serve as a starting point for further research of how gaming may support the individual's information seeking process, as well as their understanding of the process and the stages involved.

As the United States shifted toward a service-based economy and an increasingly digital media environment, American youth -- particularly young men and boys -- found an opportunity to play with these values in the then-novel video game arcade. The video game industry first came of age between the successful commercialization of Pong in 1972 and the U.S. gaming industry crash of 1983. In the interim, economic and play practices in the arcade itself and media representations of the arcade and its habitués shaped and responded to the economic and cultural upheavals of the period. Arcade machines were the first computers many Americans confronted. Through public discourse about gaming and gamers, Americans engaged in a critical debate about computerization, the move to digital media culture, the restructuring of the U.S. labor economy, and the competitiveness of American youth -- particularly boys -- in a Cold War culture conceived as both hostile and technologically oriented. This study demonstrates that video gaming was an arena in which Americans grappled with larger tensions about masculinity, globalization, labor, and digitalization. By analyzing gaming as a practice of everyday life, this work not only offers a cultural history of this period of gaming, but critical insights into the crystallization of masculine identity in a postindustrial, postmodern economy. / text

The relationships between violent content and aggression have not been fully understood and explained in video game research literature. This study sought to determine if video game players" flow experience--a psychological absorption—explains the aggression that can follow video game playing. Employing a survey, this project sought to determine if relationships existed among degrees of violence portrayed in video games, degrees of flow experience, and subsequent aggressive attitudes after gaming. In this study, it was determined that a player's flow experience is more strongly correlated with aggression than is the violent content of video games. Moreover, contradicting the common belief that the video game companies make more profit by increasing the quantity of violent content, there is actually no significant relationship between violence and purchase of video games. However, along the same lines of Hoffman and Novak (1977), this study discovered an increase in purchasing intent related to flow experiences in video games. / Department of Telecommunications

The purpose of this study was to examine if video game usage was influenced by family structure. Family structure was measured in two ways; the first, the amount of time one spends with their family, and second, family disruption. The amount of time one spends with their family was measured with specific amounts of time; for example, the number of weekly days one would engage with his or her family. Family disruption was broken into four categories; parental marriage, parental divorce, adoption, and guardian death. Video game usage was measured in two categories; weekly days one plays video games, and daily hours one plays video games. The evidence from the 701 surveys suggests there is no correlation between video game usage and the amount of time one spends with their family. The evidence also suggests that family disruption does not influence whether or not one plays video games either. / Department of Sociology

A thesis presented on modern tabletop role-playing games and how they offer anthropologists a new way to approach issues of creativity, identity construction, social interaction, and the nature of play in American culture. In these games, players continuously challenge and redefine aspects of personal identity, social paradigms, gender identity, and reality construction. This thesis is exemplified by the interactions of two separate role-playing groups in Muncie, Indiana, as well as multiple interviews with gamers from many different areas. This idea is also clearly reflected in the interactions of role-players, both in their own personas and in character. Multiple layers of roles, in both the fictional world and within the social group of the players, are created, accepted, adapted, and discarded during the course of an average game. Gamers’ voices are emphasized, rather than game play itself, in order to explore how gamers feel and think about their play. Both Ludology and Carnival are explored as possible ways to approach the subject. Play in general allows individuals and/or small groups the creative space to form new strategies to enact personal and cultural change in the reality outside of the game; while tabletop RPGs allow players the liminal space to explore different aspects of their personal identities, even as they create an outlet for challenging social strictures. Negative cultural labeling of these games as deviant and subversive has created the illusion of secrecy that helps the games to function in this manor. The importance of both play and narrative become obvious when speaking to gamers about their hobby; allowing the gamers to form a sub-culture based on the shared experiences of the games. And it is in these shared experiences that the gamers find the power to alter their real-life self images, and experiment with change. / Department of Anthropology

This thesis identifies and explores the types of communication modes that exist in video games. Different types of communication are identified and discussed based on Frye's audience centered theory of modes. The inferior communication mode, the mimetic communication mode, the leader-centered communication mode, the romantic communication mode, and the mythical communication mode are all explained. A convenience sample of six video game players were interviewed about video games. An analysis of their self-identification statements revealed that players seek a high level of romantic communication when playing video games. The romantic communication mode makes the video game world an idealized place where the players are able to manipulate their circumstances or show more intelligence than the user in reality. Uses of the communication modes are also explained. / Department of Telecommunications