Cyberanthropology or the anthropology of cyber space/culture is an emerging subfield of cultural anthropology that deals with the varied integration of human beings and technology. This specialized area of study focuses on topics ranging from new technologies used in ethnographic research to information and communication technologies utilized by specific societal groups. Communication technology encompasses the World Wide Web, email, and online multiperson interactive spaces such as chatrooms and video games. In this work, I ethnographically investigate human social interactions in the online gaming realm of World of Warcraft. On the whole, the expanding numbers of virtual communities in existence today offer new and exciting realms for social scientists in general, and anthropologists in particular, to expand their knowledge of social interaction. During the period between August 2007 and May 2009 I “lived” with the players of WoW as a participant observer. The culmination of this research spotlights virtual group formation and dynamics from an anthropological perspective and is intended to pave the way for future research.

Contemporary research on media violence has shown the importance of examining the violent presentation of American video games and the correlation between games and the current U.S. game rating system. However, not many studies in this field have been conducted in China, especially regarding the importance of its pending official game rating system which has caused much controversy nationwide. In an effort to seek academic evidence for developing China's official game rating system, this study examined and compared the violence in fourteen of the most popular American and Chinese electronic games in 2004.These fourteen Chinese games and American games were selected for content analysis of the quantity and context of game violent interactions. The percentage breakdown of PATs (violent interactions) was coded by rate per minute, as was perpetrator characteristic, target characteristic, weapon used and visual perspective.The goal of the study was to determine if the popular Chinese electronic games carry as much violence as do popular American games, and if the context of violence in the former is significantly different from that in the latter. The American games were used as a basis for comparison to Chinese games for this study.The results of the study showed that popular Chinese games featured as much violence as American games. However, their context of violence was significantly different in terms of perpetrator characteristic, weapon used and visual perspective.Based on the results, the researcher concluded that China would definitely need a game rating system. However, the significant difference in the context of violence suggested that the Chinese rating system does not necessarily have to be the same as the U.S. system. / Department of Telecommunications

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Thesis (Typsecript photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-106). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Traditionally, optimization problems in operations research have been studied in a complete information setting; the input/data is collected and made fully accessible to the user, before an algorithm is sequentially run to generate the optimal output. However, the growing magnitude of treated data and the need to make immediate decisions are increasingly shifting the focus to optimizing under incomplete information settings. The input can be partially inaccessible to the user either because it is generated continuously, contains some uncertainty, is too large and cannot be stored on a single machine, or has a hidden structure that is costly to unveil. Many problems providing a context for studying algorithms when the input is not entirely accessible emanate from the field of matching theory, where the objective is to pair clients and servers or, more generally, to group clients in disjoint sets. Examples include ride-sharing and food delivery platforms, internet advertising, combinatorial auctions, and online gaming. In this thesis, we study three different novel problems from the theory of matchings. These problems correspond to situations where the input is hidden, spread across multiple processors, or revealed in two stages with some uncertainty. In particular, we present in Chapter 1 the necessary definitions and terminology for the concepts and problems we cover. In Chapter 2, we consider a two-stage robust optimization framework that captures matching problems where one side of the input includes some future demand uncertainty. We propose two models to capture the demand uncertainty: explicit and implicit scenarios. Chapters 3 and 4 see us switch our attention to matchings in hypergraphs. In Chapter 3, we consider the problem of learning hidden hypergraph matchings through membership queries. Finally, in Chapter 4, we study the problem of finding matchings in uniform hypergraphs in the massively parallel computation (MPC) model where the data (e.g. vertices and edges) is distributed across the machines and in each round, a machine performs local computation on its fragment of data, and then sends messages to other machines for the next round.

This study examines the social organization of Gaiscíoch, a large online gaming community that exists within the simulated world of a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). It provides an ethnographic account of an online gaming community that is open to any player without skill or time commitment requirements, but still maintains high status within the game world. This project identifies eight elements that make this inclusive, friendly, and casual community successful in virtual worlds that tend to be dominated by communities that have a competitive, strict, and exclusive approach to online gaming (social interaction, code of values, leadership, rank system, events, community building, population size, gameplay). Lastly, this project briefly inquires about the nature of the border between the virtual and the physical and establishes that gamers can be considered pseudo-border-inhabitants that are in control of the community they place adjacent to them in the cyber world. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Research in second language acquisition has typically focused on classroom and laboratory settings. This study explores second language use in a non-classroom setting. It is based on research from divergent fields including theories of social interaction from sociology, theories of practice from anthropology, and nonlinear dynamics from the physical sciences. This study is a qualitative study, which employs both ethnographic and discourse analytic methods. The study examines native and non-native English speaker interactions on a MUD, a text-based online game. Data was collected for one year. The data for analysis consist primarily of logs of online interactions. The major conclusion of this study was that individuals acquire language appropriate to a particular environment by interacting with others in that environment. As individuals come to an environment and strive towards particular non-linguistic goals, they necessarily interact with others in the environment. As they do, they create shared ways of interacting. Through interaction, they refine the ways in which they speak. By employing multiple perspectives to guide the analysis, new insights into second language use and interaction can be obtained. This broadens our understanding of second language use in non-classroom settings. Implications for pedagogy in foreign language education are discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

We study dynamic decision-making problems in networks and markets under uncertainty about future payoffs. This problem is difficult in general since 1) Although the current decision (potentially) affects future decisions, the decision-maker does not have exact information on the future payoffs when he/she commits to the current decision; 2) The decision made at one part of the network usually interacts with the decisions made at the other parts of the network, which makes the computation scales very fast with the network size and brings computational challenges in practice. In this thesis, we propose computationally efficient methods to solve dynamic optimization problems on markets and networks, specify a general set of conditions under which the proposed methods give theoretical guarantees on global near-optimality, and further provide numerical studies to verify the performance empirically. The proposed methods/algorithms have a general theme as “local algorithms”, meaning that the decision at each node/agent on the network uses only partial information on the network. In the first part of this thesis, we consider a network model with stochastic uncertainty about future payoffs. The network has a bounded degree, and each node takes a discrete decision at each period, leading to a per-period payoff which is a sum of three parts: node rewards for individual node decisions, temporal interactions between individual node decisions from the current and previous periods, and spatial interactions between decisions from pairs of neighboring nodes. The objective is to maximize the expected total payoffs over a finite horizon. We study a natural decentralized algorithm (whose computational requirement is linear in the network size and planning horizon) and prove that our decentralized algorithm achieves global near-optimality when temporal and spatial interactions are not dominant compared to the randomness in node rewards. Decentralized algorithms are parameterized by the locality parameter L: An L-local algorithm makes its decision at each node v based on current and (simulated) future payoffs only up to L periods ahead, and only in an L-radius neighborhood around v. Given any permitted error ε > 0, we show that our proposed L-local algorithm with L = O(log(1/ε)) has an average per-node-per- period optimality gap bounded above by ε, in networks where temporal and spatial interactions are not dominant. This constitutes the first theoretical result establishing the global near-optimality of a local algorithm for network dynamic optimization. In the second part of this thesis, we consider the previous three types of payoff functions under adversarial uncertainty about the future. In general, there are no performance guarantees for arbitrary payoff functions. We consider an additional convexity structure in the individual node payoffs and interaction functions, which helps us leverage the tools in the broad Online Convex Optimization literature. In this work, we study the setting where there is a trade-off between developing future predictions for a longer lookahead horizon, denoted as k versus increasing spatial radius for decentralized computation, denoted as r. When deciding individual node decisions at each time, each node has access to predictions of local cost functions for the next k time steps in an r-hop neighborhood. Our work proposes a novel online algorithm, Localized Predictive Control (LPC), which generalizes predictive control to multi-agent systems. We show that LPC achieves a competitive ratio approaching to 1 exponentially fast in ρT and ρS in an adversarial setting, where ρT and ρS are constants in (0, 1) that increase with the relative strength of temporal and spatial interaction costs, respectively. This is the first competitive ratio bound on decentralized predictive control for networked online convex optimization. Further, we show that the dependence on k and r in our results is near-optimal by lower bounding the competitive ratio of any decentralized online algorithm. In the third part of this work, we consider a general dynamic matching model for online competitive gaming platforms. Players arrive stochastically with a skill attribute, the Elo rating. The distribution of Elo is known and i.i.d across players. However, the individual’s rating is only observed upon arrival. Matching two players with different skills incurs a match cost. The goal is tominimize a weighted combination of waiting costs and matching costs in the system. We investigate a popular heuristic used in industry to trade-off between these two costs, the Bubble algorithm. The algorithm places arriving players on the Elo line with a growing bubble around them. When two bubbles touch, the two players get matched. We show that, with the optimal bubble expansion rate, the Bubble algorithm achieves a constant factor ratio against the offline optimal cost when the match cost (resp. waiting cost) is a power of Elo difference (resp. waiting time). We use players’ activity logs data from a gaming start-up to validate our approach and further provide guidance on how to tune the Bubble expansion rate in practice.

隨著網絡游戲産業在中國的蓬勃發展以及網絡游戲在青少年中的盛行，網絡游戲中的暴力元素對青少年的影響也日益成爲各方關注的焦點。當前國內外的研究多爲行爲層面的效果探討，且未達成共識。本研究以涵化理論爲理論框架，討論暴力網絡游戲對青年認知、態度、情感等層面的影響，同時考察玩家的暴力經驗與網游的認知真實這兩個調節變量的作用。在此基礎上進一步探討暴力網游的“第三順序（third order）涵化效果--即對玩家暴力意圖的影響。 / 研究采用量化的問卷調查法，針對廣州市的中學生進行分層整群抽樣，樣本量爲518人。同時，以《魔獸世界》這一最受歡迎的網絡游戲爲例，分析暴力元素的展現特點以及暴力的叙事策略。 / 結果顯示，在青少年中大受歡迎的網絡遊戲，以暴力網遊爲主。暴力網游對玩家個人層面的暴力認知沒有顯著影響，社會層面的暴力認知的涵化效果僅部分成立。暴力網游的接觸量與玩家的恐懼感之間也沒有顯著正相關關係。但是另外一方面，暴力網游在“卑鄙世界綜合症、暴力態度、移情水平以及暴力意圖等方面，具有顯著的涵化效果。具體而言，玩家的暴力網游的接觸量越大，則越傾向于認爲世界是卑鄙的，他人是不值得信任的，對暴力的贊同度越高，移情水平越低，且越傾向于採取暴力行爲作爲解决矛盾衝突的手段。本文還分析了暴力網游的涵化效果與電視涵化效果的异同，給出了合理的解釋。 / 此外，本研究還利用結果方程模型對暴力網游接觸量、暴力態度、移情和暴力意圖四者之間的關係進行了探索性研究，優化後的模型顯示，暴力網游接觸量對暴力意圖既有直接正面影響，也通過影響暴力態度從而間接對暴力意圖産生影響。暴力網游接觸量還與移情有顯著負相關，但移情則與暴力意圖無顯著相關。該模型驗證了暴力網游的第三順序的涵化效果。 / With the development of online games in Mainland China and the popularity of them among adolescents，the effects of violent games on this group arise more and more attention. Researches talk more about the effect on adolescent’s behavior, and cannot confirm the causal relations between violent online games and aggression. Based on cultivation theory, the current study mainly investigated the effects of violent online games on adolescents from cognitive, attitudinal and affective perspective, and also tested the moderating effect of players’ violent experiences and perceived reality of online games. Moreover, this study explored the third order cultivation effect of violent online games, which refers to whether online game playing will affect players’ intentions to solve problems with aggressive behaviors. / This study adopted quantitative questionnaire surveys among adolescents as the main research method, supplemented by qualitative textual analysis. By selecting World of Warcraft, which is the most popular MMORPG game among players, this study analyzed the characteristics of how the violent elements are demonstrated and also the narrative strategies of violence. Questionnaire surveys were conducted based on a stratified cluster sampling of eight middle schools in Guangzhou. The final sample consisted of 518 adolescents. / The findings show that most popular games among adolescents are violent. Violent online games did not predicted significant violent beliefs on personal level, and partly predicted violent beliefs on societal level. Violent online game playing was not significantly associated with players’ fear of crime. However, on the other hand, the cultivation effects of violent online games on mean world syndrome, attitude toward violence, empathy and violent intentions are supported. / Adolescents who play more violent online games are more inclined to think that the world is mean，others are not worth trusted. More playing are also associated with more proviolent attitude, lower empathy, and more violent intentions. Based on these findings, the differences and similarities of cultivation effects between TV viewing and game play are analyzed. / This study also conducted an exploratory research on the relationships among violent online games playing, attitudes toward violence, empathy and violent intentions by using Structural Equation Modeling. It is found that violent online games playing directly influenced intentions, and also indirectly influenced intentions through its effects on attitude towards violence. Violent online game playing is negatively associated with empathy，but empathy is not significantly associated with intentions. The final modified model confirmed the third order cultivation effect of violent online games. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 陳韵博. / "2013年5月". / "2013 nian 5 yue". / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 339-359). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in Chinese and English. / Chen Yunbo. / 摘要 --- p.i / Abstract --- p.ii / 致谢 --- p.iv / 目录 --- p.v / 圖示及表格索引 --- p.xi / Chapter 第一章 --- 研究背景介绍 --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- 選題背景 --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- 網絡遊戲的迅猛發展 --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- 網絡遊戲成爲青少年的主要娛樂方式 --- p.2 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- 青少年喜歡的網遊多有暴力成分 --- p.4 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- 暴力遊戲的盛行與青少年犯罪 --- p.6 / Chapter 1.1.5 --- 社會各界的反應 --- p.9 / Chapter 1.1.6 --- 暴力網遊真的十惡不赦嗎？ --- p.14 / Chapter 1.2 --- 研究問題與研究價值 --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.1 --- 研究問題 --- p.16 / Chapter 1.2.2 --- 研究價值 --- p.19 / Chapter 1.3 --- 研究框架 --- p.20 / Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻綜述（一）：媒介暴力效果研究 --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1 --- 西方媒介暴力效果研究的歷史沿革 --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- 電影與暴力：佩恩基金會的研究 --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- 漫畫暴力 --- p.25 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- 電視暴力的效果研究 --- p.27 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- 暴力電子游戲 --- p.34 / Chapter 2.1.5 --- 小結 --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2 --- 媒介暴力效果研究相關理論 --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- 解釋媒介暴力短期效果的理論 --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- 解釋媒介暴力長期效果的理論 --- p.44 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- 媒介暴力的治療和抑制效果：淨化理論（Catharsis Theory） --- p.53 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- 小結 --- p.55 / Chapter 2.3 --- 中國內地的媒介暴力研究 --- p.56 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- 中國學術研究語境中的“媒介暴力 --- p.56 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- 中國內地的媒介暴力研究 --- p.58 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- 中國內地媒介暴力效果的量化實證研究 --- p.60 / Chapter 2.4 --- 暴力的定義 --- p.63 / Chapter 第三章 --- 文獻回顧二：涵化理論 --- p.67 / Chapter 3.1 --- 涵化理論的發展歷程 --- p.67 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- 發展期（1968-1978） --- p.68 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- 挑戰期（1978-1990） --- p.75 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- 理論發展期（1990-2000） --- p.83 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- 涵化理論的發展現狀（2000-2010） --- p.87 / Chapter 3.2 --- 中國內地和港臺地區的涵化效果研究. --- p.91 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- 中國內地的涵化效果研究 --- p.91 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- 港臺地區的涵化研究 --- p.96 / Chapter 3.3 --- 涵化理論在暴力網絡遊戲中的適應性 --- p.100 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- 涵化理論運用於網絡遊戲所面臨的挑戰 --- p.100 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- 暴力網遊的涵化研究：當前的文獻 --- p.104 / Chapter 第四章 --- 研究假設和研究問題 --- p.106 / Chapter 4.1 --- “延伸的涵化效果 --- p.106 / Chapter 4.2 --- 與暴力相關的涵化變量 --- p.107 / Chapter 4.3 --- 不同變量的涵化效果强度 --- p.109 / Chapter 4.4 --- 研究假設與研究問題 --- p.112 / Chapter 4.5 --- 調節變量的影響 --- p.121 / Chapter 第五章 --- 研究方法 --- p.125 / Chapter 5.1 --- 數據收集過程 --- p.125 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- 焦點小組 --- p.125 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- 問卷調查 --- p.126 / Chapter 5.2 --- 變量的測量 --- p.129 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- 自變量：暴力網絡游戲的接觸量 --- p.130 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- 因變量 --- p.131 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- 控制變量 --- p.135 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- 調節變量 --- p.136 / Chapter 5.3 --- 數據處理方法 --- p.140 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- 多元分層回歸分析 (Hierarchical Regression Analysis) --- p.140 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- 結構方程模型 --- p.141 / Chapter 第六章 --- 理解游戲世界 --- p.147 / Chapter 6.1 --- 網絡游戲簡介 --- p.147 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- 網絡游戲及其分類 --- p.147 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- 網絡游戲的魅力 --- p.149 / Chapter 6.2 --- 走近暴力網游 --- p.151 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- 網絡游戲中暴力的根源 --- p.151 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- 暴力網絡游戲的影響機制 --- p.152 / Chapter 6.3 --- 網絡游戲中的暴力--以《魔獸世界》爲例 --- p.153 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- 選擇《魔獸世界》的理由 --- p.154 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- 從整體規劃看《魔獸世界》中暴力的特點 --- p.156 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- 從角色技能看暴力的展現 --- p.162 / Chapter 6.3.4 --- 從視覺角度看《魔獸世界》中的暴力場景 --- p.163 / Chapter 6.3.5 --- 游戲世界之外的暴力 --- p.167 / Chapter 第七章 --- 研究發現 --- p.169 / Chapter 7.1 --- 量表的信度和效度 --- p.169 / Chapter 7.1.1 --- 信度 --- p.169 / Chapter 7.1.2 --- 效度 --- p.171 / Chapter 7.1.3 --- 本研究量表的信度和效度 --- p.173 / Chapter 7.2 --- 青少年網絡行爲基本描述 --- p.185 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- 平均每周上網時間 --- p.185 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- 網上活動 --- p.186 / Chapter 7.2.3 --- 玩網絡游戲的歷史 --- p.187 / Chapter 7.2.4 --- 游戲地點 --- p.187 / Chapter 7.2.5 --- 最受歡迎的網絡游戲 --- p.188 / Chapter 7.2.6 --- 網絡游戲花費 --- p.189 / Chapter 7.2.7 --- 父母監督 --- p.192 / Chapter 7.3 --- 變量的基本描述 --- p.193 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- 自變量：暴力網游接觸量 --- p.193 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- 調節變量 --- p.195 / Chapter 7.3.3 --- 因變量 --- p.197 / Chapter 7.4 --- 變量之間的相關分析 --- p.211 / Chapter 7.4.1 --- 自變量與調節變量的相關分析 --- p.211 / Chapter 7.4.2 --- 因變量與調節變量的相關分析 --- p.213 / Chapter 7.5 --- 涵化基本假設的檢驗 --- p.222 / Chapter 7.5.1 --- 暴力網游接觸量與個人層面的暴力認知 --- p.222 / Chapter 7.5.2 --- 暴力網游接觸量與社會層面的暴力認知 --- p.232 / Chapter 7.5.3 --- 暴力網游接觸量與卑鄙世界綜合症 --- p.249 / Chapter 7.5.4 --- 暴力網游接觸量與暴力態度 --- p.253 / Chapter 7.5.5 --- 暴力網游接觸量與移情水平 --- p.257 / Chapter 7.5.6 --- 暴力網游接觸量與暴力意圖 --- p.261 / Chapter 7.5.7 --- 暴力態度與暴力意圖之間的關係檢驗 --- p.264 / Chapter 7.5.8 --- 移情水平與暴力意圖之間的關係檢驗 --- p.266 / Chapter 7.5.9 --- 暴力網游接觸量與對犯罪的恐懼 --- p.267 / Chapter 7.5.10 --- 本節小結 --- p.269 / Chapter 7.6 --- 第三順序的涵化效果：結構方程模型的檢驗結果 --- p.272 / Chapter 7.6.1 --- 驗證性因子分析 --- p.273 / Chapter 7.6.2 --- 結構方程模型的檢驗結果 --- p.276 / Chapter 第八章 --- 總結與討論 --- p.287 / Chapter 8.1 --- 研究結果總結 --- p.287 / Chapter 8.1.1 --- 暴力網遊的吸引力 --- p.287 / Chapter 8.1.2 --- 暴力網遊對青少年的涵化效果. --- p.289 / Chapter 8.1.3 --- 小結 --- p.295 / Chapter 8.2 --- 本研究的理論價值 --- p.298 / Chapter 8.3 --- 本研究的方法創新 --- p.305 / Chapter 8.4 --- 本研究的現實啓示 --- p.306 / Chapter 8.4.1 --- 網絡遊戲的暴力性評估和分級制度 --- p.306 / Chapter 8.4.2 --- 青少年的網絡媒介素養教育 --- p.313 / Chapter 8.4.3 --- 對社會各界的啓示 --- p.315 / Chapter 8.5 --- 研究局限與未來的方向 --- p.320 / Chapter 8.5.1 --- 本研究的局限 --- p.320 / Chapter 8.5.2 --- 未來的研究方向 --- p.324 / Chapter 附錄 --- 問卷 --- p.327 / 參考文獻 --- p.339

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) present fantastic, persistent worlds and narratives for a community of players to experience through pre-defined rules, roles, and environments. To be able to offer the opportunity for every player to try the same experiences, many game developers have opted to create elaborate virtual theme parks: scripted experiences within static worlds that cannot be affected or changed through player actions. Within these games, some players have turned to role-playing to establish meaningful connections to these worlds by expanding upon and subverting the game's expectations to assume a limited sense of agency within the world. The interaction between role-players and the locations they occupy within these worlds is a notable marker of this narrative layering; specific locations inform social codes of conduct, designed by developers, and then repurposed by players for their characters and stories. Through a qualitative case study in World of Warcraft on public role-playing events, this thesis considers how the design of in-game locations inform their use for role-playing, and how locations are altered through storytelling as a result.