Submitted by Glauber de Assunção Moreira (glauber.moreira@ufba.br) on 2018-09-21T18:09:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese versão para entrega 2.pdf: 3703165 bytes, checksum: 0ab52dcdd975f05d78659b1aa6b8bd90 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ednaide Gondim Magalhães (ednaide@ufba.br) on 2018-09-25T12:47:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese versão para entrega 2.pdf: 3703165 bytes, checksum: 0ab52dcdd975f05d78659b1aa6b8bd90 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-25T12:47:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese versão para entrega 2.pdf: 3703165 bytes, checksum: 0ab52dcdd975f05d78659b1aa6b8bd90 (MD5) / A presente tese tem como objetivo analisar dramaturgicamente o Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) World of Wacraft (WoW), identificando e sistematizando seus aspectos estruturais. Este trabalho sustenta a hipótese de que a dramaturgia de WoW é estruturada de modo a dar suporte ao processo contínuo de expansão do jogo ao longo dos últimos 10 anos (do jogo base ao pacote de expansão Mists of Pandaria). A tese nomeia dramaturgia da expansão, o tipo de construção dramatúrgica que, tal como a de World of Warcraft, é orientada pela necessidade expandir o espaço e o tempo ficcionais, ampliar o número e a extensão das suas ações dramáticas, além de incorporar novos personagens a fim de criar novas experiências narrativas e de jogo (referindo-se ao universo dos jogos digitais ou analógicos). Esse tipo de dramaturgia não surge com WoW, afinal o referido MMORPG possui uma evidente filiação a jogos de interpretação de personagens, os Role-Playing Games (RPG) de mesa e digitais, os quais já apresentam estratégias de expansão do seu universo ficcional e experiências de jogo com fins comerciais. Assim, o presente trabalho se configura como um estudo de caso e, portanto, verifica particularidades da dramaturgia de WoW ao mesmo tempo que aponta generalizações possíveis. A pesquisa adota uma metodologia pautada na observação direta e participante (na medida em que é preciso jogar para analisar o objeto). O próprio jogo constitui a principal fonte de dados da pesquisa. Dados estes obtidos a partir de cerca de 700 horas de jogo com 19 personagens jogáveis por parte do pesquisador e cruzados com um aparato teórico multidisciplinar advindo dos media studies, games studies, teorias do imaginário, teorias dos gêneros literários e estudos teatrais para serem enfim sistematizados na presente tese. Como resultado foi possível confirmar a hipótese defendida, verificando como cada um dos aspectos estruturais analisados (Ação, Composição de personagens e organização espacial dos signos) colabora para o contínuo processo de expansão do jogo. / This thesis aims to analyze dramaturgically the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying (MMORPG) World of Wacraft (WoW), identifying and systematizing its structural aspects. This work sustains the hypothesis that the dramaturgy of WoW is structured to support the ongoing process of expansion of the game over the last 10 years (from the base game to the expansion pack Mists of Pandaria). The thesis names dramaturgy of the expansion, the type of dramaturgical construction which, such as World of Warcraft, is guided by the need to expand the fictional space and fictional time, increase the number and the extent of their dramatic actions, as well as incorporate new characters to create new narratives and game experiences (referring to the universe of digital or analog games). This type of drama does not come with WoW, after all the said MMORPG has an obvious affiliation to the interpretation of characters games, table and digital Role-Playing Games (RPG), which already have expansion strategies of their fictional universe and experience game for commercial purposes. Thus, this study is configured as a case study and therefore, verifies dramaturgy of particularities of WoW while pointing possible generalizations. It adopts a guided methodology in direct and participant observation (to the extent that is necessary to play to analyze the object). The game itself is the main source of research data. These data obtained from about 700 hours of playing with 19 playable characters from the researcher and crossed with a multidisciplinary theoretical apparatus arising from media studies, games studies, imaginary theories, theories of literary genres and theater studies to be finally systematized in this thesis. As a result it was possible to confirm the hypothesis defended by checking how each of the structural aspects analyzed (Action, composition of characters and spatial organization of the signs) contributes to the continued expansion of the game process.

Virtual worlds give us the opportunity to explore another self, a virtual character of the real life you. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) have become extremely popular over the last decade. It has also grown into a lucrative business. To keep the players, the game needs to be more than just a game. This study aimed at finding out what factors that determine which features of the character creation interface that are most important to players. The following research question was formed; “Which underlying factors affect how important different features of the character creation interface are to experienced MMORPG players? To be able to answer the question an extensive literature review was conducted. A qualitative approach was taken. Long interviews were made with five participants, two female and three male players. The interviews took place while they created a number of avatars in different MMORPGs. The interviews were then followed up. During the follow-ups, the impact the character creation process had for the players, were discussed. The findings indicate that the character creation interface is important for the players to get a good gaming experience. However different types of players require different things. Important features for the users to change were mainly; the head; the name; and adding parts of yourself on your character. The factors that determined the importance of these features were found to be; Player types; Identity types; Immersion levels; and whether or not the game or the gaming experience were new to the player. Another finding showed that the longer you have played a game the less bizarre the different races, classes and gender will seem. The study also indicated that the female participants had a hard time identifying with their male characters.

This thesis tells the story of a design case creating an user interface for a MMORPG where the player are able control the body language of the avatar. By this the game can achieve a gameplay about drama and strong characterization. The thesis addresses considerations on what aspects of body language that can be important for computer games and other virtual environments. It also offers design considerations when designing interfaces for using gestures and other body signals to communicate emotions in virtual environments such as computer games. The main design consideration when creating the interface was to treat the player as an actor and the game world as a stage. The player needs to be in control of combinations of facial expressions, body posture and gestures as well as relative avatar positioning to other characters and objects. The interface was first tested as a paper prototype, re-designed, re-tested and then implemented into a computer prototype.

Massiva onlinerollspel är idag mycket populära och försäljningen och spelandet utav dessa ökar markant. I och med detta väcks frågan om vad det är i dessa onlinespel som gör att människor spelar och fortsätter spela. Denna uppsats inriktas främst mot MMORPG:s, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, då författarna anser att det är i denna onlinespelsgenre den största möjligheten att finna och definiera de faktorer, som påverkar spelares vilja att spela, finns. För att ta reda på dessa faktorer skapades en enkät vars frågor utformades med en gameflowmodell i baktanken. Denna enkät lades sedan ut på sex olika onlinespelsanknutna forum, där totalt 105 spelare anonymt deltog. Den bygger dock även på tidigare gjorda undersökningar och rapporter om onlinespelandets anledningar, analyserade artiklar inom ämnet MMORPG spel och sist men inte minst författarnas egna erfarenheter utav MMORPG spel.

The purpose of this essay is to identify functional shifts and semantic changes in the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Lord of the Rings Online. The focus is on new uses of established terms in Standard English and the intent is to see how the word formation processes work in an online gaming environment, and identify the possible reasons behind them. Due to the lack of previous studies of language in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, the aim is to provide some insight into some of the language developments that occur in such an environment. A quantitative method has been utilised in order to distinguish patterns, and the material, in the form of chat logs, has been gathered from Lord of the Rings Online. The chat logs have then been used to create a corpus, and, from this point, a qualitative method has been employed. The corpus has been thoroughly analysed for the words which have undergone functional shifts and/or semantic changes, and a selection of these words are presented and discussed based on word formation process. The findings in this study seem to confirm that language changes in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game follow the same patterns as in other environments.

The proliferation of the Internet and online-based social interactions has become an increasingly popular topic with communication scholars. The goal of this study was to explore how massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) players make sense of and negotiate their online social interactions. This study (N = 292) examined how players of SecondLife and World of Warcraft evaluated their online relationships compared to their offline relationships and investigated how different levels of realism within different MMORPGs effected player's online experiences. The results indicated that players of SecondLife placed higher values of emotional closeness to their online relationships when compared to players of World of Warcraft and SecondLife was rated more real by its players than World of Warcraft. Results further indicated that players of SecondLife had higher levels of perceived online emotional closeness when compared to perceived offline emotional closeness. Implications of this study focus on developing a bottom up holistic profile of online game players as opposed to the current top down research model.

Obwohl sich aus medienpsychologischer Sicht auch nach der vorliegenden Untersuchung bisher nur eine eingeschränkte Perspektive zur Bewertung von prosozialen Verhaltensweisen in MMORPGs ergibt, zeigen die ersten Ergebnisse, dass die Problematik eine nicht zu unterschätzende Relevanz in der Erklärung sozialer Präsenz in virtuellen Welten hat. Prosoziales Verhalten tritt in allen MMORPGs auf und ist wahrscheinlich ein konstituierender Faktor sozialer Präsenz. Diese wiederum scheint das Spielerlebnis von "World of Warcraft" und ähnlichen Spielen entscheidend zu prägen und erklärt, unter Umständen, ihren Reiz für die Spieler. Daher müssen weitere Anstrengungen unternommen werden, den scheinbaren Widerspruch zwischen prosozialem Verhalten in MMORPGs und deren Regelspielcharakter aufzulösen und das Phänomen Altruismus in virtuellen Welten stärker zu operationalisieren. In diesem Kontext ist anzunehmen, dass Erfolg im Spiel nicht nur durch das Erreichen von expliziten Spielzielen, sondern auch in Form eines verdeckten Prestiges als sozialer Status manifestiert wird. Beide Bewertungskategorien des Erfolges stehen dabei in Interdependenz. Wie in der wirklichen Gesellschaft, kann ich Hilfe in schwierigen Situationen nur erwarten, wenn ich selbst bereit bin zu helfen.

The purpose of this study was to provide data concerning Distributive Justice system use and perceived fairness by citizens who have participated in a Distributive Justice based society over a long period of time. This data filled a hole in academic studies which had previously focused on datasets from citizens in non-Distributive Justice based societies or participants in short-term experiments. Using a questionnaire, players of the online game Final Fantasy XIV were asked a series of questions concerning their perceptions of fairness and use of varying Distributive models, as well as questions on their perceived relationships to one another and time spent within Final Fantasy XIV. There were four main results of the study. Firstly, Utilitarian and Need based distribution systems were seen as the most fair and used. Secondly, perceived relationships between participants did not majorly affect perceived fairness of Distribution systems. Thirdly, more time spent in Final Fantasy XIV did affect perceived fairness of varying types of Distribution systems. And, finally, the results indicated a Sufficiency based reasoning for using Utilitarian and Need based resource distribution to individuals until groups hit a sufficiency level, at which point the Distribution systems changed to meet new criteria.

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