<p>The language used in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (or MMORPGs) is a form of computer-mediate communication. It consists of elements from both written and spoken language, but it is a highly abbreviated and innovative form of written language. This study focuses on the English language used in a MMORPG called Warhammer Online. The aim of this study is to identify abbreviations, interpret their meanings and to analyze the word formation processes and semantic changes that are involved in new words. The method used in this study is a qualitative case study of the English language in a MMORPG from a synchronic point of view. The secondary sources used in this study include previous works on morphology and semantics. The material used is based on logs acquired from the game Warhammer Online as a subscribed player. The results presented in this study show new and unique words created by players in Warhammer Online, along with other semantic changes that have taken place. It is concluded that the English written language has not seen such a major change in its entirety before, within one community.</p>

I denna studie så kommer jag att analysera MMORPG-spelet World of Warcraft genom att utföra en analys i hopp om att isolera spelmekanismer och element som kan anses vara välfungerande och väldesignade. Jag kommer dessutom att bryta ner World of Warcraft till dess kärnkomponenter med hjälp av Interaction Centric Framework modellen som ett komplement till denna studie. Resultaten visar att World of Warcraft använder sig av många slags egenskaper och designval som skiljer sig själv från andra spel, som att dra ner på story element och att destillera spelets kärna till en väldigt grundlig ”morot-och-piska” formel som låter spelaren kunna spela oavbrutet utan att känna något skäl att sluta spela. / In this paper, I intend to analyze the MMORPG game World of Warcraft by conducting a formal analysis as a way to isolate game mechanics and elements that could be viewed as well-functioning and well-designed. I will also be breaking down the core components of World of Warcraft using the Interaction Centric Framework to complement the study. The results show that World of Warcraft employs a number of features and design choices that differentiates itself from other games, such as stripping the game of story elements and distilling the gameplay to a basic “carrot on a stick” formula, also leaving the player completely uninterrupted and undeterred during gameplay.

Emergency response agencies that need to care for large crowds in real-life events, report a constant lack in human volunteers in large numbers for training purposes. Moreover, existing computerized training aides either totally omit affected crowds in their scenarios, or represent them as computer generated models. A potential solution that can provide real human input in large numbers for training purposes can be found in the form of Massive Multi-user Online Role-Playing computer Games (MMORPGs) that attract millions of users on a daily basis. In order to evaluate the use of MMORPGs as an emergency simulation platform I had to examine the in-game behaviour of participants, usability issues, data collection methods, and data reliability. I did so by constructing a multi-user computer game that included food shortage and a pandemic spread scenarios. Data collected included every possible item that could be technically logged, both qualitative (questionnaires, user’s self tagging of events) and quantitative (all in-game actions and their coordinates, players and virtual environment in-game status). The abundance of data enabled easy triangulation and verification. The main findings were: participants attention span was about 90 minutes, they demonstrated only a narrow range of behaviours necessary for their in-game survival, and this behaviour followed loosely real life behaviour patterns. Usability wise participants ignored interface components and in-game tasks that interfered with their game flow. Data reliability: unlike other methods that rely solely on participants accounts, the game had the ability to compare between actions to questionnaire answers, and was able to detect inconsistencies between people’s actions within the game and their accounts of their actions. The ability to create spatial maps of event types enabled a fast way to visually analyze data. The research concludes that MMORPGs can be used as an emergency simulation platform if: 1) its duration fits the participants’ attention span (as a result aspects of human behaviour that happen over a prolonged period of time will not be demonstrated); 2) the demographic composition of participants fits that of the population examined by the simulation; 3) participants should be properly reimbursed for their time; 4) it is known that participants’ in-game behaviour might be negatively influenced by lack of real-life experience of similar events; 5) in-game rules and mechanisms are set to filter out game abuse; 6) preliminary sessions are run to determine ideal attention span and data skewing factor.

<p>Fler timmar och större intresse läggs idag ner på onlinerollspel vilka under de senaste åren blivit omåttligt populära. Våra sociala beteenden har idag förändrats och vi behöver inte längre fysiskt beträda det rum vi vanligen kommunicerade i. Vi öppnar istället upp dörrarna till en ny dimension där du “är” en virtuell identitet, och där du kanske har väldigt många fler möjligheter än i ditt fysiska liv. World of Warcraft är just ett sådant spel vilket underhåller tusentals av spelare och som kommer ligga till grund för denna uppsats.</p><p>Syftet är att skapa en dokumentation av och ge en insyn i dessa nya sociala miljöer som vi finner i World of Warcraft. Vad har tillexempel en online identitet för betydelse för jaget (spelaren) och kan det som händer i ett community på internet påverka våra fysiska sociala liv? Samma sak händer om man vänder på frågan, vad händer med spelvärldens sociala liv om man inte spelar tillräckligt mycket, hur påverkar det spelandet i sig? Är en spelare tvungen att välja bara en social arena, eller finns det en god möjlighet till en balans mellan miljöerna? Frågor om interagerbarhet, interaktivitet och kommunikation i spelet kommer också att vara centrala i uppsatsen, eftersom dessa i någon form påverkar oss som individer och sociala varelser.</p><p>Alltså vad är det som lockar och varför kan vi som individer bli påverkade av detta?</p><p>De komponenter jag finner mest bidragande till delaktighet i World of Warcraft diskuteras och analyseras sedan utifrån utvalda teoretiska utgångspunkter. Syftet är också att utifrån videoinspelade intervjuer med spelarna ge en slags bild av hur fenomenet kan se ut. I Själva dokumentärfilmen ( som tillhör uppsatsen och som finns på separat DVD) läggs Fokus på intervjuerna, (där de intervjuade får en chans att säga sin mening) och de spelmiljöer man kan stöta på i World of Warcraft . Vi följer spelaren in i världen .Med dessa rörliga bilder kan vi också få större förståelse för vad World of Warcraft är och vad det betyder för miljontals människor.</p><p>I intervjuerna med dessa respondenter försöker jag att gå in i samtal som är mer djupgående och kvalitativa. Denna form av undersökning, där så få personer medverkar kan inte kvantitativt framlägga ett övergripande mönster av hur majoritetens spelvanor ser ut.</p><p> </p>

Onlinespel tillåter spelare över hela världen att interagera med varandra på nya sätt i virtuella världar. Genom att skapa visuella representationer av sig själva kan spelarna nu kommunicera och uttrycka sig bortom den fysiska världens gränser. I denna fenomenologiska studie undersöker vi hur och om HBTQ-personer upplever sig ha möjligheten att uttrycka sexualitet och könsidentitet i online rollspelet Final Fantasy XIV samt om detta påverkas av spelets gemenskap. Med kvalitativa metoder intervjuades spelare från Final Fantasy XIV för att fånga denna upplevelse och med en queerteoretisk lins titta kritiskt på normerna i spelet. Dessa upplevelser analyserades även ur ett dramaturgiskt perspektiv och ett fokus på identitetsteorier. Resultatet från denna studie antyder att spelaren trots begränsningar finner nya och kreativa sätt att uttrycka sexualitet och kön i spelvärlden. Spelarna gör detta genom att konstruera alternativa identiteter och uppträda med sina avatarer på scenen som är den virtuella världen. Gemenskapen är en stor del av detta då den accepterande atmosfären upplevs uppmuntra till öppenhet. / Online games allow players all over the world to interact with each other in new ways in virtual worlds. Through the creation of visual representations of the players they can communicate and express themselves beyond the limits of the physical world. In this phenomenological study we investigate how and if LGBT individuals experience that they can express sexuality and gender identity in the online roleplaying game Final Fantasy XIV and if the game community affects this experience. With qualitative methods players of Final Fantasy XIV were interviewed to capture this experience and through a queer theoretical lens critically examine the norms of the game. These experiences were also analysed from a dramaturgical perspective and a focus on identity theories. The results suggest that the player, despite restrictions, find new and creative ways of expressing their sexuality and gender in the game world. The players do this by constructing alternative identities and perform with their avatars on the stage that is the virtual world. The community is a major part of this as the accepting atmosphere is perceived to encourage openness.

This thesis examines the motives of play amongst girl gamers aged nine to seventeen. It focuses on the players of the game Star Stable Online also referred to as a ‘pink’ game. It is an empirical study, using a mixed method design. The study is split into two parts and the results from part two were used to support the results from part one. In the first part of the study, quantitative data was collected through an online survey using a closed card sorting method. The survey was complemented with open and closed questions, which also gave the form a qualitative element. The second part of the study was purely qualitative, consisting of an artwork study where the method resembles arts-based elicitation. The girls were requested to send in artwork depicting the thing they love the most in the game or something they would love to have. The images were then put through thematic analysis and the outcome was compared with the data collected in the survey. The results showed that girls chose to play Star Stable Online due to their interest in horses as well as to immerse themselves in its story and narrative.

My Bachelor's thesis aimed at a standard lexical analysis carried out by the means of Del Hymes model. The MMORPG platform of the game Lord of the Rings Online served as a linguistic data collection point. Therefore, the analysis was one of mediated communication. The presented Master's thesis directly resumes the previous one. Mediated communication is even three years later still a widely discussed topic. Its understanding is deepening and its perception is continuously being refined. Nowadays, an analytical description of a linguistic phenomenon cannot be sufficient for an up-to-date thesis. Owing to recent research and new models of enquiry a deeper insight into the text is possible as well as message and communication analysis at a strictly quantitative level. Thanks to the work of people such as Joseph B. Walther, Daantje Derks or Victor Savicky one can immerse in a research reaching far beyond the linguistic element of the communication, and therefore start to examine the alluring paralingual depths inside the communication mediated via computers. Such a depth approach opens up a lot of questions. What exactly is hidden in the text? What information can be acquired through the text which is not communicated in primary code? This thesis formulates several research questions which crystalised out of my long-lasting experience with the game and the MESSAGE produced there. These questions are supplied with lingustic evidence available to the author. The presented thesis does not aim only at providing a handbook for using a specific type of communication. The aim comprises of a depth insight into the message and of finding proofs the message exhibits such traits which reveal its author. This thesis strives to prove that the product of mediated communication is capable of completing the notion of the communicating person at least as efficiently, though by different means, as the paraverbal means in face-to-face communication.

No description available.

This study explored the relationship between people who play massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) and their avatars, as well as the impact on players’ self-esteem and perceived social capital in the real world. To examine these influences of online video gameplay, this research investigated gamers who play the popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft (WoW). This study employed an online survey made available on Reddit, a widely-used news, entertainment, and social-networking website, in which all the content is user-generated. The research questionnaire was intended to reveal the bond between MMORPG players and their avatars; the study examined how this relationship could influence MMORPG players’ confidence in themselves and advance their network of relationships in the real world. The strength of the WoW players’ identification with their avatar did have some impact on their self-esteem in the real world; however, there was no significant relationship between avatar self-identification and perceived social capital in the real world. Additionally, this research did reveal a substantial correlation between self-esteem and perceived social capital in the real world.

This study sought to determine if time spent engaging in online gaming, interpersonal communication skills, and introvert personality traits are predictors of an individual’s likelihood of experiencing symptoms of social anxiety. A sample of 128 participants (82 males and 46 females) completed measures of demographics, interpersonal communication skills, problematic online gaming, social anxiety, and introversion. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. There were significant correlations among social anxiety and interpersonal communication skills, problematic online gaming, and introversion. There was no significant correlation among social anxiety and time spent playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), a specific form of online video game. It was also found that interpersonal communication skills, problematic online gaming, and introversion were all significant predictors of social anxiety. However, time spent playing MMORPGs was not a significant predictor of social anxiety.