This paper investigates how players interact in classic and retail World of Warcraft by conducting a participant observation study by joining Pickup Groups (PUGs) to play through dungeons. Chat activity is logged and all messages are categorised into different types depending on what is conveyed in an attempt to see if and how social interactions differ between the games. The results indicate that classic players communicate more, both for instrumental value and for purely social reasons. All players met throughout the classic PUGs interacted to some extent through the chat. Most retail players chose not to interact via chat at all. It is speculated that the varying levels of social interaction are connected to the accessibility of the PUGs and dungeons. Dungeons that required more effort to access and had challenges that required an irregular strategy generally had a higher level of social interaction within them. Groups that established a positive atmosphere through social interaction had players that responded to potentially frustrating events by reassuring the other players in order to uphold this atmosphere. Groups that did not establish such an atmosphere responded with frustration instead in similar situations. / Denna uppsats undersöker hur spelare interagerar i klassiska och moderna World of Warcraft genom att utföra en deltagande observation av “Pickup Groups” (PUGs) i så kallade “dungeons”. Chatt-aktiviteten loggades och alla meddelanden kategoriseras i olika typer beroende på vad som förmedlas i ett försök att se om och hur sociala interaktioner skiljer sig mellan de två versionerna. Resultaten visar att spelare av den klassiska versionen kommunicerar mer, både för instrumentellt värde och av rent sociala skäl. Alla spelare som möttes under de klassiska PUG: erna interagerade till viss del genom chatten. De flesta spelare av den moderna versionen valde att inte interagera via chatten alls. Det spekuleras att de olika nivåerna av social interaktion är kopplat till tillgängligheten av PUG:er och Dungeons. Dungeons som krävde mer ansträngningar för att få tillgång till och hade utmaningar som krävde en annorlunda strategi hade i allmänhet en högre nivå av social interaktion inom sig. Grupper som etablerade en positiv atmosfär genom social interaktion hade spelare som reagerade på potentiellt frustrerande händelser genom att uppmuntra de andra spelarna för att upprätthålla denna atmosfär. Grupper som inte etablerade en sådan atmosfär reagerade istället med frustration i liknande situationer.

This dissertation is about moral cognition and the production of spiritual experiences in the Chinese version of the massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft (CWoW). Chapter 1 introduces the game, field sites, data collection methods, and the questions and paradigms that structure the dissertation's narrative. This chapter explains that during fieldwork CWoW players frequently described gameplay as yielding positive moral and spiritual experiences. Chapter 2 outlines the cognitive mechanisms – Haidt and Joseph's 'moral foundations' (2004; 2007) – that are hypothesised to inform the in-game experiences to which players attributed moral significance. Chapter 3 argues that some aspects of the WoW gameworld are high in cognitive 'relevance' (following Sperber & Wilson, 1986) for Haidt and Joseph's moral foundations. This relevance yields the game a capacity for cross-cultural appeal. Chapter 4 argues that social agencies operant in the lives of CWoW players motivated players to utilise these morally relevant aspects of gameplay as a 'religion-like tool for group cohesion' (following Sosis & Alcorta, 2008). These extra-game agencies help explain why these aspects of gameplay were cultivated in lieu of, or as superordinate to, aspects that may be 'relevant' to other cognitive mechanisms. Chapter 5 argues that reports of soul merger experiences obtained in CWoW resemble Durkheim’s 'collective effervescence' (Durkheim, 1995 [1912]) and may be understood at the cognitive level as 'flow' (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) experiences conjoined with affective outputs from Haidt and Joseph's moral foundations. Chapter 6 summarises the key points made in the preceding chapters and concludes that in the contexts sampled here, high-contingency aspects of CWoW gameplay may be viewed as Durkheimian religious rituals.

In clinical practice, sufficient attention is paid to the substance dependencies in many respects. Despite being similar to these dependencies, the issue of "activities, behavior, processes" is often left aside. This work deals with online computer games, mostly with the World of Warcraft (WoW), because there are players who may have a problem not only in relation to addictive behavior. The aim of the research was to describe the psychopathological characteristics of MMORPG players and describe the connection between their occurrence and the rate of reported addictive behavior. Participants were MMORPG active players recruited by self-selection based on addressing through online discussion forums, facebook pages and e-mail snowball. The minimum range of subjects was set at 100 players. Tool for gathering data was online questionnaire. The results were determined using descriptive- analytical and mathematical statistics with the help of SPSS software. The final group consists of 243 respondents, of which 216 are men (89%) and 27 women (11%). The age range of the respondents is between 10-56 years, the average age is 22 years. 185 respondents (76%) considered WoW as being their first choice game. Of 243 respondents 23 (it is about 10%) have shown addictive behavior (including 22 men and 1 woman)....

Tidigare studier visar att människor skapar olika uppfattningar runt olika kroppsformer både runt personlighetsdrag och fysiska attribut. Målet med undersökningen är att testa hur uppfattningar runt olika kroppsformer på en kvinnlig karaktär påverkar syn på trovärdighet inom karaktärsklasser i World of Warcraft (2004), då främst klassen präst, samt viljan att spela som karaktären. Detta gjordes genom en intervju med spelare av World of Warcraft (2004) där de fick diskutera samma karaktär med sex olika kroppsformer. Resultaten för undersökningen indikerar att uppfattningar av kroppsform utifrån fysiska attribut spelade en stor roll i deras syn på trovärdighet inom karaktärsklassen präst. De största skillnaderna i uppfattningar runt fysiska attribut och personlighetsdrag kunde ses mellan muskulösa och icke-muskulösa figurer. Skillnad mellan uppfattningar av fysiska attribut kunde även ses mellan smala och överviktiga figurer. Vilken figur deltagarna helst ville spela berodde främst på uppfattad trovärdighet inom karaktärsklassen präst, men även delvis visuella preferenser hos deltagaren.

Popular fantasy is often populated by members of different species, such as dwarves, elves, and orcs. Much of the narrative structure of the genre comes from the interactions and conflicts between these species, with many of them serving as stand ins for real world culture. This has become the underlying fabric of fantasy fiction and has deep resonance in our contemporary pop culture. However, many of these depictions are founded on colonialist constructions of race and otherness, turning the genre into a medium for reproducing racist ideologies, often unconsciously. This thesis examines the origins and trajectory of this trend by looking at one of the most well- known examples of contemporary fantasy: Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

According to a 2009 study, 68% of American households played video games (Entertainment Software Association). With this number continually on the rise, video games and their cultures are in need of further scholarly exploration. A video game of particular interest is a massive online game known as World of Warcraft, drawing over twelve million players worldwide (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010). With a cyberspace-based culture, World of Warcraft exposes its players to phenomenon that are unique to it, and thereby not easily understood through the same measures and evaluations offered by society at large. One such phenomena is that of gender, or more specifically the bending of gender by which players assume characters of the opposite gender. Although a common practice in video games like World of Warcraft, its motivations have yet to receive adequately scholarly attention. The present study seeks to explore the process of gender selection in the massive online game World of Warcraft through qualitative methods utilizing interviews, texts, and field notes. The data is then analyzed using Kellner's (2003) methods of critical analysis of media and Langian's (1975) work on thematization.

<p>Onlinespelet World of Warcraft (WoW) erbjuder ungdomar en annorlunda social arena, en värld som bara existerar online. Datorspel har blivit en växande underhållning och fler ungdomar spenderar en stor del av sin fritid framför datorn. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur ungdomarna spelar WoW och om de utnyttjar den sociala spelarenan som erbjuds. Genom att belysa spelet WoW, hoppas vi ge blivande pedagoger en ökad förståelse för onlinespel som är ett exempel på en växande populär fritidsyssla för barn och ungdomar idag. Vi har använt oss av kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer med sex pojkar i åldrarna 14-19 år. Pojkarna är alla aktiva spelare av WoW. Resultaten visar att sociala mötesplatser inom informationsteknikens arenor innebär att de traditionella förväntningarna och de vedertagna identiteterna kan överskridas och utmanas. Detta innebär att individen får ett allt bredare fält av erfarenheter och därav blir identitetens möjligheter fler. Intervjuerna visade att ungdomarnas främsta syfte inte var att skaffa sig kompisar bland de andra spelarna, utan att de andra spelarna mest fanns till för deras spelkaraktärer. Målet var att bli bäst!</p><p>Beskrivning: The massive multiplayer online role playing game, World of Warcraft (WoW) offers young players another social arena, a world only offered to them online. Computer games is becoming a growing entertainment for youth today, spending large amount of time in front of the computer. The intention of our essay was to investigate how youths play WoW and if they use the social arena offered to them. Looking into the game WoW, gives us as future educationalists an increased understanding of online games as an example of a growing popular leisure pursuit for children and youth today. We have used qualitative interviews including observations with six boys aged 14-19. The boys are all active players of WoW. Social meeting grounds in the areas of information technology exceed and challenge the traditional expectations and accepted identities. This means the individual receives a broader field of experiences making the possibilities of the identity expand. The interviews concluded that the main purpose for the boys was not to make more friends among other players. The other players were used only to enhance their own in game characters. The goal was to become best!</p>

<p><strong>Sammanfattning</strong></p><p><strong>Titel:</strong> Sociala Interaktioner hos utövare av World of Warcraft</p><p><strong>Författare:</strong> Lars Rydberg & Johan Hansson</p><p><strong>Handledare: </strong>Malin Nilsson</p><p><strong>Examinator:</strong> Ulf Petäjä</p><p><strong>Typ av rapport:</strong> C-Uppsats</p><p><strong>Utbildning:</strong> Media- och kommunikationsvetenskap</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Arbetet är gjort med syftet att undersöka sociala interaktioner hos de som spelar World of Warcraft och hur de själva menar sig socialt agera i spelet.</p><p><strong>Problem:</strong> Onlinespel överlag, men speciellt spelare av World of Warcraft har media bedrivit en häxjakt mot. De menar att deras sociala erfarenheter hämmas på grund av att de spelar spelet för mycket.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Kvalitativa intervjuer med 8 personer som spelar World of Warcraft har utförts och sammanställts. Video- och ljudupptagning användes för att samla maximal mängd data.</p><p><strong>Resultat:</strong> Resultatet av vår undersökning visar hur den sociala interaktionen ser ut hos våra informanter som spelar World of Warcraft. Interaktionen i den virtuella världen strävar efter att efterlikna den verkliga. Detta har lett till att många utövare använder denna form av interaktion som ett komplement till deras sociala liv i verkligheten.</p>

<p>This essay is predominantly a qualitative piece of research by which I mean it is mainly based on my own observations and analysis of the material. To do this I will cover the theories of <em>communities of practice</em> together with gendered language and apply it to the community and language of the online game World of Warcraft.</p><p>Through using collected chat logs, I will analyse conversations held in World of Warcraft with a specific focus on gender and identity, I will then compare these to examples of face-to-face conversations. My analysis will draw on the works of theorists such as Holmes (2006), Sunderland and Litosseliti (2002), Eckert and McConnel-Ginet (1992) amongst others. This study will show that although Netspeak within World of Warcraft is written and not spoken, the strategies for creating gendered identities are not very different from real life discourse. The essay will be a general study of gendered language in a virtual community and will discover that there is an extremely nuanced language within the limited communication medium of <em>chat</em>, and lays the ground for more extensive research on the subject.</p>

<p>The aim of this study is to examine the language from a small sample of texts from the chat channels of World of Warcraft and analyze the differences found between World of Warcraft English and Standard English. In addition, the studywill compare the language found in World of Warcraft with language found on other parts of the Internet, especially chatgroups. Based on 1045 recorded chat messages, this study examines the use of abbreviations, emoticons, vocabulary, capitalization, spelling, multiple letter use and the use of rare characters. The results of the investigation show that the language of World of Warcraft differs from Standard English on several aspects, primarily in the use of abbreviations. This is supported by secondary sources. The results also show that the use of language is probably not based on the desire to deliver a message quickly, but rather to reach out to people. In addition, the results show that the language found in World of Warcraft is more advanced than a simple effort to try to imitate speech, thereby performing more than written speech.</p>