Thesis (M. S.)--Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Pearce, Celia; Committee Member: Burnett, Rebecca; Committee Member: Do, Ellen Yi-Luen; Committee Member: Knoespel, Kenneth. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

Denna studie utfördes för att undersöka konceptet om mörka designmönster i MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) spel och för att ta reda på vad spelarna tyckte om dem. Detta gjordes för att utöka kunskapen kring ämnet och för att lysa ett ljus på hur spelare blir påverkade av mörka designmönster. Denna studie gjordes dessutom för att det ännu inte finns några undersökningar om spelarnas upplevelser och åsikter kring mörka designmönster i datorspel. Vi valde att fokusera på spelet Runescape då det är ett av de mest populära MMORPG spelen just nu. Dessutom liknar detta spel många andra MMORPG spel i hur det är designat. Definitionerna på mörka designmönster i denna studie kommer huvudsakligen från José Zagals studie om mörka designmönster i spel som publicerades 2013. Denna undersökning utfördes genom att publicera en enkät på några olika Runescape-forum. Enkäten innehöll frågor till spelarna om deras åsikter och syner på de olika mörka designmönster som kan hittas i spelet. Studien visade att spelare har blandade åsikter och att det fanns många spelare som var generellt sett positiva mot de mörka designmönstren i spelet. Många var också väl medvetna om de problematiska aspekterna av dessa och hade negativa åsikter om dem. Trots det tolererade spelarna dem eftersom att de fortsatte spendera väldigt många timmar i spelet. Några av dem med negativa åsikter beskrev hur deras beroende av spelet fick dem att fortsätta spela även fast de tyckte illa om de mörka designmönstren. / This study was performed in order to investigate the concept of dark design patterns in MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) games and what players think about them. This was done in order to deepen the knowledge surrounding this topic and to get more insight to how players are affected by dark design patterns since there are currently no studies on players' opinions on dark design patterns in video games. For the purpose of this study we focused on the game Runescape as it is currently one of the most popular MMORPG games. The game is also very similar to many other MMORPG games when it comes to its design. The definitions of the dark design patterns present in this study primarily come from José Zagals study on dark patterns in games from 2013. Our study was conducted by posting a survey asking the players about their opinions on the dark design patterns that could be identified in Runescape. The survey was posted on a couple of Runescape discussion-forums. The study showed that players had mixed opinions and that many players had a general non-negative view on the dark design patterns present in the game. At the same time, many were also well aware of the problematic aspects of the dark patterns and had negative opinions on them but nevertheless tolerated them as they kept putting many hours into the game. A few of the ones with negative opinions described how their addiction to the game made them keep playing despite disliking the dark design patterns.

This thesis explores economic aspects of virtual worlds by focusing on a specific massively multiplayer online role-playing game, RuneScape. In particular, it examines the similarities and differences between the virtual economics and real world economics, the economic understanding of RuneScape players and the possibility of using virtual worlds as a laboratory for testing economic behavior and theory. This thesis uses a versatile methodology that includes texts, direct observation, self-reports, and other reports to investigate the research questions. Virtual economics in general and RuneScape in specific are understudied so far and this study fills a gap in the literature. The unique contributions of this thesis are: a comprehensive survey that reveals player perceptions of economics, a new equation useful for modeling money supply, and a new use of faucet-drain economy in massively multiplayer online games. The results indicate that virtual economics of RuneScape partially reflects real world economics, player perceptions of virtual and real world economy are surprisingly complex, and virtual worlds can be used to study real world economics. Game developers, players, economists, educators, researchers, and individuals who are interested in massively multiplayer online games and economy in general can benefit from this study.

This paper analyses the players’ perception of the feedback and polling systems of OldSchool RuneScape to determine what level of participatory design is achieved by the feedback and polling systems used in the game. The aim of the research is to increase the availability of knowledge regarding participatory design in live-service games, as only limited coverage of the topic exists. The study uses an adapted survey created by Segalowitz and Chamorro-Koc that uses three different metrics to measure genuine participation. The survey was presented to in-game players and users of the game’s different forums. It was determined that a high level of genuine participation and participatory design is achieved.