"Alone together?": exploring the social dynamics of massively multiplayer online games
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments - Special issue: Virtual heritage
Designing Virtual Worlds
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: The People, the Addiction and the Playing Experience
Problematic Internet use or Internet addiction?
Computers in Human Behavior
Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing
Computers in Human Behavior
Project massive: self-regulation and problematic use of online gaming
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
The life and death of online gaming communities: a look at guilds in world of warcraft
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
My guild, my people: role of guilds in massively multiplayer online games
IE '07 Proceedings of the 4th Australasian conference on Interactive entertainment
Exploring user experiences as predictors of MMORPG addiction
Computers & Education
Problematic Internet use and psychosocial well-being among MMO players
Computers in Human Behavior
The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World
The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World
Who Plays Games Online?: The Relationship Between Gamer Personality and Online Game Use
International Journal of E-Business Research
Who Plays Games Online?: The Relationship Between Gamer Personality and Online Game Use
International Journal of E-Business Research
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We use ethnographic, interview, and survey data to examine problematic play within the popular online game, World of Warcraft, or 'WoW' for short. Research shows that players drawn to the interpersonal dimensions of online games are more prone to experience negative outcomes associated with their computer use. Our study suggests that it is not only whether online gamers seek meaningful social interactions that determine if WoW play becomes problematic, but exactly how players interact with others in online game-worlds. Specifically, levels of problematic WoW play depend on the extent gamers play with offline or 'real-life' friends and relations. Our survey data reveals both a direct relationship between playing WoW with offline friends and problematic online gaming and also an indirect one mediated by 'immersion' (defined as the extent that players feel like they are in a virtual world and in some cases actually their character). Interpreting these results through ethnographic and interview data, we suggest that playing WoW with real-life-friends allows gamers to transfer in-game accomplishments and experiences into offline social networks. Rather than competing and conflicting with the world outside of the game, WoW played in this way tends to enhance gamers' offline lives. Further, by keeping gamers in touch with perspectives outside of WoW, playing with real-life-friends instills critical distance and greater awareness of how excessive play can damage offline commitments and relationships, allowing gamers to better monitor, evaluate, and ultimately regulate excessive game-play.