During the last decades, an intensive development of informational technologies and the consequent evolution of virtual social networks was observed. However, while these processes actively influenced social-economic and political situations, they did not significantly eliminate the individual experiences of loneliness in the modern world. The urgent need for socialization leads individuals to search for various methods of escaping the negative feelings and, in a highly computerized environment, a lot of people use massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) as a mean for communication and social bonding.
MMORPGs are a shining example of an intensive informational and audiovisual technology development. Nowadays, online role games are extremely popular, and throughout a significant period, they have evolved from the primitive arcades into full-value virtual realities, such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Mass Effect 3, that require months of real-time investigation. The popularity of MMORPGs continues to grow, and more people become involved in the gaming process. However, the modern MMORPGs cannot be regarded as merely entertainment tools because they enter other social and cultural realms: arts, education, ethics, psychology, social communication, and even sports.
In order to achieve a greater understanding of MMORPGs as social-cognitive phenomena, it is important to analyze the factors of their functioning and development that commenced with the attempts to transfer physical-reality role games to online platforms. Role games belong to a gaming genre that requires a gamer to become immersed into a role of a particular imaginary character (Zackariasson, Wåhlin, & Wilson, 2010). It is possible to presume that role games have existed since a sufficient level of human intellectual development was achieved and the first imaginary mythological worlds were created and took their place in the cultural domain of social performance.
Although gaming process is an essential element of MMORPGs, interpersonal user communication and community-building are its inherent components as well (Skoric & Kwan, 2011). Communication feature distinguishes online role games from traditional online one-player games. MMORPGs include the aspect of continuous interrelations between users, their active interactions. It is one of the reasons for MMORPGs’ popularity – they merge entertainment functions and social networking.
The present-day MMORPGs can be divided into two groups according to the gaming principles: Player versus Environment (PvE) and Player versus Player (PvP). PvE principle implies that a user interacts with a gaming environment (scenarios and programmed conflicts, etc.) and strives to improve his/her character’s qualities as he/she moves along a game’s story line (Glas, 2012). PvP principle requires a user to build relationships with other players. And in PvP games, communication pattern – opposition or collaboration – is a major factor influencing game progress (Glas, 2012).
The level of interpersonal communication and its purposes may significantly vary in different MMORPG contexts. Thus, two major communicative types in MMORPGs can be distinguished. In the games of the first category, communication is focused primarily on gaming issues. Players discuss fight techniques, quests, equipment, and create communities for the creation of cooperations to achieve greater results in a game. Another type of gaming process, on the contrary, is completely based on interpersonal communication. Such games are usually characterized by free access and the inclusion of social network qualities – users communicate in chats, write private messages, create forum discussions, and post blog entries devoted to a game. The gaming process is not less important in this type of MMORPGs, but it basically serves as a mean for the maintenance of social ties and bonding (Skoric & Kwan, 2011).
Online arcade games and card games, such as Spades, belong to the category of PvP MMORPGs in which communication properties are highlighted. It means that online users become involved in an online environment by playing against each other. Although there may be a certain amount of similarity among face-to-face Spades game and its online analog, it is possible to say that online gaming environment may provide a greater opportunity for individual skills development. While in a face-to-face game, a player can play with a limited group of competitors, online context allows him/her to select opponents according to own level of competence and, in this way, gradually achieve significant skill advancement. Moreover, the majority of gaming websites provide all necessary information for beginners, such as tutorials, training, and trial games versus computer, as well as the opportunity to communicate with experienced online gamers. Thus, online environment significantly influences a player’s performance ability and stimulates him/her for continuous growth through competition.
One of the most important distinctive features of MMORPGs is the continuity of users’ pursuit of constant improvement. Thus, online games can be distinguished by the inability to achieve a definite win and a great opportunity to lose the achieved results. Online gaming process does not have time restrictions, and a gamer can only refine his online identity (a game character), or necessary skills. In this way, the major goal of any MMORPG is the enhancement of virtual reality’s qualities such as comfort and friendliness (Zackariasson et al., 2010). Based on this, the main objective of any MMORPG developer is to make players spend as much time as possible in a gaming environment through development of their attachment to virtual reality by increasing the attractiveness of a virtual reality and creating more possibilities for psycho-emotional and social self-realization.
For the development of an attractive and interesting gaming environment, a designer needs to consider the social aspect of MMORPGs (Christou, Law, Zaphiris, & Ang, 2013). It is possible to say that a gaming community is a central element of a MMORPG. Hence, designers need to provide users with the opportunities to develop a sense of belonging and affiliation with the gaming community, stimulate competition with other gamers and add player’s responsibility through creation of need to attend an event or a tournament at appointed time or administering a reward system motivating for the adequate task accomplishment. It is also important to take into account the type of community structure – equalized or hierarchical- as it impacts the communicative patterns within a MMORPG context.
Summary
The presence of gaming element distinguishes a MMORPG social community from a traditional offline community. Games unite online users and become the main communication theme. Players become related to each other due to the accomplishment of group tasks and activities, and, therefore, they always share common interests and subjects of conversation. Moreover, frequently, the developed online relationships serve as motives for offline acquaintances.
MMORPG social networks are as much functional as the web resources directly designed with the purpose of fostering interpersonal communication. Players have an unlimited theme for discussions and the element of affinity supporting the process of interactions. Based on this, a successful MMORPG environment provides a chance to balance between games and communication. Therefore, a designer should strive to construct both gaming and communicative properties in a way that would stimulate players’ attraction and retention.
References
Christou, G., Law, E. L., Zaphiris, P., & Ang, C. S. (2013). Challenges of designing for sociability to enhance player experience in Massively Multi-player Online Role-playing Games. Behaviour & Information Technology, 32(7), 724-734. Web.
Glas, R. (2012). Battlefields of negotiation: Control, agency, and ownership in World of Warcraft. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Skoric, M. M., & Kwan, G. C. (2011). Platforms for mediated sociability and online social capital: The role of Facebook and massively multiplayer online games. Asian Journal of Communication, 21(5), 467-484. Web.
Zackariasson, P., Wåhlin, N., & Wilson, T. L. (2010). Virtual identities and market segmentation in marketing in and through massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). Services Marketing Quarterly, 31(3), 275-295. Web.