football, similarities to online games, 36–37
Forbes, 115
Fox, Jesse, 113, 154–156
Frag Dolls, 101
Frank, Mark, 147
freedom and escape, 4–5, 34–36, 174–176, 209–210
free labor, 77
gamers: and addiction, 36–38; ages of, 24–25, 26; as antisocial, 27–28; emotional investment by, 28; escape and, 3–4, 34–36, 74; gender of, 25, 96–97, 220n.5 (see also gender and sexism); international demographics of, 25–26, 220n.6; motivations of, 28–34; numbers of, 2–3, 217n.2; with physical disabilities, 209; playing with friends and relatives, 27–28, 221n.8; with sexuality issues, 209–210; stereotypes about, 22–24; time spent on game-related activities, 188–189; time spent playing games by, 26–27, 220n.7
gamification, 5, 75–77, 199–202, 204–206
Garriott, Richard, 15
Gartner, 5, 77
gender and sexism, 96–116; and access to online games in traditionally male territories, 98–99; and assumption that women play only with significant others, 100–101; and designing games for women, 97–98; gender-bending and, 111–113; and history of computer science, 99–100; male fantasies about women, 104–108; and male versus female armor, 106–107; number of women gamers, 25, 96–97, 220n.5; as online problem versus social problem, 114–116; and perceived differences between male and female gamers, 108–110; and presumption of incompetence, 102–104; and presumption of lack of interest in games, 101–102; sexual harassment, 106; using game behaviors to predict gender, 174
Georgia Institute of Technology, 212
Gilovich, Thomas, 147
gold and gold farmers, 78–79, 81–89, 91–94, 224n.6
Gosling, Sam, 168
Got Game (Beck and Wade), 75–76
graphical capabilities, 12–13, 14–15
grinding, 39, 75, 79–83, 93–94
Grodal, Torben, 97
Guardian, 82–83
Guettal, Adam, 187
guilds, 65–75; formation of, 18–19, 65–66; leadership as second job, 73–75; personalities and, 66–69; predicting survival of, 161–162; and raids, 68–72; and romance, 121
Guild Wars, 65
Guy4Game.com, 80
Gygax, Gary, 10–11, 21
Hadean Drive Yards, 63–64
healer classes, 18, 112–113
Heeks, Richard, 82, 83, 92
height and confidence study, 151–152
height and income study, 151
Hershfield, Hal, 154
heuristics, 54, 139–140, 156–157
History Channel, 212–213
honesty and dishonesty: and appearance enhancement, 138–139; deception of “Joan” on CompuServe, 117–119; in real world versus online world, 134–137; and romance in online games, 129–131; in wallet-dropping experiments, 177–178
human brain: learning by watching others, 155–156; and new technology, 52–54, 156–158; priority treatment of faces by, 139–140
human-computer interaction, 51–52
Hyde, Janet Shibley, 109
hydroponic supplies and surveillance, 175–176
hyperpersonal interactions, 129
Illinois, University of, 12
income and height study, 151
inflation, 92–93, 94–95
Innova, 171
instances, 45
Institute of Creative Technologies, 198, 214–215
Island of Kesmai, 14
Iyengar, Shanto, 141
Jackson Personality Inventory, 165
Japan, wallet-dropping experiments, 177–178
Jenson, Jennifer, 101
jobs. See commercial activity and economies; work
Judge, Timothy, 151
Kazan, Olga, 3
Kerry, John, 141–142
Kimmel, Jimmy, 23–24
Knowledge Networks, 141–142
Koster, Raph, 20, 206, 215
Kriegsspiel, 9
Kunis, Mila, 23–24
LambdaMOO, 203–204, 214
Lanier, Jaron, 198, 204, 207
Learning Channel, 212–213
Legends of Cosrin, 67
Lessig, Lawrence, 177
leveling up, 17–19, 41–42, 79–83
Light in the Piazza, The (Guettal), 187
Lineage 2, 47–48, 78–79, 92
Little Wars, 9
lock-in, 204–205
Long Island bridges, 113–114
loot, 17–18, 44–46, 67–68, 69
Lord of the Rings (Tolkien), 10–11
Lord of the Rings Online, 181, 186, 192
love. See romance
Lucas, Kristen, 97
luck and lucky charms, 46–47, 54–56
lynchings, 94
magical causality, 55–57
Manchester, University of, 82
manufacturing, 59–64
Martial Heroes, 125
massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGS, MMOs), 2–3, 15–16. See also online games
Maze War, 13
McGonigal, Jane, 4, 76, 212
McKinsey Global Institute, 153
McRobbie, Angela, 22–23
Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes, 165
Meridian 59, 15
Metaplace, 215
Michigan, University of, 177
MIDI, 204
military training, 9, 198, 214–215
miniature wargames, 9–11
Mischel, Walter, 187–188
MMORPGs (MMOs). See massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs, MMOs)
mobs (mobiles), 18, 45–46, 219n.11. See also monsters
modders (modding community), 169–170
money sinks, 92–93
monsters: as focus of online games, 18; health points, 11–12; and raids, 18–19, 68–72; Rotface, 70–71; spawning/respawning, 43–45; targeting certain players, 55–56. See also mobs (mobiles)
Moore, Bob, 160
MOOs (MUD Objective Oriented), 203–204
moral panics, 3–4, 22–23
Moses, Robert, 114
motivations: achievement, 29–31; diversity of, 28–29; escape, 34–36; gender differences in, 97, 108–110; immersion, 32–34; social interaction, 31–32
MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), 13–14, 19–20, 203
Nakamura, Lisa, 84–85, 214
Nardi, Bonnie, 4
Nass, Clifford, 51–52
Neuroticism personality factor, 167, 174
NeverWinter Nights, 15, 16
Newsweek, 23
New Yorker, 175
New York University Stern School of Business, 154
Nickell, Eric, 160
Nozhnin, Dmitry, 171, 172
OCEAN (Big Five personality factors), 166–168, 173–174; Agreeableness factor, 167, 173; Conscientiousness factor, 166–167, 173; Extraversion factor, 167, 173; Neuroticism factor, 167, 174; Openness to Experience factor, 166, 174
Ohio State University, 113, 154–155
Oliver, John, 165
online dating websites, 126–127, 136–137, 153
online games: addiction to, 36–38; altruism in, 181–183, 184–188, 194; as antisocial, 27–28; character independence versus social interaction, 184–188, 190–192, 195–196; core gameplay of, 17–19; criticism of/warnings about, 3–4, 22–23, 27–28, 37–38; and data accessibility, 159–161, 189–194; death penalties in, 179–183; early multi-user games, 13–14; early networked games, 12; emphasis on war and combat in, 20–21; fantasy literature and, 10–11; first role-playing games, 11–12; gameplay motivations, 28–34; graphics capabilities of, 12–13, 14–15; history of, 9–17; integration of, into real life, 5, 75–77, 199–202, 204–206; massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs, MMOs), 15–16; miniature wargames, 9–11; personality expression in, 168–176; as primary implementation of virtual worlds, 20–21; promises of, 2, 4–5, 174–176, 209–210; reliance on avatars, 21; and romance (see romance); rules/laws
ooze creatures, 70–71
Openness to Experience personality factor, 166, 174
operant conditioning, 39–43
Oregon, University of, 165
over-enchanting, 47–48
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), 79, 111–112, 160–162, 164, 171–176
personality: assessment of (Big Five factors), 165–168, 173–174; digital expression of, 168–176; notion of personality traits as myth, 187–188
Personality Factor Questionnaire, 165
personality psychology, 162–165, 187–188
personal space, 52–53
physical disabilities, 209
Pirates of the Burning Sea, 191
placeholders, 43
PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automated Teaching Operations), 12
PlayOn, 162, 164
power-leveling services, 80–83
Power of Habit, The (Duhigg), 174–175
protein-folding game, 77
Proteus Effect, 2, 152–153
Proteus Paradox, 4–5, 54, 75, 95, 114, 117, 138, 175, 195, 197
psychology, 162–165, 187–188
PvE (player-versus-environment), 19
PvP (player-versus-player), 19, 30, 224n.6
QuestHelper, 192
Ragnarok Online, 48, 128
Ragnaros, 72
raids, 18–19, 68–72
“Rape in Cyberspace, A” (Dibbell), 203–204
Ray, Sheri Graner, 105
Read, Leighton, 76, 199
Reality Is Broken (McGonigal), 4, 76
Realm Online, 27
Reeves, Byron, 51–52, 76, 199
relationships. See romance; social interaction
Retirement Confidence Survey (2012), 153
retirement savings experiment, 154
reward systems, 39–43
role-playing games, 11–17, 33. See also online games
romance, 117–137; and communication outside the game, 123–124, 130; deception and risk and, 117–119, 129–131, 134–137; declarations of affection, 122–123; face-to-face meetings, 124–125; geographical distances and, 124–125; happy and unhappy endings, 125; incubation periods for, 122; initial meetings, 120–122; meeting in online games versus dating sites, 126–127; openness and honesty and, 127–129; shyness and, 131–132; stigma against, 119–120; and taking looks out of the equation, 132–134
Romine, Morgan, 101–102
Rosedale, Philip, 200–201
Rotface, 70–71
San Francisco Chronicle, 3
Second Life, 53, 139, 199–201, 214
Seduction of the Innocent (Wertham), 22
seeding the instance, 45–46
self-perception effect, 150
Seriosity, 199
sexism. See gender and sexism
sexuality issues, 209–210
Sherry, John, 97
shyness, 131–132
SimCity, 21
Sinclair, Heather, 49
Skinner, B. F. (Skinner box), 41–42
social interaction: and altruism, 184–188; versus character independence, 184–188, 190–192, 195–196; down-time and, 184; hyperpersonal interactions, 128–129; as motivation for playing games, 31–32; rules/laws and, 179. See also romance
Southern California, University of, 22
Spacewar, 12–13
spawn dances (spawning, respawning), 43–45
Srivastava, Sanjay, 165
Stanford University Virtual Human Interaction Lab, 1–2, 142–143, 148–153
Star Wars Galaxies: death penalties, 180; entrepreneurship in, 59–63; rules and social interaction, 179
Steiner, Peter, 175
Super 8, 57
superstitions, 37–58; about over-enchanting, 47–48; dungeon seeding, 45–46; and game developers as gods, 54–57; high risk/low probability events and, 49, 50–51; as indication of engagement, 57–58; interaction with new technology and, 51–54; lucky charms, 46–47; persistence of, 49–50, 51; psychological triggers and, 51–54; reward systems and, 39–43; spawn dances, 43–45
surveillance, 162–163, 174–176
Sutherland, Ivan, 197
Synthetic Worlds (Castronova), 4, 96
Tabula Rosa, 192
Taiwan cybercafés, 98–99
Tale in the Desert, A, 27
Talon, 72
tank classes, 18
Target, 174–175
targeted advertising, 77, 115, 157–158, 174–175, 211–212
Taylor, T. L., 97–98, 120
technology, human interaction with, 51–54
Terranova, Tiziana, 77
Texas, University of, 168
Thottbot, 189–190, 193
Toledano, Gabrielle, 115
Tolkien, J. R. R., 10–11
Total Engagement (Reeves and Read), 76
Trubshaw, Roy, 13–14
Turkle, Sherry, 4, 194
Ultima Online, 16, 20, 48, 69, 73
US presidential elections, 141–142, 212
Valins, Stuart, 144–146
video games, 9, 14, 21, 22–24, 25, 28, 212. See also online games
Village Voice, 203–204
virtual classrooms, 143–144
virtual currencies, 80–83, 91–94
Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Stanford University, 1–2, 142–143, 148–153
virtual reality, 148–153, 197–199, 207
virtual worlds: computer system mediation of human interactions, 141–142; funding of, 214–215; influencing reality, 211–213; online games as primary implementation of, 20–21; promises of, 2, 4–5, 174–176, 209–210; and reimagining reality, 213–214; and replicating reality, 197–201, 204–208, 210–211; social norms in, 52–53; and social science research, 1–2, 162–164; versus virtual reality, 197–199. See also avatars; online games
Voodoo Doll, 203–204
VPL Research, 198
Wade, Mitchell, 75–76
wallet-dropping experiments, 177–178
Walther, Joe, 129
war simulation, 9–10, 12–13, 20–21
Washington Post, 3
Wells, H. G., 9
Wertham, Fredric, 22
West, Mark, 177–178
Wi Flag, 55–56
Winner, Langdon, 114
women. See gender and sexism
work: commercial activity in games, 59–63, 64–65; corporate use of games at (gamification), 5, 75–77, 199–202, 204–206; online communities and free labor, 77; online games as, 65–75, 193–194
World of Warcraft: Armory, 169–171; character independence in, 184, 186–187, 195; and data accessibility, 159–162, 169–171, 189–191; death penalties, 180; demographics, 25–26, 108–109; gender-bending in, 111–112; gold farmers and ethnic stereotypes in, 78–79, 82–89, 91–94; guilds, 65–66, 67, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75; in-game plague, 211; in-game protest and account suspensions, 176; launch of, 17; leveling-up times in, 79; Mila Kunis and, 23–24; number of players, 195; number of subscribers to, 3; personality expression in, 171–176; power-leveling in, 80; and romance, 117, 122, 123, 124–125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 132, 133; Rotface, 70–71; and sexism, 102, 105, 110; and social interaction, 179, 184, 186–187, 190–193; superstitions, 45–46, 46–47, 50; virtual gold sales, 81
Yee, Nick: Daedalus Project (see Daedalus Project); Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), 79, 111–112, 160–162, 161–162, 164, 171–176; Stanford University Virtual Human Interaction Lab, 1–2, 142–143, 148–153
Yellowlees, Peter, 201
yi-shan-guan, 89–91
You Are Not a Gadget (Lanier), 204