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Social Interaction in Online Multiplayer Communities

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Social Interaction in Online Multiplayer Communities JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 74 Marko Siitonen Social Interaction in Online Multiplayer Communities JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 74 Marko Siitonen Social Interaction in Online Multiplayer Communities Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Villa Ranan Blomstedtin salissa syyskuun 22. päivänä 2007 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä, in the Building Villa Rana, Blomstedt Hall, on September 22, 2007 at 12 o'clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2007 Social Interaction in Online Multiplayer Communities JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 74 Marko Siitonen Social Interaction in Online Multiplayer Communities UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2007 Editors Maarit Valo Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä Irene Ylönen, Marja-Leena Tynkkynen Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities Editorial Board Editor in Chief Heikki Hanka, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Petri Karonen, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Matti Rahkonen, Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä Petri Toiviainen, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä Minna-Riitta Luukka, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä Raimo Salokangas, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä Cover Picture by Margarethe Olbertz-Siitonen and Marko Siitonen URN:ISBN:9789513929312 ISBN 978-951-39-2931-2 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-2896-4 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4331 Copyright ©2007 , by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2007 ABSTRACT Siitonen, Marko Social interaction in online multiplayer communities Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2007, 235 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities ISSN 1459-4331; 74) ISBN 978-951-39-2931-2 (PDF), 978-951-39-2896-4 (nid.) English summary Diss. The main purpose of this study is to describe and understand the dynamics of social interaction in online multiplayer computer gaming communities. Online multiplayer gaming has been growing in popularity alongside the general growth of computer networks. Today, millions of people all around the world are playing online multiplayer games, many of which promote cooperation and competition between gamers as an integral part of the game. A substantial amount of gamers are therefore involved in the various social networks that exist within the context. This study was conducted qualitatively, and subscribes to the starting points of naturalistic or interpretative research. The data were collected by a year-long participant observation in two different online multiplayer communities in the game Anarchy Online, and by interviewing members (n=15) of multiplayer communities with varying backgrounds and gaming experience. The data were analyzed following an inductive approach with similarities to a grounded theory approach. The study considers the concept of community in the context of computer- mediated communication in general and of multiplayer games in particular. The various dynamics of social interaction within multiplayer communities are analyzed. These include the motivations behind membership in multiplayer communities, the processes of establishing roles and rules within a multiplayer community, the emergence of social identity, and conflicts and the disbandment of multiplayer communities. The study paints a picture of multiplayer communities as complex and varied social networks where constant negotiation of the values, norms and rules of the community contributes to the emergence of a shared understanding of the symbolic reality of the community and a shared social identity. The methodological questions concerning the study of social interaction in multiplayer communities are discussed in detail. Towards the end of the discussion attention is drawn to several aspects of social interaction in multiplayer communities that warrant further study. Keywords: communication technology, computer games, computer-mediated communication, social networks, virtual communities Author’s address Marko Siitonen Faculty of Humanities University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland Supervisor Professor Maarit Valo Department of Communication University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland Reviewers Assistant Professor Tony Manninen Department of Information Processing Science University of Oulu Associate Professor T. L. Taylor Center for Computer Games Research IT University of Copenhagen Opponent Assistant Professor Tony Manninen Department of Information Processing Science University of Oulu FOREWORD Playing and gaming form an integral part of a rich human life. One of the most fascinating aspects of games is their ability to help people connect with one another. When an extended family sits by a table playing a board game, when a group of friends spends the entire lunch hour chatting about their favorite team’s latest match, or when a group of previously unknown individuals decides to join forces against a particularly nasty foe in an online multiplayer game, there is magic in the air. Games offer opportunities for both cooperation and conflict, and the results of these opportunities are as real as life can get. As a representative of the first generation in Finland to grow up alongside personal computers and home video gaming systems, I have often wondered about the reputation of computer gaming as an antisocial activity. To me, computer games have always represented a social medium, something that has the potential to bring people together. Having lived through the introduction of the World Wide Web and the advent of online multiplayer games for the masses, it was the apparent social potential of multiplayer gaming that encouraged me to take a more analytical look at it. It is my hope that this study will help people to appreciate the variety of social activities that take place within multiplayer games, and the effort that members of multiplayer communities put into forming and maintaining their social networks online. If there is one message that I want to communicate, it is this: social networks and the individual relationships constituting them are very real, regardless of whether they take place in a technologically mediated environment or face-to- face, whether in a serious context or a playful one. It is the contact between people that matters, and we should be glad to live at a time when our possibilities for reaching out are so diverse. This study was made possible by financial support from various sources. I wholeheartedly thank the providers of my research grants: the University of Jyväskylä, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and the Ellen and Artturi Nyyssönen Foundation. I thank my past employers at the University of Jyväskylä, the Innovations in Business, Communication, and Technology - project and the Department of Communication, for the ample opportunities they gave me to concentrate on research work. Trips to scientific conferences both within and outside one’s home country are one of the perks of this job: such trips would not have been possible without the financial support I received. For this I extend my thanks to the Digital Games Research Association, NordForsk, Jyväskylän yliopiston tieteentekijät, and the Department of Communication at the University of Jyväskylä. During the various stages of this work several people were involved whose contribution helped to shape the end product into the book you hold in your hand. I want to thank all the people who shared their insights into the lives of multiplayer communities with me. Thank you for the stories, for the support, and for helping me to twink my gimp character in the world of Rubi-Ka. My colleagues at the Department of Communication and elsewhere have provided me with an intellectual home: nobody can complete a work like this in isolation, and I am the first to acknowledge the significance of a functional community. Very special thanks go to my post-graduate comrades Annaleena Ylinen, Ella Kyllönen, and Anu Sivunen: working by your side has been a true honor. The conversations we have had and the thoughts and ideas we have shared have been of tremendous importance to me throughout this journey. Associate Professor T. L. Taylor and Assistant Professor Tony Manninen kindly reviewed this study. Their feedback has been invaluable. Eleanor Underwood proof-read the text, something that you, my reader, will surely appreciate as you turn the pages. My beloved wife, Margarethe, stood by me and encouraged me ever forward, taking care of our daughter Neela’s evening rituals during the last hectic months of writing. Finally, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Professor Maarit Valo, my supervisor. Five years’ worth of enlightening, encouraging, and empowering conversations are what every post-graduate student should have. Thank you. Jyväskylä, Finland, August 2007 Marko Siitonen FIGURES FIGURE 1 Average weekly playing time of Everquest players (Yee, 2001)... 26 FIGURE 2 The user interface of Anarchy Online highlighting the various means of communicating through text .............................. 66 FIGURE 3 Presenting the research project in the World Wide Web............. 110 FIGURE 4 Avatars in Anarchy Online .............................................................. 135 FIGURE 5 The onion-ring formation of a multiplayer community (Expanding on Barker, 1968; Wilson, 1973; Pargman, 2005) .......
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