Open Jlothian Dissertation-2015
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Information Sciences and Technology GAME FEATURES AND TRUST BELIEF FORMATION: A STUDY IN AN MMORPG A Dissertation in Information Sciences and Technology by Jeremy Lothian © 2015 Jeremy Lothian Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December, 2015 The dissertation of Jeremy Lothian was reviewed and approved* by the following: Andrea Tapia Associate Professor of Information Sciences and Technology Graduate Director for Information Sciences and Technology Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Gerald Santoro Assistant Professor of Information Sciences and Technology Erika Poole Assistant Professor of Information Sciences and Technology Alison Carr-Chellman Professor of Education Department Head, Learning and Performance Systems Barton Pursel Affiliate Faculty of Information Sciences and Technology Special Member *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School ii ABSTRACT Today’s video games are not simply isolated entertainment to be consumed, but designed human experiences that provide for a rich set of behaviors in naturalistic settings. Despite this, it is uncommon for the use of social science theory to be a primary element of game design. One particularly interesting element of social behavior that could be applied to game design is trust. But, as part of a complex social process, trust has been difficult to both design and study. This research considered and extended a cognitive model of trust and used it to explore and evaluate how features in the massively multiplayer role playing games (MMORPG) World of Warcraft (WoW) effected the formation of trust beliefs. Qualitative analytic induction was used to evaluate data and assess changes in the trust theory. The research illustrated a significant correlation between game features and how players develop trust towards each other. During analysis, an additional factor – trust belief formation delegation – was discovered in the form of reputation, group identity, and telepresence. Additionally, the analysis contributed to extensions in the use and understanding of adaptive structuration theory, temporal motivation theory, and swift trust. This new knowledge bridges the areas of game design and other social science research, emphasizing the use of games as a research medium for socially complex behavior. Additionally, it has the potential to provide industry with a predictive mechanism that can be considered while designing game features and additionally facilitates player discussion with developers to address perceived negligence in design. These results were used to create design guidelines for video game designers to support trust formation using game features. Two examples of game features that follow these guidelines were provided – the first as an alteration of an existing game feature in WoW, and the second as the design of a new feature for role playing games. Additionally, these guidelines were reconstructed in a context agnostic manner to create general guidelines for managing distributed teams. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Figures............................................................................................................................... vii Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii Equations............................................................................................................................ ix Design Guidelines ............................................................................................................... x Virtual Team Design Guidelines ........................................................................................ xi Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Problem ................................................................................................................ 3 1.1.1 Game Design ................................................................................................ 3 1.1.2 The Study of Trust ........................................................................................ 4 1.2 Impacts ................................................................................................................. 6 1.2.1 Social and Organizational Sciences .............................................................. 6 1.2.2 Game Designers and Players ........................................................................ 7 Chapter 2 Background ........................................................................................................ 8 2.1 Role Playing and Video Games ............................................................................ 8 2.2 Gameplay in World of Warcraft ......................................................................... 18 2.2.1 Character Creation and Elements of Gameplay ......................................... 20 2.2.2 Gameplay Activities ................................................................................... 25 2.2.3 Topological Dimensions of Gameplay ....................................................... 29 2.3 Swift Trust and Virtual Teams ............................................................................ 34 Chapter 3 Literature Review ............................................................................................. 37 3.1 Games and MMORPGs ...................................................................................... 37 3.2 Group Dynamics and MMORPGs ..................................................................... 41 3.3 Discussion .......................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 4 Theory .............................................................................................................. 56 4.1 Trust .................................................................................................................... 56 4.2 Sociological Lens – Structuration Theory .......................................................... 80 iv Chapter 5 Method ............................................................................................................. 93 5.1 Methodological Approach .................................................................................. 93 5.2 Research Questions ............................................................................................ 96 5.3 Method ............................................................................................................... 97 5.3.1 Exploratory Analytic Induction and Trust .................................................. 98 5.3.2 General Procedure .................................................................................... 100 5.3.3 Sampling ................................................................................................... 101 5.3.4 Data Collection ......................................................................................... 103 5.3.5 Data Analysis ............................................................................................ 104 5.3.6 Researcher Identity ................................................................................... 107 Chapter 6 Results ............................................................................................................ 114 6.1 Rich Contexts ................................................................................................... 115 6.1.1 Cognitive Trust Beliefs ............................................................................. 115 6.1.2 Extended Trust Model .............................................................................. 141 6.2 Emergent Factors .............................................................................................. 154 6.2.1 Telepresence ............................................................................................. 155 6.2.2 Reputation ................................................................................................ 161 6.2.3 Identity ...................................................................................................... 176 Chapter 7 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 189 7.1 MMORPGs and Trust between Players ........................................................... 195 7.1.1 Normal Raids and LFR – A Brief Comparison ........................................ 196 7.1.2 Adaptive Structuration - Normal Raids and LFRs ................................... 197 7.1.3 Risk Evaluation and Game Theory ........................................................... 202 7.1.4 Emergent Factors – Delegation of Trust Belief Formation ...................... 207 7.2 Game Features, Social Factors, and Trust Development .................................. 213 7.2.1 One Mechanic, Two Features, Different Trust Belief Formation ............. 215 7.2.2 Shared Content versus Shared History ..................................................... 218 7.3 Trust Friendly LFR – A Thought Experiment .................................................. 220 7.4 Design Guidelines for Virtual Teams ..............................................................