Online Gaming.Pdf

456 Chapter 23 Online Gaming: Demographics, Motivations, and Information Processing Vincent Cicchirillo The University of Texas at Austin, USA AbstrAct Online gaming has become a major part of our culture. In order to understand this new media in our society we must examine the motivations for playing these types of games and how that impacts individuals processing of information. This book chapter sets out to examine those motivations and how motivational processing influences in-game content during game play. More importantly how individuals recognize, process, and evaluate information relative to their motivations for playing an online game. Furthermore, this chapter not only explores the product-related segmentation variables, but also demographic segmentation variables. Thus, taken together variables such as motivations, demographics, and game features allows us to paint a clearer picture of the: who, how, and why of online gaming. IntroductIon a one time fee to purchase the game ($50-$60), but they also must pay a monthly subscription Video and computer games are big business. In fee to play that game online. According to van fact, it was estimated by the Entertainment Soft- Lent if you do the math that’s nearly $1.5 billion ware Association (ESA) that sales for computer dollars annually! The success of online games and video game software reached about $11.7 has even spawned console systems (i.e., X360 & billion in 2008. Blizzard Entertainment, the PlayStation 3) and video games that allow users to developers behind the game World of WarCraft connect to the internet and compete or play with announced in 2007 that they had recruited over other users in a multiplayer format. 9 million subscribers to that particular game (van The gaming industry certainly takes it sales Lent, 2008). Not only do individuals have to pay figures seriously. A person only need to look at the amount of money developers spend upon DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-792-8.ch023 marketing their games, which is usually about Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Online Gaming the same amount of money it takes to produce vations for play is the first step in gaining knowl- that game (Nussenbaum, 2004). Thus, if a game edge about how content within a video or online takes anywhere from $12 million to $20 million game is processed. As academics and industry to create, then this same amount needs to go into professionals we need to understand a) what is marketing that game through multiple advertising online gaming, b) who plays online games, and campaigns in order to ensure that the game makes c) what are individual’s motivations for playing a profit. According to Nussenbaum the increase online games. In order to suggest new directions in costs has game developers seeking secondary in gaming research we need to understand the revenue streams through online subscription fees phenomenon that we are studying. Furthermore, and in-game advertising. Gaming industry leaders the demographic characteristics of online gamers speculate that the amount of money spent on in- may not be as easily presumed as once thought game advertising could reach $2 billion dollars and therefore not as easily targeted as predicted. by the year 2010 (Shields, 2006). In fact there is Therefore, this chapter will integrate what online an advertising corporation called Massive (http:// gaming is along with player demographics in www.massiveincorporated.com) that caters solely order to better understand motivations behind to advertising within video games or in-game playing online games. Once these motivations are advertising. This trend was not lost on the part of understood we can get a clearer picture of how politicians. For instance, newly elected President individuals process information during game play. Barack Obama spent roughly $44,000 on in-game advertising between October 6th and November 3rd in 2008 for multiple Xbox 360 games (Miller, WHAt Is onLInE GAMInG? 2008). The advertisements sponsored voting early and were featured within 17 video games for the Online games have been referred to as MMOR- Xbox 360 (Sinclair, 2008). The amount spent on PG’s, which stands for Massively Multiplayer these advertisements seems relatively small in Online Role-Playing Games. However, online comparison to the entire amount put towards run- games have also been referred to as massively ning a presidential campaign. However, the return multiplayer/multiuser online (MMO’s), massively on the investment would seem to be worthwhile, multiplayer online game (MMOG’s), or massively especially if you asked John McCain. multiplayer online persistent world (MMOPW’s) The increase of in-game advertisements cer- (Chan & Vorderer, 2006). MMORPG’s have tainly brings up important questions related to been defined as “a persistent world… that exists how individuals process information while playing independent of the user” (Yee, 2005, p. 4). Users a video game. Even more important is how that create their own graphical avatars and interact in information is processed when it occurs simul- an online world with other users and their avatars. taneously with game content. Audience analysis Users can login or logout anytime, but the world certainly could give us some insights into the still exists online and is open to numerous users. answers to the previous questions. According to In fact, an interesting aspect of these games is the Livingstone (1999) “As audiences become less fact that most MMORPG’s include a minimum predictable, more fragmented or more variable of about 2,000 users (Yee). Thus, these virtual in their engagement with media, understanding environments at any one point in time can house the audience is even more important for theories numerous avatars and characters. of social shaping, design, markets and diffusion Long before the word MMORPG was a part than, perhaps, was true for older media” (p. 62). of our vernacular; games played over the internet Thus, understanding the audience and their moti- were referred to as MUD’s (Multiple User Do- 457 Online Gaming mains/Dungeons) (Kent, 2003). The first MUD ics, and communicate with each other using typed was developed in 1978 by Roy Trubshaw and was chat and templated gestures and expressions. They nothing more than a few interconnected chat rooms interact with the world through a combination of (Bartle, 1990). It should also be mentioned that mouse-driven interfaces and typed commands, and Richard Bartle was also a developer who worked partake of a large number of varied activities that alongside Trubshaw to create these MUD’s (Law- increase in complexity, reward, and time involve- rie, 2002). MUD’s have a longstanding connec- ment which typically operate on a random-ratio tion to role-playing board games like Dungeons reinforcement schedule. These activities revolve & Dragons (D&D), mainly because many of the around character advancement and translate into developers like Bartle were avid fans of D&D a functional advantage in terms of the mechanics (Stewart, 1996). This may help to explain why of the world, whether this is combat capability, most of today’s MMORPGs resemble D&D type social status, avatar appearance, geographic fantasy worlds and role-playing aspects. Accord- knowledge, equipment quality, or even cooking ing to Blackmon (1994) D&D is a fantasy game skills. Whereas the first few MMORPGs focused in which players pick a character and interact with heavily on combat-oriented advancement, recent other characters and obstacles (e.g. monsters). The MMORPGs have offered more diverse forms of game is purely face-to-face as players interact as advancement. For example, in Star Wars Galax- they would when playing a game of monopoly ies, one can become a skilled musician, chef, hair on a game board. Character development and the stylist, animal tamer, or politician. outcome of battles are decided by a series of dice rolls (Blackmon). In games like D&D, a player acts A game called Meridian 59 was one of the first as the Dungeon Master rolling the dice to decide graphical online games developed, but failed to these outcomes, in MUD’s the server controls the meet the criteria for the term “massively” because it outcome (Yee, 2005). MUD’s are essentially D&D could only host 250 users at one time (Kent, 2003). type role-playing, only in online chat rooms that Although, developers often referred to Meridian are primarily text driven and lack graphical repre- 59 as a massive multiplayer, the distinction of the sentations. Thus, players enter the room and read first MMOG often goes to Ultima Online (Kent), descriptions of what the room looks like, smells which was developed in 1997 by Electronic Arts like, and contains. Players interact with other (EA). The debate of what was the first MMOG is players and objects through typed commands. still questioned; however it is not the purpose of Although, this seems fairly primitive compared this chapter to solve that argument. The inclusion to today’s online games, MUD’s are still quite of graphical representations was an important popular among multiple users. development in the history online gaming. The However, one area that revolutionized the advent of graphical representations has expanded online gaming industry was the implementation research into virtual environments with new and of graphical representations. Instead of users read- expanding opportunities. Furthermore, advance- ing what a room looked liked, they actually see ments in graphical technology allow MMORPG’s this world come to life on their computer screens. to offer different factors and features that may give According to Yee (2006b, p. 311): us an understanding of why certain individuals choose to play these types of games. On a simplistic level, MMORPGs could be thought Chan and Vorderer (2006) outlined five aspects of as a scenic chat room with a variety of interactive that differentiate MMORPG’s from other online tasks.

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