London School of Economies and Politicai Science Designingfor Mod Development: User creativity as produci development strategy on the firm- hosted 3D software platform Adriana Anna Cornelia Gerarda (Shenja) van der Graaf A thesis submitted to the Department of Media and Communications in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy *** March 2009 Déclaration I confirm that the work presented in this thesis for the examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economies and Politicai Science is my own. Where information lias been derived from other sources, I confimi that this lias been indicated in the thesis. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is pennitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. Signature Abstract The thesis is designed to improve our understanding of user participation in Web-based development practices in the commercial setting of the 3D software industry. It aims to investigate whether the creative capacities of users and their contributions to the online firm-hosted 3D platform are indicative of a novel configuration of production that influences the processes of product development across firm boundaries. The thesis mobilizes the user participation literature developing in media research as its main theoretical framework. It builds on insights derived from work on user participation in media sites as seen through a cultural lens, in particular, as developed in Henry Jenkins' notions of 'participatory' and 'convergence culture'. The user participation literature is supported by a combination of insights drawn from work on communities of practice and user-centred innovation so as to offer a more robust approach to examine and appreciate the firm-hosted 3D platform as a site of user participation. More specifically, the conceptual framework for the study provides a basis for an examination of the ways a software developer finn encourages user participation in a market and of how this enables and facilitâtes particular modes of user creativity. These are shown to shape and maintain a firm-hosted platform that aids product development efforts that are expected to benefit the developer fimi. An empirical study of the platform, Second Life, provides the basis for the analysis of finn-user interactions which are shown to underpin a distinctive finn leaming process in the context of product development that occurs across permeable fimi boundaries. The thesis yields insight into the way a developer firm invites its user base to partner with it in product development, indicating how aspects of user participation associated with non-market dynamics are embedded in commercial activity and professionalism. The pivotal role of users is revealed in the design, development and sustainability of a firm-hosted 3D product. The findings point to interesting relationships between the distinctive creative capacities of users and the range of capabilities afforded by the firm-provided design space. Variations in user participation and contributions to product development suggest that particular patterns of learning opportunities occur. The analysis yields several new concepts including a 'modification effect market' which are used to extend existing conceptualizations of user participation in digitai development practices in the commercial setting of the 3D software industry. Acknowledgments Over my journey of the years it took from my first interest in pop culture and user creativity (hello LA!) to where this study now stands, numerous people have directly or indirectly guided my Second Life. A standing ovation for Professor Robin Mansell, my wonderful Supervisor. She took me in when I was looking for a home. Her knowledge, faith, generosity, kind words, and absolute professionalism have pushed me to go the extra mile. Thank you for travelling with me. A wann thank you to Professor Sonia Livingstone who kindly shared her intellect and experience showing me that it is ok to walk many paths. For nearly one- third of my life Professor William Uricchio has been my rock. He introduced me to the academic world and set me free. Without him this PhD might never have been written. I am grateful for my fellowship at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. The experience has been truly mind-blowing. Thank you John Palfrey and Colin Maclay for quietly accepting my quirlcy ways and allowing me to work in solitude. With openness and stimulating conversations my fellow fellows have been, ali at once, great peers and mentors. A special thank you goes to the DN team and Urs Gasser, who has been a true Virtual friend throughout. I am also indebted to the Hakuhodo Foresight, Research Center for Information Law at the University of St. Gallen, the British Academy, MIT's Convergence Culture Consortium, Valve Inc., Linden Lab, OpenSim, and many Second Life residents. Thank you for your support. A special thanks goes to Garrett Cobarr for oui* conversations and building a database especially for this study. Without Oliver Day the database would have remained empty, thank you. The support, inspiration and challenges offered by my colleagues across several time zones have helped me tremendously in developing this research. Thank you Yuichi Washida and especially David Nieborg for our unorthodox metal friendship. Words are not enough to express my gratitude towards my wonderful parents, sister and family, and friends. Thank you for always believing in me and letting me be. With the door always open-wide my dad and mom offer a home-away-from-home- away-from-home-away-from-home... Thank you all for accepting my many periods of absence and true déniai and allowing me to multi-task between several lives. I dedicate this work to Keltin De Los Perros who taught me the meaning of perseverance and strength. I started this journey with him and I ended it with Kingston. May many roads lie ahead. For me, my Second Life has been a mixture of Kerouac's On the Road (1955), Fowles' The Magus (1965), and Auster's Travels in the Scriptorium (2006). And the road goes on, and whither it is bound, I do not know. Ulvenhout, March 2009 Table of contents List of acronyms 8 List offigures 8 List of images 9 List of tables 9 I Introduction 10 1.1 Introduction 10 1.2 A playmate enters a playground 11 1.3 Approaching the playground 14 1.4 Reverse engineering the thesis 18 1.5 Playlist 21 1.6 Conclusion 23 II User creativity in the gaines and 3D software industries 24 2.1 Introduction 24 2.2 Designing for mod development 25 2.3 Ail the games that are fit to mod 27 2.4 Of toolkits, engines and interfaces 30 2.5 Conclusion 36 III The I in participation, innovation, and learning 38 3.1 Introduction 38 3.2 You're analog players in a digital world 39 3.3 You're so money and you don't even know it 53 3.4 Toolkits for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition™ 59 3.5 Conceptual framework 67 IV 'Rezzing' methodology 71 4.1 Introduction 71 4.2 Researching user participation 72 4.3 You only live twice 76 4.4 Diggin' in Second Life 82 4.5 Rezzing Second Life 98 4.6 Conclusion 101 V Participation & mod development 102 5.1 Introduction 102 5.2 Design capabilities 103 5.3 Your world. Your imagination.™ 104 5.4 Digital entrepreneurship 118 5.5 Conclusion 126 VI Participation, innovation & mod development 130 6.1 Introduction 130 6.2 Design space 131 6.3 The making of Second Life 132 6.4 Servicing Second Life 149 6.5 Conclusion 154 VII Participation, innovation, learning & mod development 158 7.1 Introduction 158 7.2 Learning by design 159 7.3 Mod development as a learning dynamic 160 7.4 Learning Second Life 165 7.5 Conclusion 185 VIII Mod development on the firm-hosted 3D platform 189 8.1 Introduction 189 8.2 User participation revisited 190 8.3 Conclusion 204 IX Conclusion 207 9.1 Introduction 207 9.2 Rolling restait 208 9.3 Hurdles 215 9.4 Feature suggestions 219 9.5 Conclusion 222 Bibliography 224 Appendix 245 Table of contents 246 List of acronyms 3D Three-Dimensional AIM AOL Instant Messenger API Application Programming Interface As &Os Achievements and Objectives AWG Architecture Working Group BSD Berkeley Software Distribution BOS Bristol Online Survey CoD Cali of Duty CoP Communities of Practice DMCA Digital Millennium Copyright Act DIY Do It Yourself EU European Union EULA End-User License Agreement F/OS Free and Open Source FLOSS Free/Libre/Open Source Software FPS First Person Shooter GNU GNU's Not Unix GPL General Public License HTML HyperText Markup Language IP Intellectual Property IRC Internet Relay Chat L$ Linden Dollar LES Leading Edge Status LPP Legitimate Peripheral Participation LSL Linden Scripting Language MMORPGs Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games MUD Multi-User Dungeon NoP Networks of Practice NCoP Networked Communities of Practice PC Personal Computer PCA Principal Component Analysis PS3 Playstation 3 RSS Really Simple Syndication SaaS Software as a Sei-vice SDK Source Development Kit SL Second Life TESC The Electric Sheep Company ToS Terms of Service URL Uniform Resource Locator US United States XML Extensible Markup Language List of figures Figure 2-1 Overview toolkits for mod development 31 Figure 4-1 Survey framework Second Life 88 Figure 5-1 User participation profiles Second Life users 128 Figure 6-1 Distribution of Second Life respondents according to their interest to build, Script, and/or texture 134 Figure 6-2 Distribution of Second Life toolkit usage for building 136 Figure 6-3 Distribution of Second Life toolkit usage for texturing 137 Figure