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Experiences of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: a Phenomenological Exploration Jacob Rusczek

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Experiences of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: a Phenomenological Exploration Jacob Rusczek Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Summer 2015 Experiences of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: A Phenomenological Exploration Jacob Rusczek Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Rusczek, J. (2015). Experiences of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: A Phenomenological Exploration (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1133 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXPERIENCES OF PLAYING MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAMES: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Jacob R. Rusczek, M.A. August 2015 EXPERIENCES OF PLAYING MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAMES: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION By Jacob R. Rusczek Approved July 15, 2015 ________________________________ ________________________________ Eva Simms, Ph.D. Will Adams, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Associate Professor of Psychology (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ Lori Koelsch, Ph.D. Leswin Laubscher, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology Associate Professor of Psychology (Committee Member) Chair, Psychology Department ________________________________ James C. Swindal, Ph.D. Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT EXPERIENCES OF PLAYING MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAMES: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION By Jacob R. Rusczek August 2015 Dissertation supervised by Eva Simms, Ph. D. This dissertation presents an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experience of being engaged in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). These games have become increasingly popular over the past decade and have earned the reputation of being highly engrossing or even addicting. In this study, five long-term players were interviewed in person. For a portion of the interviews, the researcher observed the participants playing their games. The interviews were transcribed and subsequently analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis, which yielded individual and shared themes. Individual themes are first presented, which provides a rich sense of each participant’s particular way of engaging with his or her game. Shared themes across participants are then detailed, with an emphasis on one prominent theme common to all participants: investment. This theme revealed that engagement in an MMORPG is structured upon investing time and effort in order to earn rewards. These findings are consistent with the position that MMORPGs are attractive to players because they offer the opportunity to engage in pursuits congruent with modernist ideologies, such as iv capitalism and instrumental rationality. However, my participants also invested in ways that exceeded modernist values, such as forming relationships with other players and engaging with the narrative and thematic dimensions of their games. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, thank you to my participants for sharing your experiences with me. Without your openness this research would not have been possible. It was a privilege to have a window into each of your worlds. Thank you to my director, Eva Simms, and to my readers, Will Adams and Lori Koelsch, for providing valuable guidance, thoughtful feedback, and encouragement and for being willing to work during the summer on my behalf. To Shannon Carter and Laura Halvorsen: Thank you for your friendship this past year—it has been much brighter because of you two. And an additional huge thanks to Laura for editing this entire dissertation! Leah Boisen, thank you for being a steadfast friend and dissertation-writing inspiration— more than a few times when I was stuck, I would open up your dissertation to see how you did it. My parents also deserve recognition for providing me with a reliable backdrop of love and secruity, which has enabled me to pursue projects like this one throughout my life. Thanks for always being there Mom and Dad. And finally, thank you to the Duquesne University psychology department in its entirety—your influence will forever be woven into my being-in-the-world. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract...........................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgement..........................................................................................................................vi Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 A brief history of MMORPGs ................................................................................................. 1 A brief description of MMORPGs .......................................................................................... 4 Time commitment of MMPORG players................................................................................ 6 The goal of this research........................................................................................................... 7 Literature review ............................................................................................................................ 8 Video game addiction research from a behavioral perspective............................................... 8 Research on motivations for play ........................................................................................... 10 Approaches from outside the field of psychology................................................................. 12 Bonnie Nardi’s ethnographic approach ............................................................................ 12 Timothy Rowlands’s semiotic approach.......................................................................... 17 Scott Rettberg’s cultural critique ..................................................................................... 20 David Golumbia’s philosophically-informed critique..................................................... 21 Summary................................................................................................................................ 23 Methodology and research procedures ....................................................................................... 24 Methodology.......................................................................................................................... 24 Research procedures ............................................................................................................... 27 Preliminary steps.............................................................................................................. 27 Participant recruitment..................................................................................................... 27 Data collection .................................................................................................................. 28 Data analysis.................................................................................................................... 30 Preliminary self-analysis............................................................................................................... 33 Pre-research impressions of MMORPGs ............................................................................... 33 My gaming history................................................................................................................. 34 My academic interest in MMORPGs ..................................................................................... 35 vii Experiences in the world of Rift ............................................................................................. 36 Impressions of Rift................................................................................................................. 45 Results........................................................................................................................................... 48 Ben….. .................................................................................................................................... 48 Description of the interview.............................................................................................. 48 Ben’s gaming career ......................................................................................................... 50 Individual themes ............................................................................................................. 51 Being invested ............................................................................................................ 51 Striving to be a skilled player ..................................................................................... 54 Gear ............................................................................................................................ 60 Social comparison and self-image .............................................................................
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