Durham E-Theses The Way We Play: Exploring the specics of formation, action and competition in digital gameplay among World of Warcraft raiders COCKSHUT, TAHIRIH,LADAN How to cite: COCKSHUT, TAHIRIH,LADAN (2012) The Way We Play: Exploring the specics of formation, action and competition in digital gameplay among World of Warcraft raiders, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5931/ Use policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 3.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Way We Play: Exploring the specifics of formation, action and competition in digital gameplay among World of Warcraft raiders by T. Ladan Cockshut This thesis explores the specific practices of group gameplay (called ‘raiding’) in the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMO). In particular, it presents ethnographic research conducted by the author between 2009 and 2012 where she studied raiding in World of Warcraft (WoW), a game environment that is a complicated and malleable space with many pathways of play built into it, not the least of which are the particular ways that raiders choose to shape and sustain their play experience. Building on Galloway’s ‘four moments of gamic action’ as a theoretical framework from which to consider gamic representation among raiders and through ethnographic research on raiding gameplay practices, this thesis considers the ways that formation, competition and gamic action have distinguished raiding within the online, persistent game environment, forming to become a set of interwoven principles that work in concert to sustain long-term raiding activity. The objective of this thesis is twofold: first, to contribute to the gap in games research on raiding gameplay practices in MMOs; and second, to consider how the study of online group play through the context of MMO raiding can impact further geographical research into the digital game, particularly within the contexts of the virtual and playful. Conclusions drawn from this work suggest that the study of game raiding (and its persistence) offers an important perspective to understanding the nature of the complex online game environment; an environment that is at once controlled and malleable, multisensory and immersive, engaging yet sustaining, and complex yet localized, creating many simultaneous moments in gamic action where these representations of space, action, formation and competition function not so much to define gameplay but more so to shape and enable it. The Way We Play: Exploring the specifics of formation, action and competition in digital gameplay among World of Warcraft raiders T. Ladan Cockshut Submission for Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography Durham University 2012 Declarations The material contained in the thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree in this or any other institution. It is the sole work of the author, who takes full responsibility for any errors contained. © Copyright 2012 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. For Chase Table of contents List of illustrations vi List of videos and recordings ix Acknowledgements xi Chapter 1: Thesis introduction and overview 1 Introduction 1 How I learned to raid… 5 Thesis context 10 Thesis scope and objectives 16 An overview of raiding in WoW 18 Chapter overview 21 Terminology used in this thesis 24 Chapter 2: Exploring play and games in an 27 online world Introduction 27 The study of play and games 28 Play and the digital game 38 i ii The Way We Play: Exploring gameplay among raiders World of Warcraft within games studies 43 ‘Play’s own diversity’: Theoretical approaches to studying games 50 Conclusion 60 Chapter 3: Placing raiding within the context of 65 digital games Introduction 65 Developments in digital games 68 The device- or console-based game 71 Narrative and the digital game 72 The computer-based game 75 Emergence of MMOs 77 Exploring WoW gameplay 91 Levelling gameplay in WoW 99 Intersecting pathways of play in WoW 105 Raiding in World of Warcraft 109 Conclusion 113 Chapter 4: Researching online game worlds 117 Introduction 117 Toward a methodology for online research 119 Conducting an ethnography online 124 Research methods in the online environment: face-to-face in a 128 faceless world Participant observation in the gamespace 129 Interviews 132 Multisensory capture 138 Data management and analysis 139 Access to the community and considering issues of disclosure 143 Connecting with the research community: designing a research blog 146 Conclusion 149 Table of contents iii Chapter 5: The ‘ins and outs’ of formation in 153 raiding Introduction 153 Defining formation in raiding 155 Guild formation in the MMO 156 How raiding guilds articulate their formation 158 The ins and outs of guild formation 162 The ‘outs’ of guild formation 165 A threshold of belonging: guild recruitment 169 The ‘ins’ of guild formation 174 Raid formation activity and coordination 177 Preparing for the raid 184 Exploring changes in guild formation 186 Conclusion 194 Chapter 6: Exploring action in the raiding game 201 space Introduction 201 Navigating the spaces of raiding game play 203 Tracing the deskspace 208 Tracing the gamespace 214 Tracing the interspace 227 Exploring action in raiding 232 Conclusion 252 Chapter 7: Considering the layers of 259 competition in raiding Introduction 259 Locating competition in earlier games research 263 Competition in the persistent game environment 267 Tracing competition in raiding 268 Gamic competition in raiding 269 iv The Way We Play: Exploring gameplay among raiders External competition in raiding 277 Exploring the ‘raiding race’ as an expression of external 280 competition Internal competition in raiding 285 Summarising competition 292 Tracing competition through the raiding race to ‘world first’ 293 ‘The saddest world second ever’: The experience of competition 295 in play Conclusion 308 The Way We Play: Concluding thoughts 316 Toward an understanding about raiding 318 Contributions made 319 Future opportunities 324 Appendix 328 Bibliography 341 List of illustrations Chapter 3 Figure 3.1 Examples of early board games 67 Figure 3.2 Example of a computer-based game of GNU backgammon 67 Figure 3.3 Spacewar! game 70 Figure 3.4 Screen shot of Mystery House (1980) 76 Figure 3.5 Screen shot of King’s Quest (1984) 76 Figure 3.6 An example of the opening screen of MUD1 79 Figure 3.7 Screen shot of game play from Ultima Online, 1999 80 Figure 3.8 Space view in EVE Online 85 Figure 3.9 Charred landscape example in World of Warcraft 85 Figure 3.10 Example of floating islands in World of Warcraft 86 Figure 3.11 Lake and mountains in Aion 86 Figure 3.12 Terrain in Star Wars: The Old Republic 87 Figure 3.13 Cartoon-like landscape example in Lego Universe 87 Figure 3.14 Example of an EverQuest user interface screen 90 Figure 3.15 An example of a World of Warcraft interface screen 90 Figure 3.16 Examples of orc race in World of Warcraft 94 Figure 3.17 This image includes examples of WoW races 95 Figure 3.18 Visual examples of goblins and worgens 95 Figure 3.19 Map of Azeroth, World of Warcraft 97 Figure 3.20 Map of Outland, World of Warcraft 97 vi List of illustrations vii Figure 3.21 An illustration of a constructed building in WoW 99 Figure 3.22 A close-up shot of the interior the constructed building 99 Figure 3.23 Screen shot of the globally top-ranked raiding guilds 112 Chapter 4 Table 4.1 Types of data collected during fieldwork. 140 Figure 4.1 Examples of unstripped and stripped data 142 Figure 4.2 Example of research blog, showing the home page 148 Figure 4.3 ‘About screen’ of research blog 148 Chapter 6 Figure 6.1 Screenshot of Portal 2 gameplay 206 Figure 6.2a Olog’s deskspace, 2011 209 Figure 6.2b Mezzy’s deskspace, 2011 210 Figure 6.2c Communal deskspace, 2010 210 Figure 6.2d Arad’s deskspace, 2011 211 Figure 6.3 Tracing the deskspace 213 Figure 6.4 Tracing the gamespace 215 Figure 6.5 Example of an add-on in use 218 Figure 6.6 Zoomed in example of a threat metre in use during combat 218 Figure 6.7a A screenshot of an unmodified game user interface 219 Figure 6.7b A screenshot of Mezzy’s modified game user interface 220 Figure 6.7c A screenshot of Atheenya’s modified game user interface 221 Figure 6.7d Rasiel’s modified user interface 222 Figure 6.7e Varil’s modified user interface 224 Figure 6.7f An example of Awardruid’s modified user interface 224 Figure 6.8 Cockpit of a 747-boeing aircraft 226 Figure 6.9 Tracing the interspace 227 Figure 6.10 Example of a raiding community site 228 Figure 6.11 Tracing the relationships within the raiding play space. 231 Figure 6.12 Map of Bastion of Twilight, section 1 234 Figure 6.13 Map of Bastion of Twilight, section 2 234 Figure 6.14 Map of Bastion of Twilight, section 3 235 Figure 6.15 Example of a raiding instance loading screen 237 Figure 6.16 Example of a ‘kill shot’ 249 viii The Way We Play: Exploring gameplay among raiders Chapter 7 Table 7.1 Representations of gamic competition in the raid encounter. 271 Figure 7.1 Image of Ragnaros the Firelord 274 Table 7.2 Phases of the Ragnaros raid boss fight 275 Figure 7.2 Example of uploaded captured video footage 281 Figure 7.3 Example of WoWProgress.com’s rankings of raiding