From Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft

@article{citeulike:1531671, abstract = {A representative sample of players of a popular massively multiplayer online game (World of Warcraft) was interviewed to map out the social dynamics of guilds. An initial survey and network mapping of players and guilds helped form a baseline. Next, the resulting interview transcripts were reviewed to explore player behaviors, attitudes, and opinions; the meanings they make; the social capital they derive; and the networks they form and to develop a typology of players and guilds. In keeping with current Internet research findings, players were found to use the game to extend real-life relationships, meet new people, form relationships of varying strength, and also use others merely as a backdrop. The key moderator of these outcomes appears to be the game's mechanic, which encourages some kinds of interactions while discouraging others. The findings are discussed with respect to the growing role of code in shaping social interactions. 10.1177/1555412006292616}, author = {Williams, Dmitri and Ducheneaut, Nicolas and Xiong, Li and Zhang, Yuanyuan and Yee, Nick and Nickell, Eric }, citeulike-article-id = {1531671}, doi = {10.1177/1555412006292616}, journal = {Games and Culture}, keywords = {videogaming}, month = {October}, number = {4}, pages = {338--361}, posted-at = {2008-03-25 15:45:23}, priority = {2}, title = {From Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292616}, volume = {1}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1531671 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1531671 TI - From Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft JF - Games and Culture VL - 1 IS - 4 SP - 338 EP - 361 N2 - A representative sample of players of a popular massively multiplayer online game (World of Warcraft) was interviewed to map out the social dynamics of guilds. An initial survey and network mapping of players and guilds helped form a baseline. Next, the resulting interview transcripts were reviewed to explore player behaviors, attitudes, and opinions; the meanings they make; the social capital they derive; and the networks they form and to develop a typology of players and guilds. In keeping with current Internet research findings, players were found to use the game to extend real-life relationships, meet new people, form relationships of varying strength, and also use others merely as a backdrop. The key moderator of these outcomes appears to be the game's mechanic, which encourages some kinds of interactions while discouraging others. The findings are discussed with respect to the growing role of code in shaping social interactions. 10.1177/1555412006292616 KW - videogaming AU - Williams, Dmitri AU - Ducheneaut, Nicolas AU - Xiong, Li AU - Zhang, Yuanyuan AU - Yee, Nick AU - Nickell, Eric PY - 2006/10/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292616 ER -