The social behaviors of experts in massive multiplayer online role-playing games

David Huffaker, Jing Wang, Jeffrey Treem, Lindsay Fullerton, Marshall Scott Poole, Muhammad A. Ahmad, Dmitri Williams, Noshir Contractor

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

We examine the social behaviors of game experts in Everquest II, a popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO). We rely on Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) to examine the anonymous privacy-protected social networks of 1, 457 players over a five-day period. We find that those who achieve the most in the game send and receive more communication, while those who perform the most efficiently at the game show no difference in communication behavior from other players. Both achievement and performance experts tend to communicate with those at similar expertise levels, and higherlevel experts are more likely to receive communication from other players.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - 12th IEEE International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, CSE 2009 - 2009 IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, SocialCom 2009
Pages326-331
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Event2009 IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, SocialCom 2009 - Vancouver, BC, Canada
Duration: Aug 29 2009Aug 31 2009

Publication series

NameProceedings - 12th IEEE International Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, CSE 2009
Volume4

Other

Other2009 IEEE International Conference on Social Computing, SocialCom 2009
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityVancouver, BC
Period8/29/098/31/09

Keywords

  • Communication systems
  • Games
  • Networks
  • Social factors

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computational Theory and Mathematics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Software

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