You guys may not have consciously noticed it, but we’ve been working harder and harder on our science-related articles in the past couple of years — even more than in 2015. This past year, we even hired on a staff writer specifically to cover gaming science, especially as it relates to MMORPGs, and we’ve been collecting all of his work along with our other science posts in their very own category.
Read on for a recap of our best science-related MMO articles from 2016, from virtual reality tech and the Gamer Motivation Model to EVE Online’s Project Discovery and the psychology of Pokemon Go. Don’t worry; there won’t be a quiz at the end!
MMORPG science in 2015 - Better not scoff at academic research: From Superdata to in-house economists, from feminist theory to Bartle, and from education applications to NASA mapping, science is shaping the video…
‘Father of MMORPGs’ Richard Bartle is publishing new books on the genre - "Father of MMORPGs" Dr. Richard Bartle, author of the pioneering research that spawned the Bartle test, is publishing two new books about our imperiled genre. MMOs from the…
Massively Overthinking: Let’s play with the Gamer Motivation Model - Over the winter holidays, we wrote about game analytics consulting firm Quantic Foundry, which has published what it calls its "Gamer Motivation Model" -- essentially, it's…
Exploring ‘The Video Game Debate’: Cognitive performance and your brain on games - So far in our exploration of the topics in Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt's book The Video Game Debate: Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Video Games, we've…
How ‘Gamer Motivation Model’ researchers slot MOBAs on the strategy map - This winter, we've been chronicling the escapades of Nick Yee-founded game analytics consulting firm Quantic Foundry, which published what it's calling the Gamer Motivation Model. Researchers compiled user-submitted profiles…
EVE Online enlists community aid in real-world scientific research - EVE Online is warping into a sector where hobbies and scientific research intersect. CCP Games announced that it's partnering up with The Human Protein Atlas to…
Superdata says League of Legends makes more money than any other game you play - Let's just get this out of the way: Superdata is a research firm that sells its data analysis. It doesn't disclose its methodology or sources if…
The Daily Grind: Are OARPGs the future of the MMORPG genre? - Toward the end of 2014, genre academics popularized the idea that the MMORPG genre was becoming "unbundled" -- that MMORPGs were splintering, "with sociality, story, multi-player…
The Daily Grind: Does gender play a role in your MMORPG class selection? - We've been covering Nick Yee-founded Quantic Foundry's game analytics research as it's fleshing out the Gamer Motivation Model, which seeks to create a modernized personality chart…
Exploring ‘The Video Game Debate’: Social outcomes and online gamers - Of all the chapters in Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt's book The Video Game Debate: Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Video Games, this…
The Daily Grind: Does your age impact your MMO gameplay preferences? - We've been following gaming research firm Quantic Foundry the past few months as it's been hammering out its Gamer Motivation Model. This week, it released an…
The Daily Grind: How do you plot your gameplay in an open-world sandbox? - Quantic Foundry's series of blog posts in support of its Gamer Motivation Model continue with its most recent piece on open world games, which finds that…
EVE Online’s Project Discovery makes scientists out of capsuleers - Wouldn't it be great if instead of playing gems or trolling general chat during your MMORPG downtime, you could be contributing to real-world science? And wouldn't…
EVE Online’s Project Discovery netted almost half a million classifications in its first day - First announced back in 2015, EVE Online's Project Discovery got underway this week. It's a science collaboration that rewards EVE players in-game for playing a minigame that…
Exploring ‘The Video Game Debate’: Are MMO communities real or fake? - We've come a long way in our discussion of Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt's book The Video Game Debate: Unravelling the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of…
EVE Evolved: Why you should participate in EVE’s Project Discovery - [AL:EVE]Back at EVE Vegas 2015, CCP Games unveiled an ambitious project that aimed to involve EVE Online players in some really exciting scientific research that could make a…
EVE Online’s Project Discovery gets an update to combat abuse - It's been a while since EVE Online released its Project Discovery minigame that rewards players for participating in real-world scientific research into cell biology. The project organisers at the Human…
Massively OP’s guide to understanding video game research - I noticed two strange things in the comments section of our lengthy Exploring the Video Game Debate series: People were angry at research that supported what…
Black Desert: Business model research, Daum addresses hacking complaints - Red Fox Insights analyst Jake Parmley has a piece on Gamasutra today about Black Desert's business model that confirms what you might already suspect: People invested…
Analyst argues game devs are abandoning free-to-play in some genres - Red Fox Insights analyst Jake Parmley has another piece on Gamasutra this week, this one arguing that video game developers are "backing away from free-to-play" --…
Superdata: WoW, Lineage, SWTOR, TERA, and Blade & Soul top April P2P online games revenues - Superdata has a new seasonal report out on the state of the digital games market. The research firm's April figures show that World of Warcraft once…
E3 2016: Chatting E3 demos and MMO research with Red Fox Insights’ Jake Parmley - I'm wrapping up my on-site E3 coverage this year with a meeting more about the industry meta than about any one game. The interviewee? Jake Parmley of Red Fox…
Study says that online games might help academics - "Put down that video game controller before your brain turns to mush!" If you've ever heard a variation of this phrase tossed your way as a…
Exploring Japan’s Pokemon Go culture - As some readers may know, I've spent the last few years in Japan trying to tackle the local gaming scene, online and off. While Japan may…
Superdata’s July 2016 data show Guild Wars 2 surging, Pokemon Go on top - [AL:GW2]Superdata's July report on online gaming revenues is in, and there are some predictable bits and some surprises. On the P2P MMO front, the lineup is…
Comparing American and Japanese Pokemon Go culture - My previous article on the culture of Japan's Pokemon Go scene was written before I'd experienced much of the American one to keep my explanations as unbiased…
Self-driving cars are learning to drive with Grand Theft Auto - So it turns out that people were right when they said that self-driving cars were a terrible idea. We were all in favor of them; it…
Superdata: WoW now charges a full monthly sub in China - Superdata's digital games market report for August 2016 landed in our inbox today. Those of you who've been consistently frustrated and confused over the way Superdata…
The Daily Grind: Which MMORPGs do you play to reduce stress? - If you follow gaming research at all, you've probably heard of Dr Jane McGonigal, a professor, gamer designer, author, and pro-gaming think tank researcher. Her work…
The Daily Grind: Does your MMO playstyle track with your age and gender? - Gaming research firm Quantic Foundry posted a new blog last week revealing the results of its surveys cross-referencing gender, age, and playstyle in video games. Among…
Exploring real-life PUGs, the Plus, and the antisocial nature of Pokemon Go - Although Pokemon Go isn't advertised as an MMO, both experts and players have noted it does present some interesting similarities: Both have tons of players on servers where player…
Flameseeker Chronicles: Gaming playstyles, science, and Guild Wars 2 - [AL:GW2]I was curious recently about what specific personality traits or personal qualities lead to my enjoyment of MMOs in general and Guild Wars 2 in particular, especially after…
For Science: A third of our polled social media users quit Pokemon Go over trackers - Pokemon Go has received some large updates recently: the buddy system, medals, some big gym changes (twice), and now we've got dailies. We've been dazzled with two events…
Academics assess Pokemon Go’s value to conservation and education - Let's cap off the evening with some feel-good, sciency stories about Pokemon Go, shall we? Zoologists at Oxford University are studying Pokemon Go to determine how…
The Daily Grind: Is Twitch chat just MMO general chat writ large? - Last week, an Indiana University Bloomington team released its analysis of over a billion comments made on Twitch over a two-month period in 2014 (not exactly…
A Parent’s Guide to Video Games: Condensing ‘The Video Game Debate’ - Remember The Video Game Debate? The game research book edited by Thorsten Quandt and Rachel Kowert, the latter of whom we've been covering here since Massively-that-was? Good. Dr. Kowert's…
New research suggests head-mounted VR sets are unintentionally sexist - A new research study conducted by University of Minnesota researchers Justin Munafo, Meg Diedrick, and Thomas A. Stoffregen says that head-mounted virtual reality is unintentionally sexist toward female…
The best Massively OP MMO polls of 2016 - Every week for the last few years, we've expanded on our "Daily Grind" theme with a Leaderboard poll. I've had a blast taking over Leaderboard; Daily Grinds…
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