It’s now become a long-running tradition on Massively OP to track science stories that track with online gaming and MMOs – this is our seventh year, in fact! Last year, we noted that our pile of such stories was smaller than usual thanks to COVID, and I fear 2021 wasn’t any better.
Perhaps the best news that came out of the year was right at the beginning: A 10-year research study showed that there is no link between game violence and aggressive behavior in people as they progress from adolescence to adulthood. We also played around with Quantic Foundry’s updated gamer type survey and pondered that group’s research that suggest men are more likely to roll female characters than women are likely to roll male characters, among several other intriguing findings.
Still, here’s hoping 2022 will see more folks back in labs and research groups focusing on our corner of the industry so that the science articles can once again rival the business and legal articles because let’s be real: Those dominated 2021. Until then, we’ve gathered together the best science-related MMO articles on MOP from the year behind us… and don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz at the end. Or will there?
Ten-year study finds no link between game violence and aggressive behavior from adolescence to adulthood
Cooperating in violent games like Fortnite is good for children, actually
World of Warcraft gamers move 21B gold through the player economy every day
Massively Overthinking: Retaking Quantic’s survey to determine our ‘gamer type’
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster on the player-driven economies at the heart of virtual worlds
New UK research finds opening lootboxes is ‘structurally and psychologically akin’ to gambling
No, Twitch’s move to investigate off-platform toxicity is not ‘novel’ for the industry
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster shares the secret of good social design in MMOs
Lawful Neutral: Defining toxicity in the MMO industry
PAX East 2021: Gaming streamers are frontline workers, not mental health experts
GDC 2021: Research on online video game voice chat has come a long way
GDC 2021: Navigating player behaviors and cheating in online video games
The Daily Grind: Do you engage in ‘parallel play’ in MMORPGs?
For Science: Men roll more female characters than women roll male toons, new survey shows
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster on why avatars traipsing across the metaverse are a major tech challenge
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster on the ‘stuff’ inside your virtual worlds
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster on gaming’s social design problems masquerading as technical challenges
Lawful Neutral: Managing toxicity in the MMO industry
Playable Worlds’ Raph Koster explains how feedback loops can create unexpected results in MMO design
