It’s hard to believe, but 2022 is actually the eighth year in a row we’ve been tracking science stories relevant to the MMO genre. It’s one of my favorite topics, frankly, and this year was an odd one for it – the shortest yet.
Perhaps the most interesting science-related thread we picked up this year was the report from researchers at the United Nations on how extremist beliefs sneak into gaming and take up residence in the spaces around our industry. MOP’s Andy McAdams did a longform piece analyzing the researchers’ findings, and unfortunately, it’s distressing. Gaming’s got a long way to go on the toxicity front, and sure it might seem silly to have the UN investigating toxicity we all could’ve just told ’em was there, but somebody’s gotta do this work for it to be taken seriously.
In the meantime, here’s our collection of the best science-related MMO articles on MOP from the year behind us. I won’t even make you take a quiz at the end!
Richard Bartle’s new book seeks to intersect theological thought and MMORPG design
GDC’s State of the Game Industry: NFTs, the metaverse, and more than half of game devs want to unionize
How video game player data collection processes have expanded outside of gaming
Massively on the Go: How pokedex building could be used for server-wide ‘science’ questing
GDC 2022: Learning from the seven game stressors in Destiny 2
GDC 2022: How ‘game stressors’ mix and match for repeatable content development in MMOs
GDC 2022: Control, revenue, scarcity, ethics, and the human challenges of the gaming ‘metaverse’
An esports pro is developing an AI system to help game devs track and address in-game toxicity
Trove’s new player survey nods to Quantic Foundry’s Gamer Motivation Model
Activision-Blizzard creeps out the internet with its ‘Diversity Space Tool’ as union-busting continues
The Daily Grind: Are you playing a ‘morally disengaged murder hobo’ in MMOs?
The Daily Grind: Should MMO PvP matchmaking focus on challenge or engagement?
For Science: New research affirms online friends provide emotional and informational support
EVE Online’s Fanfest data dump shows a surprisingly wide range of player types
Axie Infinity CEO caught shuffling $3M in the game’s crypto tokens before announcing its $620M hack
EVE Echoes launches a Project Discovery science initiative, EVE Online preps for next Alliance Tournament
Star Stable launches new charity initiative to counter negative ‘horse girl’ stereotypes
Bloomberg’s Twitch report exposes a platform rife with children and predators
US Department of Homeland Security issues a nearly $700K grant to research extremism in gaming
Riot Games sponsors design challenge centered on making online spaces safer
Lawful Neutral: How extremism and terrorism slither into online gaming
For Science: New study finds positive association between excessive gaming and kids’ cognition
Activision-Blizzard releases its year-to-date diversity statistics showing an increase in underrepresented groups
