Over the last couple of years since becoming Massively OP, we’ve made a concerted effort to improve the quality of our gaming science-related articles, as you may have noticed from our roundups in 2017 and 2016 and 2015, which get longer and longer every year, thanks in no small part to the fact that politicians and health experts are paying more and more attention to the public impact of the growing online gaming industry.
Also, yes, let’s be honest: lockboxes.
Read on for a recap of our best science-related MMO articles from 2018, from Raph Koster’s Trust Spectrum and EVE Online’s contributions to the Human Project Atlas to the psychology of Fortnite’s popularity and WHO’s “gaming disorder” classification. Big game data and the potential to abuse it have been much on our minds as well.
Don’t worry; there won’t be a quiz at the end!
A look back at the MMO and gaming science topics of 2017
ESA pushes back against World Health Organization’s gaming disorder classification
How video game lockboxes use psychology to manipulate you
Raph Koster on MMO ecosystems, the balance of power, and tennis
HEVGA argues WHO’s proposed ‘gaming disorder’ classification scapegoats and stigmatizes games
WHO attempts to defend its proposed ‘gaming disorder’ classification
Game Theory explores the psychological exploitation at work in lockboxes
Crowfall’s Raph Koster goes into insane depth on the cost of creating video games
The Daily Grind: Have you ever taken drugs in an MMORPG?
Academics debate WHO ‘gaming disorder’ classification and global political implications
German commission takes up lootbox issue as academics link whaling to gambling markets
Academics argue WHO’s ‘gaming disorder’ is arbitrary, criticize lack of evidentiary transparency
MMO business roundup: Steam, toxicity, Kartridge, contracts, dopamine, and guns
For science: New long-term study shows video games don’t make adults violent
MMO designer Raph Koster reveals ‘Trust Spectrum’ research for online games
GDC 2018: Yokozuna, big game data, and the future of MMO monetization
GDC 2018: Ready Player One Now, billion person gaming, and mitigating abuse
GDC 2018: Games can help humanity, be profitable, and get support from gamers
Noted statistician blasts 2013 paper that links aggression and video games
EVE Fanfest 2018: CCP Games has big plans for data collection and machine learning
The Daily Grind: How much MMO game info should be hidden from the players?
The Daily Grind: Which MMORPG features the most ‘hostile design’?
Entropia Universe studio wants to let us live on forever inside an MMO – literally
The Daily Grind: Which MMORPG would you want to ‘live’ in if you had to live there forever?
The World Health Organization advances its ‘gaming disorder’ classification in spite of heavy criticism
Video game industry groups across the globe reject WHO’s ‘gaming disorder’ classification
Fortnite: Pollsters and academics examine purchases, pay-to-win, and motivation vs. addiction
Journalists and academics clash over the World Health Organization’s ‘gaming disorder’ classification
Three quarters of European gamers don’t even understand what the heck lootboxes are
What made Fortnite so ridiculously popular? Anticipation is baked into both the loot and the gameplay, says one psychologist
The Daily Grind: How do you define ‘hardcore’ gaming?
WVU researchers post survey seeking input on video game character avatars
Citizen science for the win: How EVE Online’s playerbase contributed to Human Project Atlas research
For Science: How gaming addiction is influenced by emotion and pride
Tencent’s market value dropped by $20B following new Chinese gaming regulation plans
UK researchers identify link between lootboxes and problem gambling
UK divorce firm says Fortnite and other online games contributed to 5% of this year’s divorces
International regulators co-sign declaration to investigate lockboxes and skin gambling
For Science: Why ‘screentime’ is a useless measure of media consumption
Nearly a third of the kids surveyed in the UK Gambling Commission’s study admitted to buying lockboxes
So-called gaming addiction and Fortnite myopia aren’t just a problem for The Children
A look back at the MMO and gaming science topics of 2018
