Qualities of Good MMO Players

1/15The Good Player in MMOGsFDG 2013 15/5/2013
Players’ Perceptions
on the Concept of the “Good Player”
in Massively Multiplayer Online Games
Iro Voulgari
avoulgari@upatras.gr
Vassilis Komis
komis@upatras.gr
Department of Educational Sciences
& Early Childhood Education
University of Patras, Greece

Who is the “Good Player”?
• Expertise in MMOGs
 efficiency and effectiveness in tasks, knowledge
of game mechanics, spatial skills, social capital,
social activities
• How do the players perceive the concept of the
“good player”?
 Skills and qualities required by the player
community?

Research Methodology
• Mixed method research
– Qualitative: interviews
– Quantitative: online survey (open & closed
questions, 5-point likert-scale)
• Sample
– Interviews: expert players (N=27), various MMOGs
– Survey: >=229, >18y, various MMOGs

Interviews
“What are, in your opinion, the qualities of a good
player?”
• Personality
• Social Skills
• Technical Gaming Skills

Personality
• Inspire respect, respect others, motivate co-players,
receptive to different viewpoints, patience with players and
tasks, play for fun
– “Being a good player has nothing to do with how good of a ‘killer’ you are in
the game, but with what kind of a person you are” (Int., Male, 33y)
• Bad player = annoying behaviour, personality
– “A player may be experienced and useful to the team, but also behave in a
bad manner, and use other players for personal gain etc. […] I personally
prefer to be in teams with people that I can discuss with, even if they don’t
have that much experience [in the game], than to be in teams with
experienced players who are ‘too’ smart and never miss the chance to show
off, accuse everyone else of being stupid, and put all the blame for the
problems of the team on others” (Int., Male, 37y).

Social Skills
• Helpful behaviour, empathy for the needs of others,
effective communication, develop and sustain
relations and friendships
– “Some things, such as the manipulation of the avatar, you
can learn in time […] But behaviour towards the other
players, communication, humour, helping others, these
things show some basic qualities about the person behind
the avatar. These qualities I consider more important,
regardless of the player’s strength” (Qnr., Male, 35-44y)

Technical Gaming Skills
• knowledge of the rules and functionalities, employ different strategies,
adjust tactics to new situations, solve problems, high scores, success in
tasks (pve, pvp), assess and tackle situations, plan strategies, good gear,
manage resources, good reflexes
– “A good player is someone who knows how to be efficient in relation to his/her
gear” (Int., Male, 29y), “A good player will assess the situation and have the
experience to comprehend it and engage in it without getting into a trap” (Int.,
Male, 37y)
• One case: link qualities of a “good player” with character level
– “The answer to this question [i.e. the closed survey question Q18] is different,
depending on your level in the game. My answers in the question refer to
somebody who has reached a max level (lvl) in the game” (Qnr., Male, 18-24y).
– 5=very important: “High level/High score”, “In-game equipment”, “Patience”, “Knowledge of
the game”, “Sociability”
2=of little importance: “Leadership skills”, “Teamwork”, “Active participation” in game tasks

Questionnaire
Q18 “How important for a good player do you think the
following features are in the game?”
– 22 likert-scale, 5-point items (1=unimportant, 5=very important)

Patience, cooperation,
teamwork
80% positive responses each
Good behavior, decision-
making, communication
skills, self-control, helpful
behavior, good knowledge
of the game, manipulation
of the virtual character
70%-79% positive responses each

Main aspects of skills/qualities
• Social Skills: interaction with others, sociability, teamwork, cooperation, humor
– Q18.15 Humor, Q18.16 Teamwork skills, Q18.7 Helpful behavior, Q18.18 Sociability, and Q18.19 Good behavior
towards other players, Q18.21 Cooperation skills (Cronbach’s alpha=0.819)
• Resourcefulness: problem solving, resourcefulness, creative thinking, relations with others,
communication, self-control
– Q18.1 Communication skills, Q18.2 Creative thinking, Q18.12 Problem-solving Skills, Q18.13 Resourcefulness, and
Q18.14 Self-control (Cronbach’s alpha=0.796)
• Resources Management Skills: management, leadership, decision-making, active
participation in tasks.
– Q18.6 Decision making skills, Q18.9 Leadership skills, Q18.10 Organizational skills, Q18.22 Active participation in in-
game tasks (Cronbach’s alpha= 0.743)
• Technical Gaming Skills: efficiency and effectiveness in game tasks, manipulation and the
gear of the character, level or score, knowledge of the game mechanics
– Q18.3 High level/High Score, Q18.8 Good in-game equipment in the game, Q18.17 In-depth knowledge of the game
mechanisms, Q18.20 Good manipulation of the character or the game functions (Cronbach’s alpha= 0.712)
Factor Analysis of Q18, four factors (57.83% of the variance)

Good Player Qualities Ranking

Age and the Criteria for the Good
Player
Interviews:
 >30y personality, communication, collaboration
 <30y technical gaming skills, knowledge of the game, high score
or level, success, in-game gear
Survey:
 Difference in Technical Gaming Skills
– ANOVA (F=3.08, df=2, 227, p=0.024<0.05)
 Difference between age groups 18-24 and >35
– Post hoc comparisons (Bonferroni test)/ Mean Difference=0.46385, SE=0.16918, p=0.02<0.05
 Players of 18-24y emphasized more the technical gaming skills
than players >35y

Gender and the Criteria for the
Good Player
Interviews:
 Sociability and relations among players & technical gaming skills and
knowledge of the game
 No difference between men and women
– small women sample (N=3)
Survey:
 No difference between men and women
 Except of the case of the Technical Gaming Skills
 Women agreed more than men that gaming technical skills were an
important quality of a good player
– small women sample (Ν=19)
– non-parametric test (Mann-Whitney), statistically significant differentiation between the two
genders (U=1442.5, p=0.05)

Conclusions
• “Good Player” = gaming skills, cognitive and metacognitive
skills, social and interpersonal skills, management skills,
personality traits
• Criteria related to related to age, gender, level (?)
• MMOGs: games & (virtual) worlds/communities
• Shared player values shape the ethos of the player
community
• The impact of the design? Importance of social interaction,
cooperation and interdependence

Thank you!
Iro Voulgari
avoulgari@upatras.gr
Vassilis Komis
komis@upatras.gr

Qualities of Good MMO Players

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