Communication, Coordination, and Camaraderie in World of Warcraft

Mark Chenmarkchen@u.washington.edu

Research Overview• concept: game mechanics = player

behavior?• analysis: coordination in high-end

raids; camaraderie and trust; group norms vs. individual expectations

•implications: mechanics too narrow to understand behavior; trust based on experience; replication of social marginalization

Game Mechanics & Communities

• Assumptions:– helping people see how individual

affects community and vice versa important

– responsibility of educators• If games can be used as training

grounds, how do we get people to value community?

• Previous research looked at game design and mechanics—change mechanic, change player behavior

Ethnography of MMORPGs

• personal experience didn’t match up with models

• players’ actual choices are complex and socially situated

• look at social practice (Taylor, Steinkuehler)

World of Warcraft

• ~9 million subscribers• each server has 1000s

• fantasy world• character classes• kill monsters, complete

quests to gain experience and loot

Game Interface

Attributes and Items

better loot and experience = more powerful character

Raid Group• 40 players - Molten Core • each played different role• labor was divided/roles

emerged through social practice (Strauss, Stevens)– through game defined roles

(character class and ability)– through merit (case-specific

ability or prior knowledge)– through existing structures

(previous relationships)

Communication• text chat channels

– standard (raid)– specialized

(madrogues)• voice chat

Coordination• chat interwoven• on and off task• simultaneously coordinated• contextually meaningful

– 18:11:20.421 : [4. soulburn] Lori: Remember, ss target will change at Domo, but until then, your rezzer is to be ssed at all times.

• jovial

Molten Core

An encounter with Molten Giants• two Main Tanks• healers• damage dealers kept track of aggro

Learning in Molten Core

• individual learning• group learning through failure:

– “Now I hope no one's getting frustrated. This is how raids go. It's normal: You fight and fight and fight until your gear is broken, repair and do it again... It can take a while to master these encounters but we're doing good work!”

bodies from previous failures

Camaraderie (lack thereof)• One night, raid suffered meltdown.• doubt, bickering in specialized chat channels

– Shaun: .... Sven, you are fired.– Sven: Hey, most people avoid you, Shaunie! It's the breath. I'm

giving an alternative!– Shaun: an option that is closer to the caves. you... you are

trying to kill us all....– Sven: Well? It hasn't happened, now has it?? Stop being so

paranoid!

• camaraderie, level of communication in shared channels low (8 min of silence)

• no communication = no trust (Iacono & Weisband)

• bottom-up reflection on meltdown– “I love our raid... We are like brothers and sisters

really. Stuff like this is going to happen. However I think we have all been playing long enough to know that we have a pretty great group of people going here and truly we care about and try to do what is best for one another.”

• reaffirmed goals• trust built through valuing shared experience

Recovery

Drama: group vs. individual goals• Ways of talking / making arguments• Norms vs. cultural diversity?

- “Most of your argument was made up of class roles in a raid, and that’s a valid point. However, the other 75% of WoW isn’t a raid, and that needs to be taken into consideration too… So I’m passed up for a shield that could definitely benefit me… because that ¼ of the game has more precedence? Jeeze, don’t do me any favors.”

Instance requirements: Who gets to go?

Implications• Must look at player social practice• Learning happens socially, through lived

experience and practice• Coordination needed to succeed in group work• Trust among team members crucial

• What builds trust?– specialized roles– willingness to fail– communication– relationships/shared

experience goal– ability to reflect on goal

• Sustainable = equitable?