Communication, Coordination, and Camaraderie in World of Warcraft

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Communication, Coordination, and Camaraderie in
World of Warcraft

• Mark Chen
• markchen_at_u.washington.edu

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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

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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
  mechanicschange mechanic, change player behavior

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Ethnography of MMORPGs

• personal experience didnt match up with models
• players actual choices are complex and socially
  situated
• look at social practice (Taylor, Steinkuehler)

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World of Warcraft

• 9 million subscribers
• each server has 1000s
• fantasy world
• character classes
• kill monsters, complete quests to gain experience
  and loot

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Game Interface
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Attributes and Items
better loot and experience more powerful
character
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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)

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Communication

• text chat channels
• standard (raid)
• specialized (madrogues)
• voice chat

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Coordination

• chat interwoven
• on and off task
• simultaneously coordinated
• contextually meaningful
• 181120.421 4. soulburn Lori Remember, ss
  target will change at Domo, but until then, your
  rezzer is to be ssed at all times.
• jovial

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Molten Core
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An encounter with Molten Giants

• two Main Tanks
• healers
• damage dealers kept track of aggro

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Learning in Molten Core
bodies from previous failures

• 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!

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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)

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Recovery

• 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

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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 thats a valid point.
However, the other 75 of WoW isnt a raid, and
that needs to be taken into consideration too
So Im passed up for a shield that could
definitely benefit me because that ¼ of the game
has more precedence? Jeeze, dont do me any
favors.
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Instance requirements Who gets to go?
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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?