The patterns, effects and evolution of player social networks in online gaming communities

Unrestricted This dissertation presents a critical examination of the social interactions among MMOG participants by focusing on network patterns, effects and evolution. It is situated in a popular MMOG, EverQuest II (EQII), drawing on a combination of unobtrusively collected behavioral server logs and a comprehensive survey conducted with the players directly through the game engine.; An exploratory analysis of network patterns revealed that the social architecture of the world was quite effective in shaping the structure of interaction, as the involvement in various social networks was influenced by class choice and character level. However,sociability among players was quite diffuse, with a sizable number of players opting to play solo despite the built-in mechanisms that encourage collaborative play. Second, drawing on the theory of social capital, this study tested the effects of different structural properties of player social networks. Players who bridged diverse, otherwise unconnected partners were rewarded with better task performance in EQII. But contrary to expectation, players located in dense and closed cliques did not show higher level of trust towards guildmates or sense of community. Lastly, a longitudinal analysis of tie persistence and decay demonstrated the transient nature of social relationships in EQII, but these ties became considerably more durable over time. Also, character level similarity, shared guild membership and geographic proximity were powerful mechanisms in preserving social relationships.【无限制】本论文旨在批判性考察大型多人在线游戏（Massively Multiplayer Online Game, MMOG）参与者之间的社会互动，研究聚焦于社交网络的模式、影响与演化。本研究选取热门大型多人在线游戏《无尽的任务2》(EverQuest II, EQII)作为研究场景，综合运用了非侵入式采集的游戏服务器行为日志，以及通过游戏引擎直接面向玩家开展的全面调查问卷数据。 首先，针对网络模式的探索性分析显示，该虚拟世界的社交架构对互动结构的塑造效果显著——玩家参与各类社交网络的程度会受到职业选择与角色等级的影响。然而，玩家群体的社交行为呈现出较强的弥散性：尽管游戏内置了多项鼓励协作游玩的机制，但仍有相当数量的玩家选择单人游玩。其次，本研究依托社会资本理论，检验了玩家社交网络的不同结构属性所产生的效应。研究发现，能够连接多元且原本互不关联伙伴的玩家，在《无尽的任务2》中可获得更优异的任务表现。但与预期相悖的是，身处紧密闭合社交团体中的玩家，对公会伙伴的信任水平与社区归属感并未呈现更高程度。最后，针对社交关系存续与衰减的纵向分析证实，《无尽的任务2》中的社交关系具有短暂性特征，但随着时间推移，这些社交联系的持久性会显著提升。此外，角色等级相似度、共同的公会成员身份与地理邻近性，均为维系社交关系的关键驱动机制。