Experiences of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games: A Phenomenological Exploration

This dissertation presents an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experience of being engaged in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). These games have become increasingly popular over the past decade and have earned the reputation of being highly engrossing or even addicting. In this study, five long-term players were interviewed in person. For a portion of the interviews, the researcher observed the participants playing their games. The interviews were transcribed and subsequently analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis, which yielded individual and shared themes. Individual themes are first presented, which provides a rich sense of each participant's particular way of engaging with his or her game. Shared themes across participants are then detailed, with an emphasis on one prominent theme common to all participants: investment. This theme revealed that engagement in an MMORPG is structured upon investing time and effort in order to earn rewards. These findings are consistent with the position that MMORPGs are attractive to players because they offer the opportunity to engage in pursuits congruent with modernist ideologies, such as capitalism and instrumental rationality. However, my participants also invested in ways that exceeded modernist values, such as forming relationships with other players and engaging with the narrative and thematic dimensions of their games.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Rusczek, Jacob

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eva Simms
• Will Adams
• Lori Koelsch

• MMORPG
• Online Gaming
• Phenomenology
• Technology
• Video Games
• World of Warcraft

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1133

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2149