3rd Places in World of Warcraft?

Why “Third Places”? Have a closer look at, partly the functionality of Oldenburgs definition of “Third place” with a critical view on how to use it on MMORPG’s.

“Designing for Sociability in MMORPG’s: an Examination of the “Third Places” of SWG” by Nicolas Ducheneaut, Robert J. Moore and Eric Nickell. (Computer Science Laboratory at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)) (SWG: Launched July 2003)

SWG Findings No one-to-one mapping between sociability in real world and in-game sociability Designing for sociability on a worldwide rather than place-by-place basis, seems to be an increasing trend in MMORPG’s”… to attract more of the casual gamers.

The empirical data used in our case study: Pilot-survey (7 answers) Short non-participating observations on- location in Stormwind + Ironforge. WoW-data from Own playing experience from WoW

We were curios about: When the players are online in wow and wants to socialize with other players in Azeroth, how do they then prefer to do that, and why is it a god way? What has an influence on their preference? How do these features/places conform to Oldenburgs definition of “Third Places”?

Third place definition Ray Oldenburg - Not home, not work - Social place 8 criteria Neutral. Free to come and go. People feel at the same level. Conversation is the main activity. Easy to access. Other players present. Regular visitors. Pleasant and comfortable settings. Unserious informal mood. Traits of home. ( Rootedness. Possessions. Regeneration. Relaxing. Warmth. ).

Third places in WOW Third places Inn Square Chat Game Survey Player preferences Some liked the settings, some like to socialize Social activity At least 10 % of time is used by players on social interaction Player needs Players were positive towards more socialization

Critic of Oldenburg Hard to use definition in game and on game. Some aspects are present and some are not. Hard to determine what is home, what is work and what is third place for players. Can definition be used for MMORPG.

Zone Population Server Sample: RP (High), PvE (Medium), PvE (High), PvP (High) Sampling Period: 7/05/ :00 am - 7/12/ :00 am Sampling Resolution: ~14 minutes Parsing Method: We parsed the number of characters in each zone. Data Filter: None Sample Size: 50,464 zone counts

Time spent in different zones Server Sample: RP (High), PvE (Medium), PvE (High) Sampling Period: 6/13/2005 9:00 am - 6/20/2005 9:00 am Sampling Resolution: ~14 minutes Parsing Method: The sample unit is each unique character. Each character was tracked across the server logs. Total playing time, lowest observed level, highest observed level, guild affiliation, and zones seen in were parsed. Sample Size: 76,364 characters

The game changes at lvl 60...

3 Profiles based on case study Level 1-20Level 21-54Level Newbies learning The game. Questing and XP’ingEnd game & high level instances. No social preferences, depends on locations for quests. Spatial (/s), whispers (/w) and emotes generally used. Socialising in instances. Groups are typically randoms (pugs) or formed in guild. Looking for group (/4) channel in IF /SW/Undercity. Socialising in guild chat and using 3rd party tools like forums, guild sites and Voip. Standing in Ironforge/Ogrimmar at the auctionhouse, bank and mailbox. This seems as a common place to ’hang out’ when idleing, chatting and celebrating victories.

Ironforge 3rd place? 5. Regulars 6. Pleasant and comfortable settings 7. Unserious informal mood 8. Traits of home 1. Neutral grounds 2. Everyone on same ’level’ 3. Conversation as main activity 4. Easily accessable with oher players around