We collected mobility traces of 84,208 avatars spanning 22 regions over two months in Second Life, a popular networked virtual environment. We analyzed the traces to characterize the dynamics of the avatars mobility and behavior, both temporally and spatially. We discuss the implications of the our findings to the design o f peer-to-peer networked virtual environments, interest management, mobility modeling of avatars, server load balancing and zone partitioning, client-side caching, and prefetching.
@cite_5 and @cite_26 collected traces from Quake III, a popular, multi-player, first person shooting (FPS) game and developed mobility models to describe the movement of the players. @cite_3 collected a large trace, comparable in scale to ours, of players movement from World of Warcraft (WoW), a massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG), and analyzed the dynamics of the populations, players arrival departure rate, session length, player distribution, and player movements. FPS games and MMORPGs have different characteristics than NVEs. Players in fast-action, FPS games tend to move around constantly. In MMORPGs, players usually engage in quests to gain level and new abilities. Players tend to gather in a location for an event (e.g. new monsters to fight) and disperse afterwards. Players also tend to move in groups. We observed a different pattern for NVEs.
@cite_5 @cite_26 @cite_3
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Modern Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) provide lifelike virtual environments in which players can conduct a variety of activities including combat, trade, and chat with other players. While the game world and the available actions therein are inspired by their offline counterparts, the games' popularity and dedicated fan base are testaments to the allure of novel social interactions granted to people by allowing them an alternative life as a new character and persona. In this paper we investigate the phenomenon of "gender swapping," which refers to players choosing avatars of genders opposite to their natural ones. We report the behavioral patterns observed in players of Fairyland Online, a globally serviced MMORPG, during social interactions when playing as in-game avatars of their own real gender or gender-swapped. We also discuss the effect of gender role and self-image in virtual social situations and the potential of our study for improving MMORPG quality and detecting online identity frauds. This study examines the usability challenges faced by new players of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), one of the fastest-growing segments of the video game industry. Played in completely online worlds, these games allow players to communicate with one another, form groups and communities, and compete in a variety of fantasy environments.Nineteen subjects participated in an exploratory usability study of four games, three MMORPGs and a similar single-player game used for comparison. Results reveal that many people not usually considered as potential players of these games may be interested in them, but a wide variety of usability issues present serious problems for players inexperienced with the genre. Based on an analysis of the usability data and player feedback, specific recommendations are made to improve the experience of these games for new players. These results further demonstrate the applicability and importance of usability testing to video games. World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most popular massively multiplayer games (MMOs) to date, with more than 6 million subscribers worldwide. This article uses data collected over 8 months with automated bots to explore how WoW functions as a game. The focus is on metrics reflecting a players gaming experience: how long they play, the classes and races they prefer, and so on. The authors then discuss why and how players remain committed to this game, how WoWs design partitions players into groups with varying backgrounds and aspirations, and finally how players consume the games content, with a particular focus on the endgame at Level 60 and the impact of player-versus-player-combat. The data illustrate how WoW refined a formula inherited from preceding MMOs. In several places, it also raises questions about WoWs future growth and more generally about the ability of MMOs to evolve beyond their familiar template.