Conflict and communication in massively-multiplayer online games

Abstract

Massively-multiplayer online games (MMOGs) can serve asa unique laboratory for studying large-scale human behaviors. However,one question that often arises is whether the observed behavior is specificto the game world and its winning conditions. This paper studiesthe nature of conflict and communication across two game worlds thathave different game objectives. We compare and contrast the structureof attack networks with trade and communication networks. Similar toreal-life, social structures play a significant role in the likelihood of interplayerconflict.