Studying the “World of Warcraft” 
May 18, 2009 by Nicholas Benninger
Online game inspires UNLV doctoral candidate’s study
Two guild members battle bosses in the “World of Warcraft” game. Photo by Steven Lawton
Researchers at the real UNLV are conducting a study about the fantasy universe of “World of Warcraft” and those who live there.
Michael McCreery, a learning and technology doctoral student with the educational psychology department, is conducting the study and plans to run it over the summer.
It is the culmination of an idea long in the making.
“It’s been brewing for about 10 years — back when I was a programmer for Intel, before coming to the doctorate program,” McCreery said.
The study aims to quantify the social interactions of participants in the game so that future online games can build better environments. The research evaluates people who play online games and how they project their personality inside those virtual worlds or play as fantasy characters.
Participants are asked to play with their characters over level 70 in “World of Warcraft” using only the in-game chat for two hours – not Ventrilo, a type of voice communication. They are allowed the use of game modifications of their choice while playing.
Afterward, the participants are to take a one-hour survey.
McCreery was motivated to untertake the project when he noticed a lot of development in new multiplayer, online games.
When “EverQuest” launched in 1999, McCreery realized that family members were playing together and people who met online through these games were even getting married in the real world.
“I knew of a guild that met from all over the country during summers at a theme park down in Texas to socialize,” McCreery said. “It made me realize how powerful these games are.”
An e-mail announcing the study was sent out, and the response was overwhelming for McCreery. Replies to the e-mail have poured in from all over the country, but participation is limited to Las Vegas residents.
McCreery explained that support from gamers, on both personally and professionally, has been fantastic.
With more than 11 million players, “World of Warcraft” is the most successful online game to date. McCreery explained that the user-friendly client software made it the obvious choice to study.
Ever since his initial exposure to online games, McCreery has seen them as the next step in social networking.
Other popular outlets such as Facebook and MySpace have similar social networks, but he sees something more in online games.
In “World of Warcraft” for example, “raids players” from around the world work as a team to defeat in-game “bosses.”
McCreery wants to be able to harness that type of cooperation to do something educational or therapeutic.
The ultimate goal of his research is to harness the power of these games to do good.
“I want the work I do to have a contribution,” he said, “and you really can’t do that from a [cubicle].”
It’s great for someone doing a research about World of Warcraft and how it affects the real world. I’m pretty sure that McCreery’s project will be used by other game studios or developers to check what made WoW successful and how will they incorporate those to the new games they’re brewing. Goodluck to you Michael!
[...] Studying the “World of Warcraft” : The Rebel Yell (tags: wow) [...]
[...] University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ student newspaper, the Rebel Yell, has an article up about a student there named Michael McCreery, who’s studying how people interact in online games. Unfortunately, most of the article is [...]
[...] Mike Schramm The University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ tyro newspaper, the Rebel Yell, has an essay up about a tyro there declared Michael McCreery, who’s study how people correlate in online games. Unfortunately, many of the essay is about [...]
Why would you limit people to interact only via chat? yes, most communication in WoW is via chat, but the game itself enables live voice chat, so why would you rule out Ventrilo or Teamspeak alternatives?
And are you targeting just casual players or hard core players? Or something in the middle? I think this article poses more questions that anything else. Also, if you are going to take a test sample why is the sample specific to just that region? Most WoW guilds – the social atmosphere that a guild is, are not local.
I’m just not sure what the true underlying of this studiy is supposed to be. Pretty vague imho.
I am a stay at home mother of 2 small boys. Without World of Warcraft I would have very little outlet with real people or a way to “step” away from the chaos in the house that goes on every moment of the day. Best part of it is my husband and I can get together and do something fun everyday for a total of $30 a month. You can’t even date once a month for that.
$12 for burgers, $12 movie tickets, $30 babysitter….one night
$30 warcraft accounts a month…..do the math
[...] University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ student newspaper, the Rebel Yell, has an article up about a student there named Michael McCreery, who’s studying how people interact in online games. Unfortunately, most of the article is [...]
This all sounds very interesting. I’m eager to hear of the results and conclusions to the study as I’m an avid gamer and have been for many years. I hope it is a success and that it does indeed add to the potential for new game releases from all developers.
I hope when you do turn it in to turnitin.com (if you are, that is), that it does not sound like my research paper. I did one about a year ago, on the psych/societal aspects of World of Warcraft. gl
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
[...] The University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ student newspaper, the Rebel Yell, has an article up about a student there named Michael McCreery, who’s studying how people interact in online games. Unfortunately, most of the article is [...]