Online Playability

Abstract

A growing phenomenon of increasingly high importance, online gaming generates some of the Internet’s most popular and profitable content and has also experienced exponential growth in recent years. The relevance of this issue and the relative lack of research available both consolidate the appropriateness of this theme. The social mechanism to MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) is perceived as both key to their attractiveness and a factor of differentiation in their success with corresponding attention to how game design can enhance this facet. Thus, this research aims to understand how the social mechanism present in MMOGs takes precedent over the range of pre-defined player objectives and play a key role in this type of game. For this purpose, two interviews were applied to two different publics: first, fifteen interviews were held with fifteen players of the MMOG Travian, with the second an interview with the game’s management in order to gather information both from those playing and those providing the game. The interviews were then analyzed using content analysis. It was found that the social mechanism overrides the achievement of goals by players and that it is acknowledged, harnessed, and strengthened by the management as a key factor in the success of Travian.