Beyond Just Rules: Server Rules for Shaping Positive Experiences in an Online Play Community for Youth

Abstract

Rules, a quintessential property of any and every game, are one of the factors that influence player experiences. Online multiplayer games have two dimensions of rules that can be leveraged to improve player experiences - game rules that developers work with at the game design level and server rules that the player community creates and maintains. A few studies suggest that server rules can be leveraged to shape player experiences at the individual and community levels, but little work has investigated the role of server rules in play communities tailored for youth. The rise in online multiplayer gaming among youth motivates a need to understand how server rules shape the culture and climate of online communities. Using a mixed methods research approach, we analyzed server rules (1920) across 60 "in-the-wild" moderated Minecraft servers. We report on findings from a subset of 19 Minecraft servers explicitly tailored for young adolescents (475 rules). We offer a nuanced understanding of server rules in relation to youth developmental needs, particularly during early adolescence (ages 7-14 years) and discuss how server rules can be harnessed to shape positive player experiences in online gaming communities for all youth.