2020
Korkeila, Henry; Koivisto, Jonna; Hamari, Juho
Demographic Differences in Accumulated Types of Capital in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Academic Mindtrek, pp. 74–82, ACM, 2020, ISBN: 978-1-4503-7774-4.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Avatars, Capital, Demographics, MMORPG
@inproceedings{Korkeila2020b,
title = {Demographic Differences in Accumulated Types of Capital in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games},
author = {Henry Korkeila and Jonna Koivisto and Juho Hamari},
doi = {10.1145/3377290.3377302},
isbn = {978-1-4503-7774-4},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-29},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Academic Mindtrek},
pages = {74–82},
publisher = {ACM},
abstract = {This paper examines how the demographic attributes and extra-game habits of players of a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) predict the accumulated capital of their avatars. An online survey (N=905) was conducted amidst the players of Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV). Four types of capital were measured to map out the concrete and intangible resources of the avatars; social, economic, cultural and symbolic. The results show that weekly time spent playing the game is the strongest predictor of avatar capital and was associated with all types of capital. Time subscribed to the game was associated with cultural, economic, symbolic and bonding social capital. Social capital was found to be highest amongst both young and female players. Forum activity was associated with symbolic capital.},
keywords = {Avatars, Capital, Demographics, MMORPG},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper examines how the demographic attributes and extra-game habits of players of a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) predict the accumulated capital of their avatars. An online survey (N=905) was conducted amidst the players of Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV). Four types of capital were measured to map out the concrete and intangible resources of the avatars; social, economic, cultural and symbolic. The results show that weekly time spent playing the game is the strongest predictor of avatar capital and was associated with all types of capital. Time subscribed to the game was associated with cultural, economic, symbolic and bonding social capital. Social capital was found to be highest amongst both young and female players. Forum activity was associated with symbolic capital.
Korkeila, Henry; Hamari, Juho
Avatar Capital: The Relationships Between Player Orientation and Their Avatar’s Social, Symbolic, Economic and Cultural Capital Journal Article
In: Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 102, pp. 14-21, 2020, ISSN: 0747-5632.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Avatars, Capital, Digitalization, MMORPG, Video games, Virtualization
@article{Korkeila2020,
title = {Avatar Capital: The Relationships Between Player Orientation and Their Avatar’s Social, Symbolic, Economic and Cultural Capital},
author = {Henry Korkeila and Juho Hamari},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202101251653},
doi = {10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.036},
issn = {0747-5632},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Computers in Human Behavior},
volume = {102},
pages = {14-21},
abstract = {Our everyday lives are increasingly digitized, virtualized and gamified. People increasingly live and act through a collection of various digital personas and avatars. However, the question of how peoples' psychological traits may predict the traits and features of their virtual avatars is still relatively unexplored. In this study investigates the relationship between the traits related to gaming preferences and forms of capital (economic, cultural, social and symbolic) their avatar commands. The data was gathered through an online survey (n = 905) amidst the players of a MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. The results indicate that avatar's cultural capital is associated player's orientation towards achievement-mechanics, immersion and social aspects of games. Economic capital is associated with player's orientation towards achievement and relationship sides of games. Social capital is associated with players' orientation towards immersion and social parts of games, and in-game interests of the player. Symbolic capital is associated with player's orientation towards achievement and social orientations and one's tenure in the game.},
keywords = {Avatars, Capital, Digitalization, MMORPG, Video games, Virtualization},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Our everyday lives are increasingly digitized, virtualized and gamified. People increasingly live and act through a collection of various digital personas and avatars. However, the question of how peoples' psychological traits may predict the traits and features of their virtual avatars is still relatively unexplored. In this study investigates the relationship between the traits related to gaming preferences and forms of capital (economic, cultural, social and symbolic) their avatar commands. The data was gathered through an online survey (n = 905) amidst the players of a MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. The results indicate that avatar's cultural capital is associated player's orientation towards achievement-mechanics, immersion and social aspects of games. Economic capital is associated with player's orientation towards achievement and relationship sides of games. Social capital is associated with players' orientation towards immersion and social parts of games, and in-game interests of the player. Symbolic capital is associated with player's orientation towards achievement and social orientations and one's tenure in the game.
2019
Albarrán-Torres, César; Apperley, Thomas H.
Poker Avatars: Affective Investment and Everyday Gambling Platforms Journal Article
In: Media International Australia, vol. 172, iss. 1, pp. 103-113, 2019, ISSN: 1329-878X.
Abstract | Links | Tags: App, Avatars, Gambling, Online casino, Platform
@article{Albarrán-Torres2019,
title = {Poker Avatars: Affective Investment and Everyday Gambling Platforms},
author = {César Albarrán-Torres and Thomas H. Apperley},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1329878X18805088?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1},
doi = {10.1177/1329878X18805088},
issn = {1329-878X},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-08-01},
urldate = {2019-08-01},
journal = {Media International Australia},
volume = {172},
issue = {1},
pages = {103-113},
abstract = {This article examines the use of player-controlled avatars on digital gambling platforms and apps. Through a discussion of the influential, but now defunct, online gambling platform PKR ‘The Second Life of gambling’ the article illustrates how the avatar has a key role in the routinization of online gambling and cultivating affective investment from gamblers. The process of creating, maintaining and updating avatars promotes spending winnings in-house as the house now provides digital items that allow players to personalize their avatars. For gamblers, the affective investment in avatars adds a crucial qualitative and social dimension to what is otherwise a game of numbers and odds. The customizable avatar introduces a qualitative uncertainty by creating the possibility for indirect communication through avatar appearance, accessories and gestures, which reconnects online poker to face-to-face gambling through traditions such as bluffing. Affective investment in the avatar thus creates a feeling of co-presence between gamblers while gamblers and gambling platforms.},
keywords = {App, Avatars, Gambling, Online casino, Platform},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article examines the use of player-controlled avatars on digital gambling platforms and apps. Through a discussion of the influential, but now defunct, online gambling platform PKR ‘The Second Life of gambling’ the article illustrates how the avatar has a key role in the routinization of online gambling and cultivating affective investment from gamblers. The process of creating, maintaining and updating avatars promotes spending winnings in-house as the house now provides digital items that allow players to personalize their avatars. For gamblers, the affective investment in avatars adds a crucial qualitative and social dimension to what is otherwise a game of numbers and odds. The customizable avatar introduces a qualitative uncertainty by creating the possibility for indirect communication through avatar appearance, accessories and gestures, which reconnects online poker to face-to-face gambling through traditions such as bluffing. Affective investment in the avatar thus creates a feeling of co-presence between gamblers while gamblers and gambling platforms.
de Wildt, Lars; Apperley, Thomas H.; Clemens, Justin; Fordyce, Robbie; Mukherjee, Souvik
(Re-)Orienting the Video Game Avatar Journal Article
In: Games and Culture, vol. 15, iss. 8, pp. 962–981, 2019, ISSN: 1555-4120.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Avatars, Cultural appropriation, Diversity, Game culture, Postcolonialism
@article{deWildt2019,
title = {(Re-)Orienting the Video Game Avatar},
author = {Lars de Wildt and Thomas H. Apperley and Justin Clemens and Robbie Fordyce and Souvik Mukherjee},
doi = {10.1177/1555412019858890},
issn = {1555-4120},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-06-17},
urldate = {2019-06-17},
journal = {Games and Culture},
volume = {15},
issue = {8},
pages = {962–981},
abstract = {This article explores the cultural appropriation of the term avatar by Western tech culture and what this implies for scholarship of digital games, virtual worlds, social media, and digital cultures. The term has roots in the religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent and was subsequently imported into video game terminology during a period of widespread appropriation of Eastern culture by Californian tech industries. We argue that the use of the term was not a case of happenstance but a signaling of the potential for computing to offer a mystical or enchanted perspective within an otherwise secular world. This suggests that the concept is useful in game cultures precisely because it plays with the “otherness” of the term's original meaning. We argue that this indicates a fundamental hybridity to gaming cultures that highlight the need to add postcolonial perspectives to how issues of diversity and power in gaming cultures are understood.},
keywords = {Avatars, Cultural appropriation, Diversity, Game culture, Postcolonialism},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article explores the cultural appropriation of the term avatar by Western tech culture and what this implies for scholarship of digital games, virtual worlds, social media, and digital cultures. The term has roots in the religious tradition of the Indian subcontinent and was subsequently imported into video game terminology during a period of widespread appropriation of Eastern culture by Californian tech industries. We argue that the use of the term was not a case of happenstance but a signaling of the potential for computing to offer a mystical or enchanted perspective within an otherwise secular world. This suggests that the concept is useful in game cultures precisely because it plays with the “otherness” of the term's original meaning. We argue that this indicates a fundamental hybridity to gaming cultures that highlight the need to add postcolonial perspectives to how issues of diversity and power in gaming cultures are understood.
2018
Ryn, Luke; Apperley, Thomas H.; Clemens, Justin
Avatar Economies: Affective Investment from Game to Platform Journal Article
In: New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 291–306, 2018, ISSN: 17407842.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Avatars, Platform, Video games
@article{VanRyn2018,
title = {Avatar Economies: Affective Investment from Game to Platform},
author = {Luke Ryn and Thomas H. Apperley and Justin Clemens},
doi = {10.1080/13614568.2019.1572790},
issn = {17407842},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = {New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia},
volume = {24},
number = {4},
pages = {291--306},
publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
abstract = {Video game avatars have been understood as a key site of players' “affective investment” in play and games. In this article, we extend this conversation to explore the avatar's role in engaging players with gaming platforms. Through a case study of Team Fortress 2 (Valve Software, 2007) and the Steam platform, we demonstrate the avatar's function beyond gameworlds as a tool for encouraging certain kinds of play. Team Fortress 2, we argue, is a crucial testing ground for Valve's experiments with gaming economies via the Steam platform. By extension, we show the importance of video game avatars for encouraging affective investment in platforms more broadly, including Microsoft's Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and even workplace dashboards.},
keywords = {Avatars, Platform, Video games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Video game avatars have been understood as a key site of players' “affective investment” in play and games. In this article, we extend this conversation to explore the avatar's role in engaging players with gaming platforms. Through a case study of Team Fortress 2 (Valve Software, 2007) and the Steam platform, we demonstrate the avatar's function beyond gameworlds as a tool for encouraging certain kinds of play. Team Fortress 2, we argue, is a crucial testing ground for Valve's experiments with gaming economies via the Steam platform. By extension, we show the importance of video game avatars for encouraging affective investment in platforms more broadly, including Microsoft's Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and even workplace dashboards.