PDF] Player Communities in Multiplayer Online Games: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research

This article synthesizes the key methods and concepts researchers have used to study and characterize player communities, as well as the aspects and operationalizations they have concentrated on, showing that qualitative approaches have been more popular than quantitative. Numerous researchers have written about the social dynamics of player communities in multiplayer online games. Following a systematic review of refereed empirical research publications from 2000-2010, this article synthesizes the key methods and concepts researchers have used to study and characterize player communities, as well as the aspects and operationalizations they have concentrated on. The analysis shows that qualitative approaches have been more popular than quantitative. The concepts used to characterize player communities were often not clearly defined or overlapped in meaning. Yet they revealed a prevalence of micro (groups or teams), meso (guilds or organizations) and macro (communities and networks) perspectives. Eighteen different aspects and operationalizations of player communities were identified. Six of these were clearly most popular, i.e. social structuring, rationale, culture & social norms, sed ICTs, number of members and time of existence. The article concludes with several perspectives and suggestions for future research.

The effect of games and simulations on higher education: a systematic literature review, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education

Full article: Understanding Members' Active Participation in Online Question-and-Answer Communities: A Theory and Empirical Analysis

References - Multimodal Political Networks

PDF] Digital Games and Language Learning by Mark Peterson eBook

A dual identification framework of online multiplayer video games: The case of massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) - ScienceDirect

Main Findings: Getting into the gamification?

Frontiers The Pros and Cons of Online Competitive Gaming: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessing Young Players' Well-Being

PDF) An update to the systematic literature review of empirical evidence of the impacts and outcomes of computer games and serious games

Player–video game interaction: A systematic review of current concepts - ScienceDirect

From Territorial to Temporal Ambitions: The Politics of Time and Imagination in Massive Multiplayer Online Forecasting Games – topic of research paper in Media and communications. Download scholarly article PDF and read

A Social-Ecological Approach to Modeling Sense of Virtual Community (SOVC) in Livestreaming Communities