To date, most research into massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has examined the demographics of play. This study explored the social interactions that occur both within and outside of MMORPGs. The sample consisted of 912 self-selected MMORPG players from 45 countries. MMORPGs were found to be highly socially interactive environments providing the opportunity to create str...

One popular facet of Internet gaming is the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). Some individuals spend so much time playing these games that it creates problems in their lives. This study focused on players of World of Warcraft. Factor analysis revealed one factor related to problematic usage, which was correlated with amount of time played, and personality characteristics ...

Research in the genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism suggests that several hundred genes are likely risk factors for these disorders. This heterogeneity presents a challenge and an opportunity at the same time. Although the exact identity of many of the genes remains to be discovered, genes identified to date encode proteins that play roles in certain conserved pathways: prot...

Application specific protocol solutions limit the ability of wireless sensor networks to evolve under changing hardware platforms, network conditions, and application dynamics. We propose a generic role-based abstraction that models application entities as universal plug-n-play roles and network dynamics as changes in node capabilities. In other words, application specifications are mapped as r...

'Griefing' is a term used to describe when a player within a multiplayer online environment intentionally disrupts another player’s game experience for his or her own personal enjoyment or gain. Every day a certain percentage of users of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) are experiencing some form of griefing. There have been studies conducted in the past that attempted t...

Chee Siang Ang We conducted a qualitative study to explore the effect of cognitive overloads in Maple Story, a typical Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game (MMORPG). Our results reveal that several types of cognitive overloads emerge during the game playing. While some of these overloads pose serious problems, even to expert players, some are actually desirable in order to make the game chal...

Passion represents one of the factors involved in online video gaming. However, it remains unclear how passion affects the way gamers are involved in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). The objective of the present study was to analyze the relationships between passions and motivations for online game playing. A total of 410 MMORPG players completed an online questionnair...