Who owns the mods?

First Monday ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Ming Kow ◽  
Bonnie Nardi
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Online Game ◽  
End User ◽  
Commercial Products ◽  
Software Products ◽  
Game World ◽  
Video Gamers ◽  
Ethical Systems

Modding, the development of end user software extensions to commercial products, is popular among video gamers. Modders form communities to help each other. Mods can shape software products by weaving in contributions from users themselves based on their own experience of a product. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a conflict between a modding community and a gaming company which reveals contested issues of ownership and governance. We studied an online game, World of Warcraft, a large multiplayer game produced by Blizzard Entertainment. From content analysis of forum posts and interviews with modders, we explore the connected but divergent ethical systems of modders and Blizzard. The question -- Who owns the mods? -- arises through different perspectives of mods ownership rooted within contradictory ethics and practices in the two communities.

Digital Structures and the Future of Online Leadership

2013 ◽  
pp. 257-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moses Wolfenstein
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Leadership ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Original Study ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Learning Cycle ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Game World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Online Leadership

This chapter discusses findings from a study that looked at organizational leadership in the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft® in an attempt to inform the future of leadership in schools and other online and blended learning organizations. After offering a general orientation to the game world and the original study, this chapter delineates the ways in which studying virtual worlds of this sort can and cannot inform theory and practice of instructional leadership. It then examines the organizational leadership and learning cycle that emerged in the original study. Finally, it considers implications from the research for instructional and organizational leadership in a data rich environment.

Digital Structures and the Future of Online Leadership

2013 ◽  
pp. 1669-1692
Author(s):  
Moses Wolfenstein
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Leadership ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Original Study ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Learning Cycle ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Game World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Online Leadership

This chapter discusses findings from a study that looked at organizational leadership in the massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft® in an attempt to inform the future of leadership in schools and other online and blended learning organizations. After offering a general orientation to the game world and the original study, this chapter delineates the ways in which studying virtual worlds of this sort can and cannot inform theory and practice of instructional leadership. It then examines the organizational leadership and learning cycle that emerged in the original study. Finally, it considers implications from the research for instructional and organizational leadership in a data rich environment.

Network Autocorrelation of Task Performance via Informal Communication Within a Virtual World

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb T. Carr ◽  
Paul Zube
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Informal Communication ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Network Autocorrelation ◽  
Virtual Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Individual Achievement

Network autocorrelation occurs when individuals receive assistance from others which regulates their own behavior, and it can be used to explain how group members may improve their task performance. This study explored how network autocorrelation, via informal communication within a virtual group, affected an individual’s task achievement in the online game World of Warcraft. Informal interactions between guild members during a 4-year period were collected and analyzed to assess how informal interactions with other group members affected an individual’s in-game achievement. Findings indicate informal communication from other group members (specifically the experience and helpfulness of the other members) positively predict an individual’s task performance, while tenure with the group negatively predict individual achievement. Findings are discussed with respect to network analysis and influence in online groups.

The Quest for a Massively Multiplayer Online Game that Teaches Physics

2013 ◽  
pp. 292-316
Author(s):  
Ricardo Javier Rademacher Mena
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Physics Education ◽  
Online Games ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Newtonian Physics ◽  
Multiplayer Online Games ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Massively Multiplayer

The last 10 years have seen explosive growth in the fields of online gaming. The largest of these games are undoubtedly the Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG), such as World of Warcraft or City of Heroes, which attract millions of users throughout the world every day. The last 20 years have also seen the growth of a new field of physics known as Physics Education Research (PER). This field consists of physicists dedicated to improving how we learn and teach the subject of physics. In this chapter, the author discusses his personal quest to combine PER with a MMOG and create an online virtual world dedicated to teaching Newtonian physics.

The Quest for a Massively Multiplayer Online Game that Teaches Physics

Gamification ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 930-955
Author(s):  
Ricardo Javier Rademacher Mena
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Physics Education ◽  
Online Games ◽  
World Of Warcraft ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Newtonian Physics ◽  
Multiplayer Online Games ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Massively Multiplayer

The last 10 years have seen explosive growth in the fields of online gaming. The largest of these games are undoubtedly the Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG), such as World of Warcraft or City of Heroes, which attract millions of users throughout the world every day. The last 20 years have also seen the growth of a new field of physics known as Physics Education Research (PER). This field consists of physicists dedicated to improving how we learn and teach the subject of physics. In this chapter, the author discusses his personal quest to combine PER with a MMOG and create an online virtual world dedicated to teaching Newtonian physics.

Strategies for Developing Mobile Location-Based Learning Activities by Teachers

2019 ◽  
pp. 85-95
Author(s):  
Hagit Meishar Tal
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Physical Activities ◽  
Online Game ◽  
Educational Activities ◽  
Mobile Location ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Right ◽  
Dependent Tasks

This chapter analyses the educational activities created by teachers on an online game generator, Treasure-HIT. The analysis focused on two main components that exist in every game: (1) the location clue, which leads the players to the different stations of the game, and (2) the station task, which the players have to perform when they reach the right station. This qualitative research was based on content analysis of the activities accumulated on the system's server. A total of 112 games were analyzed, including 1272 clues, 1005 stations and 1862 station tasks. Five types of location-dependent tasks were identified: identifying information found on site, camera documentation, receiving an answer from someone on site, physical activities dependent on the location, measurements using a mobile phone, and leaving a personal mark.

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