Community driven anti-harassment strategies for MMOGs
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Bachelor's thesis
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Authors
Date
2022
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Bachelor's Programme in Design
Language
en
Pages
63+26
Series
Abstract
This thesis explores the potential of community driven strategies to prevent harassment in MMOGs. The main characteristics of community driven strategies is that they are upheld and moderated by the community which they are implemented in. Currently, anti-harassment approaches of mainstream titles focus on utilising strategies which are operated by AI or game mechanics, where human judgement is used rarely. The lack of nuance found in these pre-existing systems places their focus on preventing interaction between players. As a result, the source of harassment in the community remains unaddressed and is allowed to continue to thrive. These strategies combined with a pre-existing toxic gaming culture fosters harassment. Through community driven strategies, an increased sense of responsibility can be encouraged. Through increased interference from gamers in situations of harassment, the core of harassment can be addressed. When gamers themselves feel responsible for stopping harassment when it occurs, a self-moderating community can be created. The hypothesis was researched through an online survey supported by interviews with game design experts and gamers. The online survey provided initial indications of gamers' opinions on harassment and their boundaries for behavioural change, towards community driven strategies. These findings were further fortified through individual semi-structured interviews with gamers and experts. The expert interviews provided informed opinions on the implementation of community driven strategies, while gamers provided the user perspective. The combination of results from the online survey and interviews showed potential in the implementation of community driven strategies in MMOGs. This thesis proposes the initiation of the implementation through a community driven anti-harassment framework. The proposal is formatted through a series of core principles which a community driven framework should meet. The seven total principles are presented individually and in combination to how they relate and connect to each other. The combination of principles is presented through a framework illustration. The use of a framework illustration was based on literature about the use of the Double Diamond in design processes and the use of structured anti-harassment policies in workplace contexts. The outcome can be used as a facilitator of further research and discussion by designers, game designers and psychologists into initiating cultural change in toxic environments.Description
Supervisor
Person, OscarThesis advisor
Miltiades, ConstantinosKeywords
anti-harassment, MMOGs, participatory online communities, video games, community driven, anti-harassment strategies