Abstract Trouble in River City: The Social Life of video games by

Civic Activities

There were a few variables with significant effects, and these suggested thematic patterns (see Figure E). First, there was a slight increase in some kinds of civic activism. Compared to control, Newbies were significantly more likely to write their elected officials after playing the game (t=-2.312, p<.05). And on the overall pre- to post-test measure there was an increase in signing petitions. Secondly, there was a decrease in social outings that involved travel between friends or family. Compared to control, Newbies were less likely to attend religious services (t=2.017, p<.05). The other groups experienced no effect. Pre- to post-test, there were declines for most groups in having friends over (t=3.292, p<.001), going to friends’ houses (t=2.628, p<.01), and visiting relatives (t=3.190, p<.01).

Note. The variables originally ranged from to 0-1. See Appendix F for full models and data.

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Conclusions and implications

As a general finding, MMRPG play caused none of the feared River City effects among the Newbie population. Playing this game for one month had little impact on first-time players. On the other hand, there were some negative findings for more experienced players found with the less powerful pre- vs. post-test measures. Gaining a clearer understanding of how some effects occur over time therefore becomes an important goal for future research.

What does game play displace? Game play occurs at the expense of a slight reduction in hours worked and a large reduction in hours watching entertainment television. For Newbies, it did not displace Internet use for school or job activities. However, since there was no measure of total homework use, it is still possible that overall homework patterns may have changed. Such results are clearly possible among the Veteran populations, who did see Internet-based homework drops. Actual hours at work were also unchanged in the controlled Newbie measures, but did drop by over an hour a week across the whole sample. This is the most negative displacement finding in the study since it suggests that playing the game can affect worker productivity, and possibly even income. When exactly such an effect occurs in a game’s lifecycle is unclear, but given the null findings in the Newbie group, it would appear to begin after a month of play.

The media findings offer a potentially more positive note, but one that depends on normative judgments about the relative merits of various media. The concern that game play might take place at the expense of “higher” forms of media such as book reading or news consumption was unjustified. In contrast, non-news television use dropped across all groups: the addition of game play clearly comes at the expense of entertainment-based television, especially sports. This is consistent with the changes in media use habits among high school students presented in Chapter 3, with Mitchell’s early family research (1985), and with more recent Internet work (Ankney, 2002; Kestnbaum et al., 2002; Provonost, 2002; Qiu et al., 2002; The UCLA Internet Project: Year Two, 2001). Movie attendance also suffered. Whether these are considered good or bad results depends on a judgment about the relative merits of MMRPGs vs. television and movies. Since many critics of video entertainment are also critics of general video game play, this finding presents a conundrum of sorts; it is either the devil they know (TV and movies) or the devil they are only now learning about (online games). For those who find involved MMRPG play to be more socially redeeming than general television use or who take issue with television because of its passivity, the finding is positive.
Health and Aggression

For Newbies, playing the game had no affect on health measures, either general physical health or mental health. The media reports of “Nintendinitis” and other sound-bite quality ailments were not supported. But troublingly, game play may have caused minor symptoms of psychological withdrawal and isolation, especially among those with less playing experience. Given the null Newbie finding, this result is not solid and should be tested in future research. If true, it mirrors Turkle’s case study work on MUD players, but is far more generalizable. It is also a topical policy issue: Isolation and social withdrawal among MMRPG players were spotlighted by a recent and well-publicized incident involving a suicide. Shawn Woolley, a compulsive EverQuest player previously diagnosed with depression and schizoid personality disorder, killed himself, leading his mother to suggest that the game itself was to blame. Consequently, public health advocates suggested that similar games should bear warning labels (Miller, 2002). People with preexisting severe mental health problems might, of course, be negatively affected by MMRPGs, but this study cannot speak to such a subgroup. Instead, the study suggests that isolating effects are possible among a broader population. Still, this very tentative result should be kept in the context of this particular game, which as Chapter 6 showed, is socially weaker than most MMRPGs. As a test of a weak stimulus, it should not be used to generalize to all MMRPGs. More socially engaging and active games might have different effects, and should be tested in future research.

Aggression and violence have been the most contentious elements of the video game debate, and although the findings have been inconclusive to date, partisans have lobbied extensively on either side. Hopefully, the results here add some hard evidence to the debate: For first-time players, playing a violent online MMRPG does not cause increases in aggression or aggressive cognitions, but does cause specific cultivation effects, including targeted fear. Also, prior play was found to be an important variable, and one not manipulated by earlier experimental research. For Veteran players, there may be a slight increase in the acceptability of aggression (NOBAGS scale), but a matching decrease in verbal aggression. The small NOBAGS finding indicates that being aggressive in an online game may have a small impact on real-world aggressive cognitions, but not for at least a month since the effect was only present in the Veteran group. A longer panel study could indicate when this effect begins, and whether or not it increases or tails off over time.

A note on the peculiar mixed finding among the Veteran subgroup: After a month of playing AC2, this group became verbally less aggressive, but more permissive of general aggression. The overwhelmingly positive verbal traffic of AC2 had a direct effect, lowering players’ verbal aggression as the same time as the general atmosphere of violence had a negative effect. Both were relatively small. The verbal finding highlights a variable in game play that has received little attention in the research to date, but should given trends in game technology. The networked properties of new games have begun to allow for voice communication among players during game play. If text-based communication can have a positive impact, what will voice communication do? There is also the continuing importance of content and context. AC2 is a verbally supportive game, while many others are not. The differences are due to the goals and game structure of a given title. In competitive team-based games, verbal “smack talk” is crude, derogatory, and common. Perhaps the impact of communication on verbal aggression will vary with competition vs. collaboration, by genre, by physical proximity to other players, or by prior relationships among them.