Abstract Trouble in River City: The Social Life of video games by
Results: Social Capital Tests Major Social Capital Measures
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Results: Social Capital TestsMajor Social Capital MeasuresIn the control vs. treatment tests, game play had almost no impact on the first-time players. One month is not long enough to cause changes in the MSCS measures. Longer-term players, however, experienced a pattern of effects that suggests game play might have lowered their online social capital. Offline, there was a mixed effect. Game play displaced real-world bonding at the same time as it improved the player’s sense of general community goodwill. These patterns appeared in the MSCS results, and through a more careful question-by-question analysis. Pre- to post-test, only negative social capital effects occurred online. The game did not improve players’ ability to get emotional support from others online, and it did not help them connect especially well with new people. Both the online bridging (t=3.353, p<.001) and bonding (t=2.306, p<.05) scales decreased slightly pre- to post-test. If the subjects did make new friendships online, it does not appear that they gained anything from them: None of the individual questions about practical support and friendship from people online registered any gains. Offline, the scales indicated problems for bonding social capital. Offline bonding social capital decreased pre- to post-test across all of the groups (t=2.848, p<.01). Examining the individual question items, it was clear that the loss came primarily from questions relating to emotional support. Three items from the scale involving having people to turn to for help, advice and personal issues all showed declines (see Figure A). Pre-test Post-test 
Figure A. Effect of game play on offline emotional support. Note. The variables originally ranged from to 0-1. See Appendix F for full models and data. *p < .05, ***p < .001. Offline bridging was unaffected by game play. Given that AC2 is not known for its real-world gatherings, this was not surprising. However, game play may have caused a genuine attitudinal change among players. Consistent with the positive player behavior and interactions in the game, there were increases in several individual measures of community goodwill and sharing, pre- to post-test. Two MSCS items about being part of a community and everyone being connected, along with another question about how often people help each other out, showed that real-world community goodwill increased after playing the game. This effect was strongest among the players with the most experience, although it was present across all groups (see Figure B). Pre-test Post-test 
Figure B. Effect of game play on offline community goodwill. Note. The variables originally ranged from to 0-1. See Appendix F for full models and data. *p < .05, **p < .01. Download 6.01 Mb. Share with your friends:
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