Virtual Rituals: Community, Emotion, and Ritual in Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games—A Quantitative Test and Extension of Structural Ritualization Theory

Abstract

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). Original ArticleOnline video games, especially massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), have fostered large and active online communities. Online communities built around online video games share many of the same aspects of traditional place-based communities (Rheingold 1999). Regardless of whether a community is place-based or virtual, people learn to identify with their community through special events and collective rituals (Cohen 1985). For placebased communities, these collective events can include religious services, political rallies, anniversary celebrations, or local festivals. MMORPGs offer analogous events, raids and quests, in which a group of players must come together and use their abilities to accomplish a task within the game. Little research has sought to understand these online events using sociological theory of rituals.We begin by examining the emergence of MMORPGs from the early days of the Internet to today's multimillionparticipant online communities. Next, we provide the theoretical background for our study beginning with a discussion of the sociology of community outlining a definition of community for MMORPGs. We then discuss the role that ritual plays in defining community commitment. Research using structural ritualization theory (SRT) is reviewed, highlighting its strength for examining the impact of ritualized practices on community commitment. However, we critique SRT research for not developing a quantitative research program. Using an extension of SRT focused on the production of emotional intensity, we develop a set of items to quantitatively evaluate the role of four ritual factors dynamics in producing emotional intensity and commitment to community. After presenting our research methodology, we present our results and discuss their implications for SRT and our understanding of MMORPG communities. The Emergence of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games AbstractMillions of people worldwide immerse themselves in massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). These games generate large, diverse communities that engage in rituals within the game, completing missions or quests. What role do these MMORPG rituals play in commitment to these gaming communities? To address this question, we extend structural ritualization theory to explain the impact of ritual events and emotion on commitment to community in the game World of Warcraft. Our findings suggest that players focused on inanimate resources are less committed than players who focus on social aspects of the ritual events inside the game. We also find that ...

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