OGaming: Why, of all things to study, choose to focus on massively multiplayer online gaming trends?

A. Fleming Seay: My interest is primarily driven by a belief that multi-person experiences are the future of interactive entertainment and a desire to participate in the creation of that future. Project Massive has given me the opportunity to learn quite a bit about the current market; who plays, why, how they communicate, etc. I’ve also been able to look at issues like the operation of player organizations and the effects of play on the individual. Some of it is straight social science, some is more market oriented.

Another factor is my continuing distaste for the alarmist coverage of “addiction” to online games. These claims are not based in science, but rather hinge on truly tragic anecdotes and grand generalizations. The pain people feel from lost jobs and damaged relationships are real, no question. To lay responsibility for these events solely at the feet of developers without doing the hard work of researching the phenomena is simply irresponsible. Suggesting that products within the MMORPG genre are developed with the specific intent to ensnare users into addiction in service of a developer’s bottom line is silly. Can you really liken Sony Online Entertainment to Phillip Morris? Do you think memos from management to the dev teams about increasing the “long-term appeal” of the crafting system are ever going to surface? Substance abuse models can only get you so far.

MMOs in their current incarnation are Skinner boxes operating under a variable schedule of reinforcement. If you interact with them on a steady basis, you will get rewarded (new shiny loot, server fame, sense of accomplishment, etc). Sure, developers tweak the reinforcement schedule to keep you interested, but that doesn’t mean they are trying to compete with real-world needs and functioning. It is an unfortunate reality that sometimes some people allow their interest in the game to displace their pursuit of real world goals and needs. How this happens, to whom, and what we can do about it are the things we should be looking at. Jumping up and down and wagging fingers at the industry doesn’t help anyone, but it’s such an easy story to do that we see it get done over and over again.