| Summary: | 碩士 === 佛光大學 === 教育資訊學系 === 95 === The purpose of this study was to verify if elements of motivating games proposed by Malone and Lepper (1987), Rouse (2003), and Howland (2001) were applicable to online games. World of Warcraft, the best selling online games for 2006, was chosen as the game for analysis. Participant observations and in-depth interviews were used as the research methods for the study. That is, the researcher used think aloud protocols to record thoughts and experiences while playing World of Warcraft and interacting with other players of the game. As a result, nine pieces of data were collected. The researcher then interviewed three experienced players of the online game to further understand their views on essential components that made World of Warcraft fun.
The results showed that motivating game elements suggested by Malone and others were identical to those found in World of Warcraft. This indicated that theoretical frameworks proposed by Malone and others were cross-cultural. The study also found that contingency (i.e., providing responsive gaming environments) was the most important element while players were playing the game alone. The emotional aspect of fantasy and cooperation, however, were two most critical characteristics while players were playing the game in small groups. Furthermore, curiosity was the least motivating factor regardless of whether players were playing the game alone or in small groups.
Although elements of motivating games recommended by Malone and others were useful, other important elements existed. For example, players might be motivated to play the game as a result of missing other players they met online. Playing online games together with friends has become more and more popular among young adults. Consequently, interacting with friends became a motivating factor for playing online games. It should be pointed out that the researcher was unable to verify two elements (i.e., players expected some setback and dynamic solitaire experience) indicated by Rouse (2003) in the study. A serendipitous finding was that disproportion between effort and rewards and inappropriate policies from the online game company might undermine players playing interest.
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