WORLD OF WARCRAFT: A SETTING
FOR L2 USE AND DEVELOPMENT
INGRID FISCHER s1531972
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
ANC: American National Corpus
BA: Bachelor’s degree
CLI: Coleman-Liau index
D-Level: Developmental level
GED: General education diploma, which is an American and Canadian term for high school diploma
HAVO: ‘Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs’, the Dutch high school level that prepares for University of applied sciences (HBO)
HBO: ‘Hoger beroeps onderwijs’, the Dutch term for University of applied sciences, which correlates to a Bachelor’s degree
IPA: Interpretative phenomenological analysis
J.D.: Juris Doctor, which is the American term for a graduate degree in law L1: First language (native language, or mother tongue)
L2: Second language (this includes any foreign language spoken in addition to the L1)
LS1: Lexical sophistication
MA: Master’s degree
MBO: ‘Middelbaar beroepsonderwijs’, the Dutch term for upper secondary vocational education
MLS: Mean length of sentence
MMO: Massively multiplayer online game, sometimes referred to as MMOG, or MMORPG
MMOG: Massively multiplayer online game, sometimes referred to as MMO, or MMORPG
MMORPG: Massively multiplayer online role playing game, sometimes referred to as MMO or MMOG
MOO: Object oriented MUDs
MSTTR: Mean segmental type-token ratio MUD: Multi-user dungeon adventure game
NPC: Non-player character, which refers to non-human computer-generated in- game characters
PARC: Palo Alto Research Centre
PvP: Player-versus-player
SLA: Second language acquisition
TL: Target language
VMBO: ‘Voorbereidend middelbaar beroepsonderwijs’, the Dutch high school level that prepares for upper secondary vocational education (MBO) VOIP: Voice over Internet protocol
VWO: ‘Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs’, the Dutch high school level that prepares for University (WO)
WO: ‘Wetenschappelijk onderwijs’, the Dutch term for University, which correlates to a Master’s degree
Table of contents:
1 Introduction --- 2
2 Background--- 2
2.1 Video-game generation --- 2
2.2 Learning-potential video games --- 3
2.3 Educational video games --- 4
2.4 Massively Multiplayer Online games--- 4
2.5 Studies on MMOs --- 5
2.6 Introduction to an MMO: World of Warcraft --- 8
2.7 Studies on WoW ---11
3 Questionnaire --- 14
3.1 Method ---14
3.2 Results and discussion ---15
4 Follow-up interview--- 35
4.1 Method ---35
4.2 Results and discussion ---36
5 Linguistic complexity analysis of in-game text samples --- 43
5.1 Method ---43
5.2 Results and discussion ---47
6 Linguistic complexity analysis of external sources text samples --- 51
6.1 Method ---51
6.2 Results and discussion ---52
7 Conclusions --- 57
Reference List --- 61
Appendix 1--- 65
Questionnaire---65
Appendix 2--- 67
World of Warcraft: A setting for L2 use and development Ingrid Fischer, 1531972
1 Introduction
Mulitplayer online games form complex semiotic environments that include game-generated texts, player-to-player communication and collaboration, and associated websites that support in-game play. This thesis describes an exploratory study of the massively multiplayer online gaming environment (MMO) World of Warcraft (WoW), one of the most popular MMOs currently available, as a setting for second language (L2) use and development. By charting what WoW players report they actually do, finding out where and how they are exposed to language, and by analysing the linguistic complexity of the language they are exposed to, this study aims to assess the potential of a representative and widely played MMO as an
environment for L2 use and development. This thesis seeks to answer the following questions: What do WoW players report that they actually do while playing the game? What is the nature of the linguistic environment? What happens linguistically outside of the game?
To begin, a short overview of previous research on video games and (language) learning will be given. This is followed by a description of the study and its methodology, which in turn is followed by a discussion of the findings and a conclusion.
2 Background
2.1 Video-game generation
There has been an extraordinary growth of Internet-users around the world. This demographic phenomenon has occurred in tandem with the emergence of entirely new forms of social interactions and communication that are Internet mediated (Purushotma, Thorne, & Wheatley, 2008; Thorne & Black, 2007). Internet-mediated communication, which used to be a
educators better respond to the demand for greater educational relevance by the video-game generation. As Simpson (2005) puts it: “Video games cross all cultural and ethnic boundaries. Not recognizing that these shared experiences exist, public education has failed to provide for the impact of that experience on students' learning” (p. 17). Researchers do not advocate replacing traditional teaching methods with video games, they do however stress the need to seriously consider the pedagogy and design principles of video games as a teaching tool to keep up with these changing contexts of mediated language use (e.g. Gee, 2003; Lee et al., 2007; Purushotma et al., 2008; Simpson, 2005; Thorne et al., 2007). This relates closely to Gee’s (2005) notion of affinity spaces: a place where informal learning takes place. In an affininty space, members of a community have common ground and common interests, which bridge barriers such as age, race, class, and educational level. This allows both experts and novices to be equally legitimate participants in the affinity space. As Gee (2005) points out, affininty spaces can be very beneficial for learning, and they are very common in today’s high-technology world. Nevertheless, classroom settings typically do not adhere to the principles of affinity spaces, because common interests are often unclear and barriers such as educational level are much harder or even impossible to bridge (Gee, 2005). Video games, on the other hand, offer examples of affinity spaces which encourage collaboration, support peer-to-peer teaching, and require coordinated team efforts to achieve commonly shared goals. In these ways, many MMOs have been argued to demonstrate the possible benefits of video games as learning environments.
2.2 Learning-potential video games
There has been extensive research on the potential of video gaming for developing general learning skills (e.g. Gee, 2003; Lee et al., 2007; Sandford & Williamson, 2005). These studies have demonstrated that video games are highly social, engaging and very suitable for
promotes engagement and facilitates learning. (Lee et al., 2007). And finally, Lee & Hoadley (2007) point out, when students have a direct investment in the learning experience, which is the case in video games, they are more likely to embrace new knowledge as essential to their own personal growth and development.
2.3 Educational video games
Considering these postulated merits of video games, attempts have been made to develop educational video games that specifically cater to certain learning objectives. However, as Gee (2003), Lee & Hoadley (2007) and Nardi, Ly & Harris (2007) point out, these have not been very successful thus far because they are often repetitive, with superficial tasks in which the learning objectives are often too obvious, which can make students feel patronised or deceived. Since it is proving quite difficult and costly to develop educational video games that are interesting and captivating (Purushotma et al., 2008), a logical step is to take a closer look at commercial video games, which have been specifically developed to be highly engaging, to see what they have to offer. Even though they are not explicitly educational in terms of their content, commercially available video games are designed as learning environments within which players begin at simpler levels and continue to progressively more challenging
problems and tasks. Gamer-participants are also often required to communicate and interact in the virtual space, giving them ample opportunity to experience and learn new things with and from one another (Lee et al., 2007). Contrary to popular belief, video games are not
exclusively a solo experience (Newman, 2008). Also, there is quite an extensive video game culture of talk, discussion, and collaboration which indicates substantial opportunities for learning (Newman, 2008). The question that arises, however, is which video game genres and communication tools might be most suitable and productive as environments for, or
integration into, instructed second language (L2) curricula (Purushotma et al., 2008)? 2.4 Massively Multiplayer Online games
connect simultaneously and engage in real-time communication, role-play, and character customization in a shared environment (Carton, 1995). Successful completion of game tasks usually depends on collaboration between players. This was later followed by object oriented Muds (MOOs) which enable the users to create their own objects and locations. In
comparison to MUDs, MOOs also illustrate a transition from sometimes solitary ‘game playing’ to online engagement for purposes of social interaction. In MOOs, many participants focused exclusively on the social and communicative experience these online environments support (Carton, 1995).
MMOs incorporate many of the features of MUDs and MOOs: “fantasy themes based on character role-play, real-time communication with other players, interaction with non-player characters and progression in the game through the completion of tasks known as quests” (Peterson, 2010, p. 430) and they require communication and teamwork between players to complete required quests. Due to advances in computer technology, the use of text chat as a primary means of communication has sometimes been supplemented by voice communication tools, which enable players to use both visual and auditory channels in their communication (Peterson, 2010). Another development influencing MMOs is the dramatic expansion of the Internet, which enables very large numbers of players to interact within the game world. As Peterson describes it: modern MMOs “are large-scale permanent virtual worlds providing access to high-quality 3D graphic interfaces that are characterised by a high degree of realism and immersion … [which] facilitate game play through the use of
customizable character avatars” (2010, pp. 430-431). The more popular MMOs can have thousands of players interacting with each other in the same virtual world and at the same time (Battlenet, 2011).
2.5 Studies on MMOs
For educators, an important question regarding commercial online gaming is how such environments might support second language development. Second language acquisition (SLA) theories stress the important role of interaction in language learning (Gass, 2000; Long, 1996). Peterson (2010) points out that according to the psycholinguistic literature on
interaction there are two specific types of interaction that facilitate SLA: negotiation of meaning and focus on form (Doughty & Williams, 1998; Harley & Swain, 1984; Long, 1991; Pica, 1994). Negotiation of meaning involves the way in which learners deal with
alter the input they are providing. The significance of negotiation of meaning is that it allows for immediate feedback at the exact moment a problem occurs, which is probably when the learner is most receptive (Pica, 1994). Negotiation of meaning is thought to have a positive influence on new information being learned and internalised. Since the interaction is oriented toward successful communication, information is provided on precisely those areas the learner has difficulty with.
For its part, focus on form involves an emphasis on specific target language (TL) forms and corrective feedback during the interaction which focuses attention on problems in the linguistic output (Ellis, 2005; Peterson, 2010). Importantly, however, the primary focus is on meaning rather than form, and focus on form should occur incidentally from attending to communicative needs (Long, 1991). The cognitive restructuring involved in language
development is enhanced through real-time interaction in the target language. Other literature on interaction emphasises the importance of the social rather than purely linguistic factors for facilitating language learning in interaction. This approach to SLA claims that second
language learning is facilitated by the co-construction of meaning in the form of collaborative dialog and by creating zones of proximal development (ZPD) (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006 in Peterson, 2010). The notion of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development approaches learning as a social practice (Nardi, Ly, & Harris, 2007). The zone of proximal development is defined as the difference between what a learner can do with and without the help of teachers or peers (Nardi et al., 2007). Learning takes place in the zone of proximal development when learners take on difficult challenges that require the use of resources provided by teachers, more experienced peers, or other assistance (Nardi et al., 2007). As a learner develops, she becomes more self-regulated and correspondingly less reliant on external resources such as other people or supportive artifacts.
From these SLA perspectives, MMOs appear to present suitable environments for language learning: there is exposure to the TL in an authentic and event-driven
communication context, the communication tools provide plentiful opportunities for real-time interaction involving TL use and reuse, and the international nature of MMOs provides access to people from different nationalities, including native speakers, which provides opportunities to develop communicative competence (Peterson, 2010). Also, the presence of native
Studies on MMOs have shown that they are designed to facilitate social
communication and teamwork, and users often form communities with whom they frequently interact and play together (Nardi & Harris, 2006 in Peterson, 2010). Additionally, MMOs generally have a friendly and non-threatening atmosphere which indicates enjoyment and reduced inhibition that may be conducive for risk-taking (Bryant, 2006 in Peterson, 2010). Furthermore, there tends to be a great deal of game-related interaction which supports the development of interpersonal relationships, which according to Rankin, Gold, & Gooch (2006) involve a high degree of collaboration and social cohesion and the creation of ZPDs, which in turn have the potential to facilitate language learning. Furthermore, the game-related interaction revolves around a common goal, and the players have common grounds and common interests. This indicates that MMOs also adhere to Gee’s (2005) notion of affinity spaces.
Research that articulates some of these points include Lee & Hoadley (2007), who conducted a case study that examined the possible identity positions high school students developed in MMOs. The study demonstrated a high degree of engagement and motivation to learn. The possible reasons for this, Lee & Hoadley point out, is that MMOs provide realistic scenarios in a safe space where players are free to test and explore without severe
consequences. Additionally, because of the use of an online character in a virtual world, players can communicate, behave, and be similar to or different from who they present themselves to be in the real world. A player can control a great deal of the aesthetic
characteristics and behaviour of their online character, and other players in the game are never really sure who the player is offline. In short, Lee & Hoadley (2007) claim that the ability to create different identities, and the enactment and role play in MMOs, is what motivates and engages students, which in turn promotes learning.
2.6 Introduction to an MMO: World of Warcraft
Figure 1: Print screen of the WoW log on screen
One of the most popular MMOs today is World of Warcraft (WoW). According to recent figures provided by Blizzard Enterainment (2010), in 2010 WoW has over 12 million players worldwide. According to the WoW beginner’s guide on Battlenet, “World of Warcraft is an online game where players from around the world assume the roles of heroic fantasy
characters and explore a virtual world full of mystery, magic, and endless adventure” (2011). Warcraft is a franchise of video games and novels created by Blizzard Entertainment
(Blizzard Entertainment, 2011). The Warcraft Universe, in which WoW is embedded, now includes a number of games and was first introduced in 1994. WoW itself was released on November 23, 2004 (Blizzard Entertainment, 2011). Since its release there have been three expansions to the game: in 2007 the Burning Crusade was released, in 2008 the Wrath of the Lich King was released, and in 2010 Cataclysm was released (Blizzard Entertainment, 2011). Each expansion added new levels to the game, and also new races and player classes, so that players now have 12 different races to choose among.
Before a new player can begin playing the game, they first have to create their online character, which immediately leads to having to make two important decisions. As pointed out in the WoW beginner’s guide (2011) these decisions have a major effect on how you will play the game. First players will have to choose the race that they want to play. Race
Horde, see figure 2, upper left corner). Choosing a faction is important, because only
characters from the same faction can communicate and cooperate with each other. Therefore, choosing a race is mostly a social decision. There are 6 races you can choose from in the Alliance faction and 6 races in the Horde faction (see figure 2, upper left corner). Secondly, players will have to choose a class. Class determines what one’s character can and cannot do. There are 10 classes to choose from, and each class offers a different gaming experience, so class is mostly a game play choice. When you click on a class, the general characteristics of that class are explained (see figure 2, bottom-right). However, to find out which class suits a particular player best, the WoW beginner’s guide (2011) recommends that players create a few different characters and try out the different classes. Currently up to 50 characters can be created within one account (see figure 3). Once race and class have been chosen, the
appearance of the character can be customised to suit the player’s wishes (see figure 2, bottom-left).
Figure 3: Example of one WoW player’s overview of different characters
In World of Warcraft as well as most other MMOs, each player’s character has a specific set of skills and abilities depending on the class they have chosen. Mages, for
example, are powerful spell casters who can attack enemies from afar, inflicting damage using magic, but they can wear only light armor and so are very vulnerable to attacks (Beginner's Guide, 2011). These traits define the role of the mage: attack from afar, do a lot of damage quickly, and hopefully kill the foes before they are able to reach you.
Much of the content in the game is developed for players working together in groups to explore dangerous dungeons and defeat powerful monsters (Blizzard Entertainment, 2010). In a group, there are three main roles to fulfil: tank, damage dealer, and healer. Tanks are very resilient, and they are supposed to draw the attention of the enemy away from the more vulnerable members of the group. Damage dealers bring down the target and healers keep party members alive with healing magic (Beginner's Guide, 2011). Not all classes can fulfil every role: classes such as warlocks and rogues for instance are strictly damage dealers, while other classes, such as the druid, can fulfill all three roles (Beginner's Guide, 2011).
are separate role-playing realms for those who prefer to play in an immersive world
(Beginner's Guide, 2011). You play the role of a fantasy hero who braves thousands of quests, progressing and getting stronger as you gain experience, new skills, and more powerful items and equipment (Beginner's Guide, 2011).
In essence, World of Warcraft revolves around fighting monsters and completing quests. Most quests can be completed alone, however the many dungeons and raids in the game have to be completed in groups working together as a team (Beginner's Guide, 2011). Dungeons are places where groups of up to 5 players take on monsters that are much stronger and much smarter, and thus are a lot more difficult to kill than in the regular quests. On average, they take about 30 to 90 minutes to complete, and the rewards found are of a higher quality, though usually not as valuable or powerful as the loot from raids (Beginner's Guide, 2011). Raids are similar to dungeons but even more challenging, present a much larger area to explore, take longer to complete, and require bigger groups of usually of 10 to 25 players. It is in raids where the game’s most powerful items can be found.
A key tension in lore and narrative construction of the WoW gaming world is the constant struggle between the Alliance and the Horde factions. Currently there are no all-out wars, but players from both sides regularly fight each other, which is called player-versus-player combat (PvP) (Beginner's Guide, 2011). There are various platforms for PvP: Open world PvP, Battlegrounds and Arenas. Open-world PvP can happen anywhere where players of opposing factions meet, and are usually small one-on-one confrontations, which can escalate to massive proportions if groups of players decide to organise (Beginner's Guide, 2011). Battlegrounds are PvP battlefields where the two factions are in constant battle over strategic targets. Two teams battle against each other and have to achieve certain objectives to win. Powerful weapons and armour can be earned by participating in these battles (Beginner's Guide, 2011). Arenas are slightly different PvP settings, because they are more formal and organised, and teams of 2, 3, or 5 players fight until every last member of the opposing team is defeated (Beginner's Guide, 2011). Participating in arena can provide unique equipment that offers benefits for PvP game play (Beginner's Guide, 2011).
2.7 Studies on WoW
WoW offers a very motivating context that elicits engagement in interaction. In his analysis, Peterson found that the interaction that takes place in WoW facilitates situated learning, and it involves collaborative dialogue, negotiation, and self-repair. Furthermore, Peterson found that communication about game play reduces inhibition, which in turn has positive effects for enjoyment and motivation.
Nardi, Ly & Harris (2007) point out that players learn very detailed content in Wow about fact finding, tactics and strategy, and game ethos. Nardi et al. have demonstrated that play in WoW is complex and therefore requires the development of strategy. Their study suggests that the key means of learning in WoW is through chat conversations, which means learning is erratic, spontaneous, contextual, and driven by small events (discovering simple facts). Conversations in WoW involve a lot of reflecting and reasoning, because players need to understand how to play their character at a deeper level. Nardi et al. (2007) also observed that learners accomplish more with the help of experienced peers than on their own.
Additionally, they found that learners who are at the same level discover new knowledge jointly through conversation. The stakes are also very high, especially in combat situations because there is the possibility of death of a character, or even every character in the team dying, which is known as a ‘wipe’ (Nardi et al., 2007).This is a situation in which players might tell other players how to play, and not always in the most polite terms. However, learning through conversations is not the only means to learn, players also use WoW related websites on the such as forums, FAQs, guides, and commentaries to learn about the game (Nardi et al., 2007). Additionally, players learn from observing other players’ successes and failures. A final observation provided by Nardi et al. is about a social aspect of the game: questions are almost always answered promptly and courteously, particularly in guild chat, but even in the general chat where players often do not know each other, answers are supplied promptly and courteously.
Steinkuehler & Duncan (2008) have demonstrated that the WoW environment fosters scientific habits of mind. Analyses of forum posts demonstrated that the majority of entries displayed ‘social knowledge construction’, there was ample evidence of systems based reasoning, and more than half the posts treated knowledge “as an open-ended process of evaluation and argument” (Steinkuehler et al., 2008, p. 539). In contradiction to the negative views of virtual worlds by non-gaming generations, Steinkuehler & Duncan (2008)
These studies on MMOs in general and WoW in particular demonstrate that there is a need to consider the role of commercial MMOs in education. However, as Thorne (2010) points out, little research has focused on the issue of L2 learning and only a few studies have been carried out. Thorne (2008), for example, conducted a brief but detailed case study of an in-game intercultural conversation between two gamers, in which he noticed that there is frequent, complex, and highly meaningful communicative activity among participants in the game, suggesting a beneficial context for L2 learning. Another study by Sykes, Oskoz & Thorne (2008) underscores that WoW offers numerous potential benefits for the development of complex communicative skills, such as pragmatics, in a second language. This is supported by Sykes, Reinhardt & Thorne (2010) who state that because of all the in-game human interaction and collaboration there is a lot of potential for language learning in the game. Additionally, in a recent study by Thorne (2010), WoW players reported that they learned or improved a foreign language by playing World of Warcraft. These self-assessments also indicate that WoW might be a beneficial environment for second language learning. Despite the fact that these studies describe MMOs as potentially conducive environments for second language learning, they all emphasise the need for continued research in this area.
To sum up, there is ample empirical evidence that MMOs, and WoW in particular, have great potential as learning environments. As an affinity space with many possibilities for various forms of interaction, WoW has proven to be an environment that is beneficial for fact finding, learning tactics and strategy, game ethos, and for fostering scientific habits of mind. There have also been a few exploratory studies into the language learning potential of WoW, indicating that there might also be some potential for language learning. However, there are still many unanswered and un-addressed questions regarding the language learning potential of MMOs, because research to date has not yet answered the question of what exactly WoW has to offer linguistically, and how gamers make use of this linguistic environment. It seems clear that what is needed is a study that descriptively assesses the linguistic properties of WoW and everyday communicative practices of players. To more concisely explore these issues, I have formulated the following research questions:
RQ 1: What do WoW players report that they actually do while playing the game? RQ 2: What is the nature of the linguistic environment?
RQ 3: What sorts of resources are used outside of the game in order to proceed in the game?
some text samples of the most frequently used external websites, which will all be discussed in the following sections.
3 Questionnaire 3.1 Method
In consultation with my thesis advisor we developed a questionnaire to find out what WoW players report that they actually do while playing the game. The aim of the questionnaire was to find out how players come into contact with language and communication, and in what ways. Additionally, I wanted to find out if players use external websites and if so, when and how they use them. The questionnaire consisted of 40 questions, which started with inquiries about demographics and background (e.g. age, gender, education, nationality), frequency of play, use of external resources, nature of the WoW environment (e.g. official language realm, member of a guild) and communication. See Appendix 1 for the complete questionnaire. Since I wanted to reach as many participants as I could, Dutch and English versions of the questionnaire were made available. I made the questionnaire in googledocs 1 and it was accessible online. To gather participants I posted a link to the questionnaire on my Facebook page2 and on Linkedin3. Additionally, I e-mailed the link to the questionnaire to people I knew who played the game with the request to forward it to other players, and my thesis advisor also e-mailed it to people he knew who played the game with the same request. This resulted in 32 Dutch participants and 32 American participants. See table 1 for a general overview of the participants.
Dutch Participants American Participants
32 on European server 32 on North American server
16 female, 16 male 11 female, 21 male
Ages: 17-53, Mean = 26.4 Ages: 20-59, Mean = 34 Education high:
25% VWO, 31% HBO, 31% WO
Education high:
47% Bachelor, 16% Master, 31% PhD L1 Dutch, L2 English L1 English, L2 very diverse
Advanced players: 81% more than 3 years, 56% more than 5 years
Advanced players: 90% more than 3 years 60% more than 5 years
Frequent players:
59% 1-3 times a week , 34% 4 times a week or more for an average of 3 hours at a time
Frequent players:
38% 1-3 times a week, 53% 4 times a week or more for an average of 3 hours at a time Table 1: Overview of the participants divided by nationality
3.2 Results and discussion
Both the Dutch and the American group have an equal number of 32 participants. Seven more people responded to the questionnaire, however, over time the two equally large groups of Dutch and American participants formed, which made me decide to exclude these other participants. These participants were from France, Canada, Brasil and the United Kingdom.
The division of men and women is not the same in both groups. Among the Dutch participants there are 16 men and 16 women, whereas in the American group there are 21 men and 11 women, see figure 4.
Dutch participants female male American participants female male
Figure 4: These pie charts represent the Dutch and American participants divided by gender
(M=26.6, SD=8.9) than the American participants (M=33.1, SD=9.2). This difference was significant (t(62)=-2.9; p<0.05).
In both groups, the educational background is quite high, see figure 5. Of the Dutch participants 25% have finished VWO, which is the highest level in Dutch high school, 31% have HBO, which correlates to a university Bachelor’s degree, and 31% have WO, which equates to a Master’s degree. The American participants had an even higher educational background. Of the American participants, 46% has Bachelor’s degree, 15% a Master’s degree, and 31% possessed a PhD. The difference in educational level is most likely due to the age differences between the groups.
Dutch participants VMBO HAVO VWO MBO HBO WO American Participants GED J.D. BA MA PhD
Figure 5: These pie charts represent the Dutch and American participants divided by education
The demographics clearly show some differences between the Dutch participants and the American participants, concerning age gender and educational background. The Dutch participants are quite young, there is an equal split between men and women, and they are quite highly educated. The American participants are older than the Dutch participants, predominantly male and very highly educated. The question is, are these differences
cross-cultural data. Hopefully, the data will also include specific demographics for European and North American servers, because it would be very interesting to see if the demographics of the participants in this study match the real-world demographics.
All of the Dutch participants speak Dutch as L1 and English as L2, of which 93% indicated they speak English at an advanced level. Additionally, German (75%) and French (53%) were also spoken by many of the participants. All but one of the American participants speak English as an L1. One participant indicated his L1 was Mandarin although this was not the participant’s strongest language, which is English. As for the L2, contrary to the Dutch participants, the American participants do not have one L2 that is spoken by everyone. The languages that come closest are Spanish, which 40% speak, and French, which 28 % speak. However, both in the case of Spanish and French, the majority are at a beginner’s level. See figure 6 and figure 7 for a representation of both group’s L2s, and table 2 for an explanation of the abbreviations used. What is interesting is that most of the Dutch participants speak the same L2s, whereas the American participants have no shared L2.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Eng DE FR PT SE Cat IT NO ES Dutch participants
Figure 6: This bar chart represents the Dutch participants' L2s4 and the number of people that speak the L2
4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
ES FR JP Man DE Urd RU NO Lat IT Hin Heb NL Ara
American participants
Figure 7: This bar chart represents the American participants' L2s5 and the number of people that speak the L2
Abbreviations
Ara Arabic Heb Hebrew NL Dutch
Cat Catalan Hin Hindi NO Norwegian
DE German IT Italian PT Portuguese
Eng English JP Japanese RU Russian
ES Spanish Lat Latin SE Swedish
FR French Man Mandarin Urd Urdu
Table 2: Overview of the abbreviations used in figures 6 and 7
The Dutch and American groups were equally experienced in playing MMOs, an Independent-Samples T test showed there was no significant difference between the groups (t(62)=-1.3; p>0.05). On a scale of 1-5, the Dutch had an average score of 4.3 (SD= .99) and the American participants an average score of 4.6 (SD= .71). Additionally, in both groups most participants have been playing for over 3 years, see figure 8, between 1 and 4 times a month, see figure 9, for an average of 3 hours at a time, see figure 10. In sum, there is no significant difference in experience between the groups, so both groups are experienced WoW players.
5
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 1-5 months 1-2 years 5-6 years
How long have you been playing WoW
Dutch Americans
Figure 8: This bar chart represents how long the participants have been playing WoW, divided by Dutch and American participants
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% less than once a month 1-3 times a month 1-3 times a week 4 times a week or more
How often do you play
Dutch Americans
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% less than 1 hour 1-2 ours 3-4 hours 5-6 hours more than 6 hours
How many hours at a time do you play
Dutch Americans
Figure 10: This bar chart represents how many hours at a time the participants play WoW, divided by Dutch and American participants
Both groups generally agreed on what they liked most about the game. In both the Dutch and the American groups most participants indicated that they liked the social aspect of the game most, the fact that you can play together with other people. In the Dutch group, 78% gave that answer and in the American group, 75%. To illustrate, one of the Dutch participants said what they liked best is:
“discovering and conquering the tremendous worlds and dungeons (together with people you already know)” [translated from Dutch].
And one of the American participants said:
“I like the interaction with friends. My spouse and I are in a guild where everyone knows someone else in real life, stemming from a small group of college friends - we use the game as an excuse to still hang out from a wide variety of post-graduation locations.”
Dutch participants American participants What do you like most about WoW Number Percentage Number Percentage
Social aspect, playing together 25 78% 24 75%
Diversity/variation in the game 7 21.8% 7 21.8%
Levelling up 3 9.4% 3 9.4%
Improving your character 3 9.4% - -
Exploration - - 5 15.6%
Acquiring new gear 2 6.3% - -
The challenge of the game 2 6.3% 1 3.1%
Arenas 2 6.3% - -
Raiding 2 6.3% 10 31.3%
Questing 1 3.1% 5 15.6%
Having a goal 1 3.1% 2 6.3%
The story behind the game 1 3.1% 2 6.3%
The beauty of the world 1 3.1% 1 3.1%
Making money at the auction house 1 3.1% 1 3.1%
Dungeons 1 3.1% 1 3.1%
Battlegrounds 1 3.1% 1 3.1%
Being someone else 1 3.1% - -
The accessibility, it is easy 1 3.1% - -
The freedom 1 3.1% - -
Sense of accomplishment - - 1 3.1%
It gives you something to do - - 1 3.1%
The Dutch participants play on a European server and the American group on a North American server. On the European server WoW is available in the languages English, German, French, Spanish, and Russian, whereas on the North American server the languages are English or Spanish. Nevertheless, in both groups all participants reported that the official language of their realm is English.
The Dutch participants reported encountering many languages other than English, and that this happened with great frequency. Here is a list of the main languages that were
mentioned by the Dutch participants: Dutch, Swedish, Italian, German, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, French, Russian, Polish, Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, and
Croatian. Only languages that were mentioned more than once have been noted in this list. An addition of 8 languages were mentioned by only one participant, see table 4 for an overview. The Americans encountered fewer non-English languages and with much less frequency than their Dutch counterparts playing on European Union servers. Here is a list of the main languages that were mentioned by the American participants: Spanish, French, German, Internet/l33t speak, Portuguese. Multiple American participants answered ´none´ to this question, and as with the Dutch informants, a number of languages (5) were only mentioned once. See table 4 for a complete overview of all the various languages the participants encounter together with the number and the percentage of participants that gave the same answer. This survey result definitely shows that the Dutch participants encounter many more languages than the American participants and do so a great deal more frequently. For the Dutch participants it is normal to see other languages used, and for the American participants it is an exception.
We also asked the participants which languages they used while playing the game. The Dutch participants all used English and 78% also reported using Dutch, but no other
Dutch participants American participants
Language Number Percentage Language Number Percentage
Dutch 24 75% Spanish 11 34.4% Swedish 16 50% French 11 34.4% Italian 11 34.4% None 9 28.1% German 9 28.1% German 4 12.5% Norwegian 8 25% Internet/l33t 3 9.4% Finnish 8 25% Portuguese 2 6.3%
Danish 6 18.8% Pig Latin 1 3.1%
Scandinavian 5 15.6% Korean 1 3.1% French 4 12.5% Japanese 1 3.1% Russian 4 12.5% Russian 1 3.1% Polish 4 12.5% Mandarin 1 3.1% Greek 3 9.4% Spanish 2 6.3% Turkish 2 6.3% Portuguese 2 6.3% Bulgarian 2 6.3% Croatian 2 6.3% Serbo-Croation 1 3.1% Serbian 1 3.1% Asian 1 3.1% Czech 1 3.1% Hungarian 1 3.1% Macedonian 1 3.1% Ukrainian 1 3.1% Romanian 1 3.1%
Dutch participants American participants
Language Number Percentage Language Number Percentage
English 32 100% English 32 100% Dutch 25 78% Spanish 3 9.4% Swedish 2 6.3% French 1 3.1% German 1 3.1% Internet/l33t 1 3.1% Norwegian 1 3.1% French 1 3.1% Portuguese 1 3.1%
Table 5: overview of foreign languages used while playing by the Dutch and American participants. Note: several participants gave more than 1 answer to this question, that is why the combined percentages reported here exceed 100%
Dutch participants in a guild
Yes No
American participants in a guild
Yes No
Figure 11: These pie charts represent the number of participants that are in a guild, divided by Dutch and American participants
Dutch participants American participants
Language Number Percentage Language Number Percentage
English 18 72% English 31 100% Dutch 7 28% French 7 22.6% English and Dutch 7 28% Spanish 2 6.5% English and Swedish 4 16% German 1 3.2% English and Finnish 2 8% Russian 1 3.2% English and Danish 1 4% English and Norwegian 1 4% English and Czech 1 4%
Table 6: overview of languages used in guilds by the Dutch and American participants. Note: several participants were members of more than 1 guild, that is why the combined percentages reported here exceed 100%
American participants gave it a mean score of 4.4 (SD= .79), see figure 12. An Independent-Samples T test showed there was no significant difference (t(62)=-.29; p>0.05).
1 2 3 4 5 Dutch Americans
Importance communicating in official language realm
Figure 12: This bar chart represents the scores indicating the importance of communicating in the official language of the realm on a scale of 1-5, divided by Dutch and American participants
Surprisingly, when we asked how important it was to be able to communicate in any of the other languages encountered on the realm, the Dutch participants scored lower (M=1.72, SD=1.05) than the American participants (M=2.8, SD=1.42), see figure 13. An Independent-Samples T test showed this was a significant difference (t(62)=-3.6; p<0.05). Especially given that the Americans hardly encounter other languages while playing, this was a surprising answer. The follow-up interviews revealed that this relatively high score was most likely based on ideas about how it would be if you played on a European server more than actual experience. They expect that on a European server you get exposed to many different languages, which they believe would make it important to be able to speak some of those foreign languages.
1 2 3 4 5 Dutch Americans
Importance communicating in other languages encountered on realm
Figure 13: This bar chart represents the scores indicating the importance of communicating in the other languages encountered on the realm on a scale of 1-5, divided by Dutch and American participants
1 2 3 4 5 Dutch Americans
Importance completely understanding the quest texts
placed on the map highlighting the areas of interest for those quests. Additionally, if the area of interest of a selected quest is very large, that entire area of interest is shaded blue on the map. And finally, if the quest objectives are distributed over multiple areas in different locations, the map automatically displays the nearest area of interest. (MMO-Champion, 2009).
Considering that WoW is a quite a social game where cooperation and interaction is expected, we asked the participants whether they usually played in the company of others or alone. 81% of the Dutch participants answered they preferred playing together and only 6% preferred playing alone, while 13% preferred a mixture of solo and group play. However, only 69% of the American participants indicated they preferred playing together, 25% preferred playing alone, and 6% preferred a mixture. See figure 15 for an overview. So the majority of players on both continents prefer playing with others, but there is some indication, that playing alone is also a way of playing the game which is sometimes even preferred by some players. Dutch participants Together Alone Both American participants Together Alone Both
Figure 15: These pie charts represent the usual way the participants play the game, divided by Dutch and American participants
We also asked who they talked to most while playing, and 87.5% of the Dutch
participants reported that they mainly talked to their friends and guild members, and only 31% reported talking regularly to strangers. See figure 16. Similarly, 78% of the American
participants reported that they mainly talked to their friends and guild members, and only 28% reported also talking to strangers, see figure 17. For the Dutch participants, most
communication with friends is in Dutch, whereas most communication with guild members and strangers is in English. For the American participants, however, all communication is in English. This indicated for the Dutch participants that interaction in the game is not
Dutch players to speak in an L2 than we might expect. This is mainly due to the fact that most participants prefer communicating with people they know rather than with strangers. So it seems that a lot of the communication also takes place in the L1 for the Dutch respondents to the questionnaire. Similar to the Dutch, the American participants also preferred talking to people they know, and all of their communication is in the L1. But this is not surprising given that, contrary to the Dutch participants, the entire gaming environment is in their L1.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Friends Guild Strangers
Who do you talk to most
Dutch Americans
Figure 16: This bar chart represents the number of participants and who they talk to most when playing the game, divided by Dutch and American participants
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Friends Guild Strangers
Which languages do the Dutch participants use
Dutch English
As for communication tools and methods by which players communicate with one another, the results demonstrate that a similar set of communication instruments are used frequently and by almost everyone. Of the Dutch participants, 72% use some type of voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) tool, Ventrillo or Teamspeak were mentioned most frequently, and 65% of the Dutch participants use the in-game text chat function. Of the Americans 84% reported using VOIP, again mostly Ventrillo or Teamspeak, and 93% using the in-game chat function. Interestingly, 15.6% of the Dutch sample reported using no communication tools at all, but face-to-face communication with co-present players instead. See figure 18 for an overview. These five reports of face-to-face communication came from people who are in a relationship and who play WoW together. So when they play together they can talk to each other in the same room without the aid of any communication tools. Among the American sample, there was only one report of co-present play. Even though these percentages are quite low, it would be interesting to explore the question of whether co-present play leads to significantly different play styles and ways of communicating, but unfortunately that is beyond the scope of this study.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
VOIP CHAT None
Communication tools
Dutch Americans
When we asked the participants if they often seek out other players for help or advice, the majority said no in both groups. Considering the large social aspect of the game, this was a surprising result. Of the Dutch participants 78% said no, and of the American participants 69% said no, see figure 19.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No
Do you seek out other players for help or advice
Dutch Americans
Figure 19: This bar chart represents the percentage of participants who seek out other players for help or advice, divided by Dutch and American participants
Another surprising result was the answer the Dutch participants gave to the question of whether or not the participants had learnt or improved a foreign language from playing WoW. Only 28% reported learning or improving a language. This is quite contrary to the player reports as described in Thorne (2010). Not so surprising is that 93% of the American participants did not learn or improve a language. However, the question arises as to whether or not Internet language, also referred to as l33t speak (an alphanumeric system of writing that uses a mix of letters and numbers), could be considered a language, and whether or not, if we were to include it in the question of having learnt or improved a language, that it would generate a different outcome. See figure 20 for an overview of the percentage of the
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Yes No
Have you learnt or improved a foreign language?
Dutch Americans
Figure 20: This bar chart represents the percentage of participants who learnt or improved a foreign language, divided by Dutch and American participants
Dutch participants American participants
Language Number Percentage Language Number Percentage
English 4 12.5% Spanish 1 3.1%
Swedish 3 9.4% French 1 3.1%
Chinese 1 3.1%
Spanish 1 3.1%
Table 7: overview of languages learnt or improved while playing WoW by the Dutch and American participants.
Interestingly, in both the Dutch group and the American group, external sites having to do with WoW are used often and by almost everyone. Since the external sites used and reasons for using them were largely the same for both the Dutch and the American group, the results will be presented together. The results demonstrate that WoW players look up
Reasons for using external resources Find items
Help with quests when you get stuck Find information about the different classes
Find information on strategy: look up effective boss and raid strategies and tactics Find information about Lore
Figure out the best way to allocate points in the talent-tree Prepare for instances, dungeons and raids
Find gear Find loot
Find NPCs (Non-player characters, non-human computer-generated in-game characters) Find mounts (a horse or animal used for transportation)
Find information on how to improve the damage per second output Find information on tanking (playing as a tank in a group)
Find good grinding (repeatedly killing creatures to gain experience points, money or certain items) or mining (retrieve certain recourses) spots
Find levelling guides
Find information about different guilds Find auction house pricing information Latest news about new patches
Look up information on achievements
Look up information on how to optimise your character Look up effective arena strategies, tactics and specs Analyse play data
Check out other players’ characters and gear Download add-ons
Optimise play style
Read class and guild specific blogs Read class and guild specific forums Read general WoW news updates Read general WoW blogs and forums Social networking
Study strategy videos of raids and bosses Theory crafting
Watch machinima
Table 8: overview of reasons for using external resources
frequently used site is wowhead.com, where people look up information on items and on gear. The second most used site is wowwiki.com, which is used mainly to look up information regarding lore, background and history related to World of Warcraft. The third most
frequently used site is elitistjerks.com, which is used mainly for information regarding game strategy. For a complete overview of all the external resources, see table 9.
External resources http://wowhead.com/ http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main http://elitistjerks.com/ http://www.curse.com/ http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/: http://thottbot.com/ http://wowpedia.org/ http://www.google.com/ http://tankspot.com/ http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ http://wow.joystiq.com/ http://wow.allakhazam.com/ http://www.youtube.com/ http://rawr.codeplex.com/ http://www.shadowpriest.com/ http://worldoflogs.com/: http://www.arenajunkies.com/ http://wowprofessions.com/ http://maxdps.com/ http://www.wowprogress.com/ http://eu.battle.net/en/ http://www.goblinworkshop.com/ http://www.lootables.com/ http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/ http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow http://bosskillers.com/ http://learntoraid.com/ http://www.gamepressure.com/ http://plusheal.com/ http://shadowpanther.net/ http://sonofalich.com/ http://theunderminejournal.com/ http://totemspot.com/ http://wow-heroes.com/
4 Follow-up interview 4.1 Method
In addition to the questionnaire, I did follow-up interviews with 10 of the participants who filled out the questionnaire. I interviewed six of the Dutch and four of the American participants. The reason for doing the follow-up interview was to get more in-depth information about how they played the game and how they used external resources. The framework for the follow-up interviews is interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as described by Smith & Osborn (2003). IPA is a phenomenological approach aimed at
exploring participants’ perceptions and personal experiences. There is an emphasis on the interview as a dynamic process in which the researcher plays an active role, trying to
understand what the situation under investigation is like from the participant’s point of view. Meaning is central in IPA, and the aim is to understand the content and complexity of the results rather than measure frequency.
To allow for this dynamic process, the form of the interview was semi-structured. Some initial questions were formulated, which were based on the answers given by the participant on the questionnaire. These were mostly aimed at eliciting more elaborate answers. Then during the dialogue with the participant, these initial questions were modified based on the participant’s responses. This allowed for the probing of interesting and important or new topics that arose. Although it is time-consuming, hard to analyse, and there is less control by the researcher, this type of interview facilitates empathy, allows for flexibility, and the possibility of discovering and discussing new areas thereby giving the participant
maximum opportunity to tell their own story (Smith & Osborn, 2003).
The participants were scattered all over the Netherlands and the United States,
therefore Skype6 was used to do most of the interviews (one interview was done face-to-face). The interviews were all recorded using MP3 Skype Recorder7. The interviews were all
transcribed at the lexical level, meaning that all the word that were spoken were written down, including false starts, significant pauses and laughs.
The interviews were analysed thematically. This means the transcripts have to be read and re-read thoroughly while noting down comments. These comments contain thoughts, observations and reflections on recurring themes, interesting topics, emotions, and language
6
Skype is a software application, a voice over Internet Protocol, with which you can make voice and video calls via the Internet. See http://www.skype.com/ for more information
7
use. Then, the themes, topics and emotions that best capture the interview are identified, and finally, these themes are related into clusters based on their connections (Smith et al., 2003). This process is repeated for each interview resulting in all transcriptions being coded for core themes. These commonly referenced themes are reported on below.
4.2 Results and discussion
The interviews revealed a few themes that recurred throughout all 10 interviews (with the exception of theme 5, which only occurred in 3 of the interviews with the American participants), see table 10.
Core theme Description Occurs in interview
Theme 1 Learning foreign language
- interaction in foreign languages - learning/improving English - learning Internet/chat language
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Theme 2 Communication
- communication with friends or strangers - communication during battle situations - face-to-face communication
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Theme 3 Interaction
- playing alone or playing together
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Theme 4 Role of quest text
- the importance of reading quest texts
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Theme 5 Expectations about European servers
- the American participants’ view on the role of foreign languages on the European server
8, 9, 108
Theme 6 Use external sites
- how and when WoW players use external sites
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Table 10: Overview of the recurring themes in the follow-up interviews
8
Theme 1, learning or improving a foreign language, includes three different subjects: foreign languages encountered while playing, learning or improving English and learning or improving Internet language (also referred to by the participants as Internet slang, chat language, abbreviations, and l33t speak). The interviews with the Dutch participants
underscored that even though they see many languages used, they do not necessarily interact in these languages. Most of the participants speak to strangers in the official language of the server, which in this case is English, or to their friends in their L1. So almost all of the Dutch participants communicate in English or Dutch, and do not use any other language:
Daeran9:
“You know, you see a lot of different languages in passing, but most of the time it is English, or bad English. So that is the most important language that you need to use.” [translated from Dutch]
Lith-Dor:
“Actually, you will encounter everything that does not have its own server language … Here and there you will see some Swedish and now and then some Italian, but in reality, everyone tries to talk in English.” [translated from Dutch] On the questionnaire, 28% of the Dutch participants indicated learning or improving a foreign language. In the interviews, however, Dutch participants indicated that playing the game has made it a lot easier for them to communicate in English, so there may have been more L2 learning than reported in the questionnaire:
Moonpunisher:
“I hadn’t really thought of that, but I guess it has become a lot easier to speak English. My speaking in English has improved a lot, not my writing though. Everyone you meet is usually non-native, so a lot of the writing is really bad.” [translated from Dutch]
Glakela:
“Yes the game has improved my English. I mean, you speak it daily. If you have to communicate daily with someone over chat, then you will begin to write a lot faster. So I do believe I improved that. I basically think I
communicate a lot faster in English than I did seven years ago.” [translated from Dutch]
9
There were also some reports of learning Internet language (also referred to as Internet slang, chat language, abbreviations, and l33t speak):
Gláwen:
“I gotta say that I have become a lot better at using Internet slang. I never used it before I started playing WoW” [translated from Dutch]
Nrünona:
“You become a lot more skilful with abbreviations, you know, chat language … I mean, you already know a few, but you definitely learn a lot more,
especially abbreviations and what things mean in WoW. But that is not really a language, but more of a skill you pick up in this world” [translated from Dutch] This raises the issue of what counts as a ‘foreign language’ and what counts as ‘language learning’. Players do not seem to consider being able to communicate faster or easier to be language learning, nor do they seem to consider Internet language, gaming language or l33t speak, or as they put it Internet slang to be ‘languages’. In future studies on video games and language learning, this should be taken into account. It is necessary to clearly define what counts as learning or improving a language, and to clearly define what counts as a language in a video game context.
Theme 2, communication, also includes three different subjects: communication with friends or with strangers, communication during battle, and face-to-face communication. Most people only talk to friends and people they know, so much of the communication is in the L1. But, because of the international characteristic of the European server, the Dutch also do a lot of their communication in English. The interviews revealed that the participants preferred to communicate with people they know. They do not regularly interact with strangers:
GhoulHairtamer:
“Most of the time I'm raiding with my friends from real life, my college friends and we tend to just talk to each other.”
Bearear:
everyone knows what their specific role is and consequently what they are supposed to do. It is only when things go dramatically wrong that the need for communication arises. This seemed to occur mainly in what the participants called hard core guilds, made up of very fanatic players. Nevertheless, this indicates that even though the environment is extremely suitable for intense interaction, it does not always take place once players are at highly advanced levels:
Daeran:
“You know, when I am going to do a boss, I will look up on the Internet what he does exactly. So, in theory I know what he will do. So usually, when I am playing with really good players, we just hit him until he’s dead. So there’s not a lot of discussion or talking.” [translated from Dutch]
Elildur:
“in the third guild … the one that was the most competent…once they had settled on what they thought was a particularly useful or effective strategy then they weren’t really interested in soliciting further input. In other words once they found something that worked they went with it.”
Lith-dor
“Nowadays everyone runs so fast through a dungeon that you hardly have time to say hello at the start and bye at the finish. So no, there’s not a lot of
communication anymore.” [translated from Dutch]
There were some instances where communication took place outside of the game. Several participants reported they played the game together with a friend or partner, either in the same room at the same time, or giving or receiving help over the phone:
Toclya:
“[my husband and I] we’d end up playing a lot just the two of us. But mostly, in that case we talked not via the game, we just sat at the same table and played: hey go over here, go over here”
Nrürona:
Theme 3, interaction, includes one subject: playing alone or playing together. Many studies so far have demonstrated that WoW is a very social game that involves a lot of interaction and playing together, however from the questionnaire and the interviews it becomes clear that another side of the game is also quite solitary and without interaction with other players: questing, or levelling up is often done alone, and you need to prepare for raids, dungeons, arenas, etc. (get the right equipment and spells etc.) which is mainly done alone: Daeran:
“I guess the thing that I have done most is levelling, very boring! So I log on and I go questing … to get my gear at the highest levels.” [translated from Dutch]
Lith-Dor:
“you have to prepare things, gather some food, and potions and things, to make sure you are prepared for a dungeon… And it is standard that you take about an hour to work on your profession, do some crafting and finish up some other things.” [translated from Dutch]
Nrürona:
“And you know, you don’t really have to talk to people. You can go through life solo for a very long time, so to speak” [translated from Dutch]
Elildur:
“I would log on and wouldn’t contact anyone ‘cause the friends that I have in real life as it were who play the game are not on my server and are generally not the same faction so now you log on and I would usually do one or two of the easier daily quests. So then I would queue up for a heroic and I would play one or two of those … It’s really sort of oddly solitary I think right now.” That is why it is important to look at the complete linguistic environment WoW has to offer, and not only at the opportunities for collaboration and interaction, because even though the opportunities are there, they are not always used by everyone every time they play the game.
Toclya:
“You really only have to know the names of places you’re going and who you’re looking for and then you have all these other resources right so you have the map feature ... I think that the actual texts of the quest itself I mean you need to read it sort of you have to understand the important points so you have to be able to pull that out, but in terms of understanding everything, I don’t think it’s that critical.”
And sometimes, even with all these changes to the interface it can still happen that it is not entirely clear what the purpose of the quest is, and then you have to read it more thoroughly: Gláwen:
“sometimes I get stuck on a quest, even with those huge helping functions they’ve incorporated now. Even now it happens that there is something that you just cannot find. So normally I actually hardly read the quest texts, only the top and the bottom part. It is only when problems arise, so when I am
somewhere and I cannot figure it out, then I start reading the text, because then it has information I apparently needed to know” [translated from Dutch] Glakela:
“Sometimes you just read too quickly, and then you end up endlessly looking for something. This happened to me yesterday, and I had just not read the quest text well enough. It turns out I forgot to read one line in the quest text and I was supposed to be one floor up. So yeah, it is most definitely important to read your quests well.” [translated from Dutch]
Even though all the changes in the interface have made the quest texts less important, for some they still have value for enjoyment of the story, and following the general story line in the game:
GhoulHairtamer:
“most people I know don’t read the quest text. I do, because I’ve been going through the Lore and I like to know what the story is. Everyone just looks at the very bottom part where it says you know kill six boars and that’s what they do. And since they’ve changed the UI now you go to your map and it tells you exactly where you need to go…It’s very helpful to the point that you probably don’t really need to read the quest texts, but I prefer to.”
was found only among the American participants. It was surprising that even though they hardly encounter any languages other than English, the American participants gave quite a high rating to the importance of being able to communicate in these other languages. The interviews revealed that this is probably due to the expectations they have of how it would be if they played on a European server:
Bearear:
“It's interesting, I mean, I'm aware that the European servers are multilingual and that it's common to see different languages. At least the American experience is frequently that we think of servers as being monolingual … It would be interesting to see the European experience, and see a very
multilingual experience in that setting.” GhoulHairtamer:
“I do think that it would be a really good idea [to play on a European server]. It would be relatively cheap and a location independent way to get immersed in an environment … I can hop online and find myself in a virtual world that has an immersive, a unified language that I would be learning. But I really think it could be very useful. I think the immersive environment and having to work together with people and having to speak and communicate in order to complete tasks, I think that would be very helpful”
Theme 6, use of external sites, includes one subject: how and when WoW players use external sites. The importance of external sites was underscored by the interviewees. All of the interviewees reported that they always use some external source before, during or after the gaming session. So I propose that external sites are an integral part of the WoW gaming experience:
Elildur:
Toclya:
“I really don’t like to search for things. So if there is a mob boss that I can’t find after like an hour I’m like I am done, I don’t wanna search for this anymore. I like to do everything else, but I’m just not a big fan of sort of the hide-and-seek type especially when you know it’s very very hidden. And so either my husband would search for it and then come get me or we’d just look it up. Usually we would look it up either on a phone, like a smart phone, I would just look it up on my I-phone, or just go, yeah back and forth between two windows for sure. Yeah I would basically just type in the quest title and then it would come up whatever I found to be sort of the best one is the one that I would use so.”
Moonpunisher:
“I use quite a few external sites, and I have all of them open while I am playing the game, so that when I need to I can immediately look stuff up.” [translated from Dutch]
Glakela:
“I never play full screen, I always play in a way so that I can just reach my desktop and can immediately access my browser. I will just put myself in a safe town, so nothing can happen and then I will calmly start reading and looking up things.” [translated from Dutch]
Based on the interviews it became clear that using external sites was not only a preparatory or evaluative issue, but it is actually often part of the ongoing gaming experience.
5 Linguistic complexity analysis of in-game text samples 5.1 Method
A big part of the written text that players come into contact with while playing WoW comes in the form of quest texts. A quest is a task which is mostly given to a player by a non-player character (or NPC, which refers to non-human computer-generated in-game characters) for which the player receives a reward in the form of money, items, reputation, and/or experience when the quest is completed. However, quests can also come from wanted posters, certain scrolls or documents, containers, looted items, or from completing a previous quest
