By Neil Vidyarthi on May 10, 2010 12:26 PM

Sociologists Measure Social Behavior and Psychology in World of Warcraft

wowlogo A relatively new publication, the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, has been actively studying online RPGs for as long as the games have been around, and have found some interesting data about player behaviour. Most interestingly, a report titled “The Rogue in the Lovely Black Dress: Intimacy in World of Warcraft” talks about the real patterns of intimacy that evolve in the world’s most popular massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. Read more after the jump.

In the World of Warcraft report, researchers found that all types of intimacy patterns are recreated in the virtual world. A great example is of a man and woman who flirt continuously in the game, and one day head to an abandoned hut near IronForge, and spend the night cuddling their avatars and chatting. Through the virtual medium, the pair are able to create a true sense of intimacy without physical contact.

Other interesting studies included the analysis of gaming locations for players. In China, players prefer to play World of Warcraft in Internet cafes where they can pair up with their guild members or just hang out with real world friends. This is vastly different to the North American market, where players tend to play alone. This was part of a 2007 study of virtual worlds, which was funded partially by Intel and partly by US government grants.

In one of the more outlandish studies of the report, Professor Shaowen Bardzell of Indiana University examined thousands of photos of Second Life players in BDSM positions, and analyzed the significance of the popular user behavior. Apparently, that behavior, due to its intense visuals and personal desire, is one of the most striking ways to connect with someone else in the game.

The journal also discusses other publications relevant to studies of social science in gaming, and specifically, MIT recently published The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World. Ars Technica describes its implications:

In March of this year, MIT published The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World, a book in which sociologist William Sims Bainbridge argues that “WoW can be seen not only as an allegory of today but also as a virtual prototype of tomorrow, of a real human future in which tribe-like groups will engage in combat over declining natural resources, build temporary alliances on the basis of mutual self-interest, and seek a set of values that transcend the need for war.” Who knew that the world of tomorrow would look so much like Azeroth?