Investigating major determinants of flow experience with the MMORPG

Yoojung Kim, Sora Kang, Dongwoo Shin, Jihee Song

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study aims to identify the determinants of flow in the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), and examines the structural relationships between the determinants and the flow experience with the MMORPG. Based on intensive review of previous studies related to online game, we identified the determinants of flow in the MMORPG such as contents characteristics (sophistication of storytelling, controllability over manipulating cyber characters, diversity of items), system characteristics (a level of reality, convenience of user interface), personal motive (extrinsic reward), and social factors (interaction, a sense of belonging to community). A total of 202 responses were used for analysis. The findings show that contents characteristics (sophistication of storytelling, controllability over manipulating cyber characters, diversity of items) are positively and significantly related to interaction. It is also shown that a level of reality has a strong positive impact on interaction, whereas convenience of user interface is not related to interaction. Furthermore, interaction influences significantly both a sense of belonging to community and extrinsic reward. Finally, a sense of belonging to community is proven to be a strong determinant of flow in the MMORPG, whereas reward is not related to flow in the MMORPG.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7455-7471
Number of pages17
JournalInformation
Volume16
Issue number10
StatePublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • Contents characteristics
  • Flow
  • MMORPG
  • Personal motive
  • Social factors
  • System characteristics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Investigating major determinants of flow experience with the MMORPG'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this