Sergeeva O.V., Tsareva A.V., Zinovyeva N.A. «Let’s Meet in Augmented Reality...»: Social Competences of MMORPG-Gamers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2017.4.6

Olga V. Sergeeva

Leading Researcher, Sociological Institute of RAS,

Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology of Culture and Communication,

Saint Petersburg State University

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Universitetskaya Emb., 7-9, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation

Anna V. Tsareva

Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology of Culture and Communication,

Saint Petersburg State University

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Universitetskaya Emb., 7-9, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation

Nadezhda A. Zinovyeva

Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Associate Researcher,

Sociological Institute of RAS

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7-ya Krasnoarmeyskaya St., 25/14, 190005 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation


Abstract. The early research discourse concerning the fact that computer games distract people from real life and replace them with the fictional world is now complemented by new ideas of how games expand real life. Scientific discourse and problems of game study respond to social and technical changes-the widespread expansion of the Internet, miniaturization of digital technology, the creation of new interactive game mechanics. The question of the functionality or disfunctionality of games is being solved among other things through the study of social competencies of players. The article presents an empirical test of attitudes on interpersonal relationships in the environment frequently playing a MMORPG. With the help of the questionnaire diagnostics of interpersonal relations by A.A. Rukavishnikov 43 players MMORPG and 29 non-players passed the test in our study (answers are important for the comparison of non-players data). The average age of the respondents is 33 years; the average age of non – players is 35 years. Among “inside” online games those having passed the test are more often called World of Warcraft, Travian, DoTa2, World of Tanks. Multiplayer online role-playing games are characterized by involvement in fictional worlds, recreating, for example, life in any era, they offer a player to participate in team actions. It is assumed that this experience supports the social competence of players and replenishes their social capital with new connections. The obtained empirical data support the hypothesis about the sociality of MMORPG since the communicative portrait of the average player coincides with the qualities of non-playing and is characterized by the usual for modern man orientations to participate in groups. Playing a person maintains an open network of relations, that is, accumulates social capital. The study focuses on the idea already discussed by analysts of computer games that intense gaming experience is a hobby, not dependence, and it corresponds to the way of life and the structure of free time of the modern citizen.

Key words: computer games, MMORPG, gamers, social qualities, communicative portrait, testing.

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«Let’s Meet in Augmented Reality...»: Social Competences of MMORPG-Gamers by Sergeeva O.V., Tsareva A.V., Zinovyeva N.A. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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