Training Through the Learning Curve: Sociality, Retention, and Mentorship-Driven Team Formation in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game

• In Event: Learning From (and With) Video Games II

Abstract

This paper reports on a two-part study of group membership, learning strategies, and social durability in the popular multiplayer video game EVE Online. This project draws from a longitudinal dataset which captures – amongst other server logs – eight years of membership changes between game teams. In particular, we look at the impact that large popular teams and the strategies they adopt have on player trajectory. Study 1 demonstrates that players who begin in a team that promotes a learning strategy based around mentorship and structured instruction are less likely to quit the game than members who join a team that promotes a more ad hoc approach. Study 2 examines logged in-game friendship networks – to examine the underlying factors behind the findings of the first study – showing that contrary to expectations teams based around mentorship promote less information brokerage and clustering. Results from the second study run against the current theoretical understand of teams and social networks and may offer a new avenue of research into the intersection between these two topics. 

Authors

• Joshua Andrew Clark, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication

• Alex Leavitt, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication