![]() ![]() ![]() The most popular MMORPG is World of Warcraft (WoW) with 7.8 million monthly active subscribers (Grubb 2014). MMORPGs are online games where players create and control avatars to play and interact with potentially millions of other players (Steinkuehler and Williams 2006). Research on these processes has extended into Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) as collaboration, competition and social ability in these environments are of huge importance (Christou et al. Therefore to enable an online group to perform at an optimal level, the faulty group processes need to be reduced, and cohesion increased. An effective group is more than a set of skilled individuals: according to Steiner ( 1972), a group’s productivity is equal to their potential productivity minus the losses due to faulty group processes. In terms of researching group cohesion and team play, the most appropriate definition can be drawn from Cartwright and Zander ( 1968): defining a group as a collection of individuals who are interdependent. There are numerous definitions of a ‘traditional’ group, each stressing different aspects: some stress identity (Brown 1999), whereas others focus on purpose (Mills 1967). 2014) and there is a need to explore group processes in online environments, to identify ways that they are similar and different to offline contexts. Social and business groups are becoming more reliant on online communication (Monzani et al. Further research is suggested which will test predictions based on a predictive model. The model has real-world application in both social and professional virtual environments, whilst contributing more broadly to research in Cyberpsychology and Social Psychology. ![]() The conceptual model is critically linked with traditional group processes, such as Belbin’s (Team roles at work, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1993) team roles, Tuckman’s (Psychol Bull 64(6):384–399, 1965) model of group development and the perceptions and behaviour during the state of deindividuation (Taylor and MacDonald 2002). The balance of “Communication” affected the balance of the final three categories: “Team Composition”, “Psychological State” and “Level of Play”. The core category “Communication” was heavily influenced by the relationship between teammates (friends or strangers). Data was analysed using open, axial and selective coding and the resulting model depicts a scale, as optimal team performance was linked to a balance between factors. Participants were required to have recent and frequent MOBA exposure, but with different preferences regarding roles and experience. A focus group pilot study informed the development of questions and then semi-structured interviews took place with twelve participants 1 female and 11 male students aged between 18 and 21 years. Due to the lack of literature examining this genre, Corbin and Strauss’ (Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, 3rd edn, Sage, London, 2008) grounded theory was used to analyse participants’ subjective experiences of playing MOBAs to create a conceptual model. The study reported here explores team play within MOBAs. The genre known as Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) are attracting large numbers of players and success depends on effective team playing within smaller groups. Newer genres are being developed and played which have so far not been studied. Although many online group processes have been examined using this game, this genre does not enforce cooperative play and studies tend to be based on very large groups. Previous research examining the social psychology of video-gaming has tended to focus on Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game environments, such as World of Warcraft. ![]()
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