Heterogeneous knowledge distribution in MMO player behavior

Current examinations of expertise in the Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) domain focus primarily on player performance; explorations of player knowledge, however, have the opportunity to meaningfully supplement these studies. Including player knowledge in MMO studies provides the framework needed for a detailed examination of the role of experience and community membership in defining engaged MMO players within a larger population of potential players. Using the Community of Practice framework, we developed a measure of participant's knowledge of MMO specific language to identify individuals who actively engage with other players, a constantly shifting subpopulation who are meaningfully different than those who are not actively participating. We used membership in a community of practice, as determined by our knowledge assessment, to examine the effectiveness of broader demographic questions and more MMO specific demographic questions in creating a predictive model of membership. Our findings indicate that demographics specific to MMO players are more predictive of membership than those used for a general population. Consequently, we recommend that future studies use knowledge-based measures to identify a subpopulation of engaged MMO players within a larger population, allowing researchers to describe their effects with greater precision. Using objective instead of subjective means to measure MMO experience is critical.We created an objective knowledge assessment (MDFE) to assist MMO game researchers.We administered demographics and the MDFE to MMO players and non-players.The MDFE was valid and reliable; MMO specific questions predicted scores.General demographics were less predictive of MDFE scores.