Back in 2006 Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell & Moore published the study “Alone Together?” Exploring the Social Dynamics of Massively Multiplayer Online Games. They found that playing alone was a lot more common than we might think. Several polls on the WoW forums have shown similar patterns.
Is WoW actually a Massively Multi-Single-Player Online Game?
To understand solo play better I went on an investigative trip interviewing players from across realms to find out when, how and why players would spend time alone in WoW, and this series is the result:
- Part 1: How Social Are We in WoW After All?
- Part 2: Clumsy Questing
- Part 3: Sharing the Spotlight
- Part 4: “I did it all by myself!”
- Part 5: Playing Alone to Relax or to Get a Kick
- Part 6: Virtual Public Life
- Part 7: The Immediate Circle and Guild Membership
- Part 8: The Community and the MMO Atmosphere
- Part 9: Secret Alts, RealID and Obligations
- Part 10: Are we “Alone Together” in WoW?
If you’re a WoW player, some things you would know about, f.ex how rested xp works, is explained further than necessary for people in the know, in order to hopefully include readers that are not WoW players, in case they have found their way here.
