{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:26:38Z","timestamp":1777645598464,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2006,10,1]],"date-time":"2006-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1159660800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2006,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the most popular massively multiplayer games (MMOs) to date, with more than 6 million subscribers worldwide. This article uses data collected over 8 months with automated \u201cbots\u201d to explore how WoW functions as a game. The focus is on metrics reflecting a player\u2019s gaming experience: how long they play, the classes and races they prefer, and so on. The authors then discuss why and how players remain committed to this game, how WoW\u2019s design partitions players into groups with varying backgrounds and aspirations, and finally how players \u201cconsume\u201d the game\u2019s content, with a particular focus on the endgame at Level 60 and the impact of player-versus-player-combat. The data illustrate how WoW refined a formula inherited from preceding MMOs. In several places, it also raises questions about WoW\u2019s future growth and more generally about the ability of MMOs to evolve beyond their familiar template.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412006292613","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2006,9,12]],"date-time":"2006-09-12T19:19:43Z","timestamp":1158088783000},"page":"281-317","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":170,"title":["Building an MMO With Mass Appeal"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"1","author":[{"given":"Nicolas","family":"Ducheneaut","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Yee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eric","family":"Nickell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Robert J.","family":"Moore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Palo Alto Research Center"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2006,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"atypb1","volume-title":"Designing virtual worlds","author":"Bartle, R.","year":"2004"},{"key":"atypb2","volume-title":"Customer base reaches 6 million players worldwide as Blizzard Entertainment\u00ae prepares its award-winning MMORPG for continued growth in Europe","author":"Blizzard","year":"2006"},{"key":"atypb3","first-page":"350","volume-title":"Proceedings of CSCW\u201904","author":"Brown, B."},{"key":"atypb4","volume-title":"Flow: The psychology of optimal experience","author":"Csikszentmihalyi, M.","year":"1990"},{"key":"atypb5","first-page":"360","volume-title":"Proceedings of the ACM conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW2004)","author":"Ducheneaut, N."},{"key":"atypb6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/17415650580000035"},{"key":"atypb7","first-page":"407","volume-title":"ACM conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2006)","author":"Ducheneaut, N."},{"key":"atypb8","volume-title":"Shared fantasy: Role-playing games as social worlds","author":"Fine, G. 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