{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T14:39:23Z","timestamp":1777646363703,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2010,2,11]],"date-time":"2010-02-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1265846400000},"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":[[2010,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Every massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) begins new players at Level 1. The player must grind his or her way through many early levels to reach any kind of decent reward for the hours invested. Compared to films going back to Rocky and television shows such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), there is no montage to fast-forward through the work involved in reaching the game\u2019s reward. What is it about online games or the player that makes such work so compelling? Why would hard work, something that is often avoided in the daily grind of an 8\u20145 job, be forced upon the videogame player\u2014often to his or her delight? To address these questions, we use Ian Bogost\u2019s concept of unit operations to evaluate the concept that \u2018\u2018hard work is rewarded\u2019\u2019 as it relates to various media, including films and videogames, and to analyze the historical and theoretical implications of the concept.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412009360413","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,2,11]],"date-time":"2010-02-11T20:41:36Z","timestamp":1265920896000},"page":"381-402","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Where\u2019s My Montage? The Performance of Hard Work and Its Reward in Film, Television, and MMOGs"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Mia","family":"Consalvo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Media Arts and Studies, Ohio University, Athens, USA,"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Timothy Dodd","family":"Alley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Researcher"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nathan","family":"Dutton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Communication Department, University of Scranton, Scranton, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Falk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Telecommunications, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Howard","family":"Fisher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Communication Department, University of Scranton, Scranton, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Todd","family":"Harper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Communication Department, University of Scranton, Scranton, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Yulish","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Communication Department, University of Scranton, Scranton, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2010,2,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"atypb1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.56021\/9780801855788","volume-title":"Cybertext: Perspectives on ergodic literature","author":"Aarseth, E.","year":"1997"},{"key":"atypb2","unstructured":"Aarseth, E. ( 2003). We all want to change the world: the ideology of innovation in digital media. In G. Liest\u00f8l, A. Morrison, & T. Rasmussen (Eds.), Digital media revisited: Theoretical and conceptual innovations in digital domains (pp. 415-439). Cambridge, MA : MIT Press."},{"key":"atypb3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7228\/manchester\/9780719063640.001.0001"},{"key":"atypb4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/6997.001.0001"},{"key":"atypb5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1207\/s15405710pc0403_2"},{"key":"atypb6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5334.001.0001"},{"key":"atypb7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/fq.2002.55.3.16"},{"key":"atypb8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/1802.001.0001"},{"key":"atypb9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10570319809374621"},{"key":"atypb10","volume-title":"Participatory quitting: Quitting texts and World of Warcraft player culture. 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