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Brooke Smith
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The Relationship Between Goal Orientation , Self-Efficacy , and Player Commitment in World of Warcraft
The goal of my thesis was to find out if goal orientation and self-efficacy played a part in a player commitment to massively multiplayer online role playing games ( MMORPGs ). I conducted my research through a quantitative study in which I sent out a survey to World of Warcraft ( WoW ) players , analyzed the data from the responses , and formed results and conclusions about player motivations and player commitment .
I decided to analyze and gather data from the WoW community due to the game ’ s popularity and longevity . I chose this research project because I have a longrunning interest in MMORPGs and wanted to investigate what motivates players to continue playing them for such a long time . I also believe that my research could be useful to developers of MMORPGs who wish to retain players in order to build a healthy online gaming community .
The results of my research indicated that self-efficacy is related to player commitment , so developers should focus on implementing mechanics and systems that can help increase player self-efficacy .
This study took place over three semesters . During that time , I gained a better understanding of theories of motivation , statistics , and how to conduct research in the social sciences . I would like to give a huge thank you to professor Elizabeth Stringer for her guidance throughout the project .
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