Achievement and Frustration in MMORPGs

The rewards cycle and the well-textured layers of goals (hunting, crafting, questing) combine to create an environment where the seduction of self-achievement may grow very strong. The ability to become stronger, more competent, more skilled and more valued on a gradual but predictable basis can be intoxicating. Players were asked whether they derived a larger sense of achievement in the game or in their real lives. About 20% of players felt that they derived a larger sense of achievement in the game when compared with their real lives. While there were no gender differences (p = .48), age was mildly negatively correlated (r = -.14, p < .001) with feeling more achievement from the game. Users who felt a larger sense of achievement in the game spend significantly more time in the game than players who felt a larger sense of achievement in real life.

On the other hand, these games don't make it easy to advance in the higher levels, and advancement is often a path of trials. Thus, players were also asked whether they encountered more frustration and annoyances in the game or in real life. Overall, 22% of players indicated that they encountered more frustrations and annoyances in the game than in real life. There were no gender (p = .94) or age differences (r = -.07). Users who encountered more frustrations in the game do not spend any more time in the game than users who encountered more frustrations in real life. The only good predictor seemed to be whether the player was motivated to play to distress from real life (r = .17, p < .001). This makes sense because it is the users who want to relax who would be most frustrated by the annoyances of the game.

Finally, the two measures were not correlated (r = .00, p = .93), implying that whether a player derives more or less achievement in the environment has no bearing on whether they encounter more or less frustrations in the game when compared with real life.