The PlayOn Group is a research group at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) that explores the social dynamics of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). In the group, I parse and analyze large data sets from longitudinal in-game census snapshots.

Selected Published Articles:

Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., Moore, R. (2007). The life and death of online gaming communities: a look at guilds in World of Warcraft. CHI 2007 Proceedings, 839-848. PDF [Best Paper Nominee]

Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., and Moore, R.J. (2006). "Alone Together? Exploring the Social Dynamics of Massively Multiplayer Games." In conference proceedings on human factors in computing systems CHI 2006, pp.407-416. April 22-27, Montreal, PQ, Canada. PDF [Best Paper Nominee]

Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., Moore, R. (2006). Building an MMO with Mass Appeal: A Look at Gameplay in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1, 281-317. PDF

Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Li, X., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., Nickell, E. (2006). From Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture, 1, 338-361. PDF