網路遊戲玩家的人際關係網路 對玩家離開網路遊戲的影響

Abstract

全世界每天都有數以百萬計的玩家在玩網路遊戲，每年都有數以百計的網路遊戲上市，在今天，網路遊戲不單提供玩家休閒娛樂，網路遊戲已經成為現代人的社交工具之一，網路遊戲更像是玩家生活的一部分，也正因此，遊戲公司花費極高的成本透過各種行銷策略吸引玩家進入遊戲，為了就是讓玩家願意生活在其中。當玩家選擇離開遊戲時，對遊戲公司而言則是一種實質的損失，對生活在遊戲內的其他玩家而言就像真實世界中的朋友離開，因此離開這個問題不論對玩家還是對遊戲公司都是很直接且立即的問題。

基於離開問題的複雜性，以前的研究很少針對玩家離開網路遊戲做研究，但透過前人的研究我們知道，當玩家在選擇一款遊戲時，有很高的比例會選擇朋友已經在玩的遊戲或是和朋友一起加入同一款遊戲，人際關係是玩家玩網路遊戲的重要動機能，而本研究透過建構《魔獸世界》這款歷史悠久且社會結構完整的網路遊戲內玩家的人際關係網路，發現到，人際關係不單是讓玩家進入遊戲的拉力，同時也是一股強大的推力隨時可能將玩家推離網路遊戲，並且在不同的人際關係網路基礎下，人際關係對於玩家離開這個問題有截然不同的意義，尤其是當玩家發生集體離開時，人際關係更可以說是導致這個現象的主要因素。

Millions of people log in online game around the world every day and hundreds of new online games launch to the market annually. Online game had transformed from being simply an entertainment to one of the most important social network nowadays. Especially to the game players, the game itself is a critical part of their life. As a result, huge developing capital and various marketing strategies are investing by the game companies in order to attract the game players to indulge their time in the games. The action of “quitting” of a certain player is a direct and immediate problem which symbolizes a financial lost to the game companies and also a lost of a friend to other players.

Due to the complexity of “quitting” by the game players, there weren’t many researches regarding to this topic. However some studies show that during the process of choosing a game by game players, there is a high percentage indicates that people incline to choose the game which his/her peers are playing or to join a game together with his/her friends. This clearly states that interpersonal relationship is an important motivation for game players. Through the development of interpersonal relationship in World of Warcraft, the long-lasting online game which has well-constructed game society, this research discovers that online interpersonal relationship could be the motivation for the player to join a game and vice versa, it could be driving force that makes players to quit. Also, the significance of interpersonal relationship to the action of “quitting” varies from the basis of different online interpersonal relationship. Furthermore, interpersonal relationship can be seen as the major factor of the quitting of massive game players.