[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-591523-105":59,"doc-detail-591523-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","virtual-playgrounds-assessing-the-playfulness-of-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-games","Virtual Playgrounds? - Assessing the Playfulness of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games","","The text examines whether massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) should be understood as play in the strict sense. It reviews competing views on how to define play, contrasts MMORPG involvement with common play criteria, and highlights that while participation often looks playful, addiction may also explain some behaviors. The discussion describes how MMORPGs work, including virtual environments, avatars, quests, leveling, and social interaction through combat, trade, and communication.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/virtual-playgrounds-assessing-the-playfulness-of-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-games/591523/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/virtual-playgrounds-assessing-the-playfulness-of-massively-multiplayer-online-role-playing-games/591523.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"supergirl","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the article question whether MMORPG activities are always play?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It asks whether MMORPGs contain activities that do not satisfy the criteria scholars use to identify play, despite their common label as fun and harmless.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What elements define MMORPGs according to the text?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"MMORPGs create detailed virtual environments with 3D graphics, let players design avatars, choose races and traits, and progress through quests and missions via leveling.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do MMORPG players typically interact with others?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"They may compete in combat, exchange goods and information through in-game and voice/text chats, and often form groups or guilds to overcome difficult challenges.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591523,1792190275,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":31,"preview_page_count":4},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Virtual Playgrounds?  \nAssessing the Playfulness of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games  \n•  \nKerrie Lewis Graham  \nMillions of children and adults devote much of their leisure time to playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) . Most observers commonly categorize computer games as a play activity, but this article asks whether MMORPGs contain activities that might not be play. The author examines the phenomenon of online gaming and comparesit with several common characteristics and criteria of play behavior. This analysis suggests that while most participant involvement in MMORPGs seems to be play, in some cases, addiction maybe an alternative explanation for some of the activities.  \nPlay behavior is prominent in humans and animals, but scholars have long disagreed as to how best to define it (e.g. Fagen 1981). Many activities, such as sports, gambling, and other leisure pursuits, seem like play but often do not satisfy all the criteria that scholars typically look for when identifying an activity as play (Pellegrini 2009). Anytime a leisure activity stays popular long enough, it acquires its own verb form (e.g. gambling, racing, knitting) that identifies the unique, sometimes playful, nature of the activity. But computer games are new enough that the term gaming has not yet gained universal usage as applied to playing computer games rather than to gambling. Instead, people speak generically about “playing” computer games such as the massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). Millions of users participate in MMORPGs like EverQuest, Guild Wars, Lineage, and World of Warcraft. Worldwide revenue for MMORPGs is estimated at $9.8 billion and is on the increase (Chen et al. 2008) . Interactive electronic games in general pervade our society: an estimated 68 percent of American households play computer and video games, and MMORPGs represent 18.6 percent of the best-selling computer games in the United States—a substantial part of the gaming market  \n© 2010 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois  \n(Entertainment Software Association [ESA] 2009) . The average MMORPG gamer is twenty-six years old (but approximately 13 percent are middle-aged, female homemakers) and invests an average of twenty-two hours per week in MMORPGs. Yet many players devote far more time to it (Yee 2006a, 2006b) . Given their game label, MMORPGs are widely considered playful, mindless, harmless, and fun. However, some see MMORPGs as a waste of time or even dangerously addictive (Griffiths 2002) . Indeed, although the literature often refers to playing MMORPGs, it has yet to address whether all activities associated with these games are actually play. So let me ask the question: when people log onto MMORPGs, is what they are doing always play?  \nWhat Are MMoRPGs?  \nMMORPGs are a specific form of computer game, and people who play them regularly are often called gamers. MMORPGs strive to create detailed virtual environments into which gamers immerse themselves. Usually these games feature three-dimensional graphics with rich and varied terrains, weather, flora, and fauna. Gamers purchase the software that—typically, in addition toa monthly subscription—provides access to the game via large computer servers. Gamers design and name their own characters, known as avatars; choose their race such as human, elf, or dwarf; and customize their appearance by selecting traits such as gender, hair color, build, and clothing. These characters then travel through the virtual environment, interact with one another, and complete quests or missions—such as defeating monsters—to increase their powers and abilities and to progress through the stages ofthe game, a process gamers call leveling.  \nMMORPG players rarely participate alone. Sometimes their interactions are competitive, as when characters fight. At other times, players exchange goods or information either through their characters via in-game speech or gest","cbCaiqJ0TXuRYgcb","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqJ0TXuRYgcb","pdf",191434,"English","# Virtual Playgrounds?\n## Assessing the Playfulness of MMORPGs\n# What Are MMORPGs?\n## Virtual environments and player roles\n## Social interaction and game progression\n# What Is Play?","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article question whether MMORPG activities are always play?\",\"answer\":\"It asks whether MMORPGs contain activities that do not satisfy the criteria scholars use to identify play, despite their common label as fun and harmless.\"},{\"question\":\"What elements define MMORPGs according to the text?\",\"answer\":\"MMORPGs create detailed virtual environments with 3D graphics, let players design avatars, choose races and traits, and progress through quests and missions via leveling.\"},{\"question\":\"How do MMORPG players typically interact with others?\",\"answer\":\"They may compete in combat, exchange goods and information through in-game and voice/text chats, and often form groups or guilds to overcome difficult challenges.\"}]","Virtual Playgrounds? - Assessing the Playfulness of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games | PDF",1792072654]