(A) study on greed play reporting behavior in the player community reporting forum: focusing on Lost Ark

Abstract

however, these advancements have also led to an increase in the prevalence and complexity of toxic behaviors. One area that requires further investigation is greed play within the context of MMORPGs, which involves self-interested behaviors rather than explicitly intending to cause negative experiences for other players. Greed play has been overlooked in later taxonomy research on toxic behaviors, and lacks exploration into how players perceive distributive justice when encountering such behavior. Moreover, there is a notable absence of study examining the management of in-game social norms regarding greed play, particularly through players’ participatory self-reporting behaviors in online communities. For our case study, we selected Lost Ark as it features core raid content that requires effective individual contributions, and it has a unique external Player Community Reporting Forum where players address conflicts arising from greed play during raids. We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 players (aged 20-40, average 26.65) who have been playing Lost Ark for over 6 months and actively participated in the Player Community Reporting Forum for various toxicity and conflict management activities. Through thematic analysis of the in-depth interviews, we examined the trajectory of each player’s reporting behavior, starting from their perceived distributive justice, their modes of conflict resolution, their intention to report, the consequences of reporting, and the perceived implications on the forum. Our analysis revealed the detrimental role of greed play, which severely undermines equitable gameplay experiences. Moreover, the dynamics of conflicts arising from greed play on the Player Community Reporting Forum highlight both the potential benefits and harms of the participatory online community. Overall, this study emphasizes the importance of building participatory online communities as an effective means of managing toxicity and suggests the need for extended research to explore the boundaries that extend beyond the confines of the game world but also include the online communities that revolve around the game, addressing both in-game and out-of-game toxicity engagements.

The online gaming industry has witnessed significant advancements in in-game social interactions among players