If you build it they might stay: retention mechanisms in World of Warcraft

• 6th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG 2011)

We analyze mechanisms of player retention and commitment in massively multiplayer online games. Our ground assumptions on player retention are based on a marketing model of customer retention and commitment. To measure the influence of gameplay, in-game sociality, and real-life status on player commitment, we use the following metrics: weekly play time, stop rate and number of years respondents have been playing the game. The cross-cultural sample is composed of 2865 World of Warcraft players from North-America, Europe, Taiwan, and Hong-Kong who completed an online questionnaire. We differentiate players in terms of demographic categories including age, region, gender and marital status.

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citation

Debeauvais, T.; Nardi, B.; Schiano, D. J.; Ducheneaut, N.; Yee, N. If you build it they might stay: retention mechanisms in World of Warcraft. 6th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG 2011); 2011 June 28 - July 1; Bordeaux, France.

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Copyright © ACM, 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in 6th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG 2011)