Loot distribution systems in massively multiplayer online role-playing games : a study in the context of World of Warcraft

Κανέλλης, Νικόλαος

Loot distribution systems in massively multiplayer online role-playing games : a study in the context of World of Warcraft

Authors

Κανέλλης, Νικόλαος

Abstract

Modern online games feature pre-designed virtual worlds that players navigate to pursue their goals. In World of Warcraft, one of the most popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, players from different geographic regions navigate the same virtual world and interact with each other, forming large groups called guilds to overcome the hardest challenges the game has to offer. The question of how to distribute the rewards of these challenges (loot in game parlance) is one of the most interesting issues in that context, and players have developed several loot distribution systems to resolve it in a mutually acceptable and effective way. In this dissertation we examine some of these systems from the perspective of virtual economics theory, and we attempt to evaluate and compare their impact on the guilds’ performance, using a simulation process to expand on the available literature.