Well I'm just too excited so I will let you in on what I'm working on.
Beneath the surface of WOW lies the motivations and desires of it's players. Some are aware of why they play the game, but most aren't. Their motivations their desires manifest in WOW in their character types and play style.
Still though real world behavior manifests in the world of Azeroth. As we all note the major events (such as the Corrupted Blood Event or the Zombie Invasion event) when we can clearly see human group behavior mimicked virtually. But for the most part the group behavior that occurs on a day to day basis doesn't get noticed, even though that's the behavior that affects us the most.
This is why my project will be about. What I am proposing is a analysis of WOW players based of race, class and specialization. I have several hypothesis I would like to confirm based of data gathered.
1.) All WOW players regardless of server, participate in role-playing. The difference is whether it's idealized role-playing vs. theatrical role-playing.
2.) A player chooses a main toon's race, class & spec based of their idealized self (or selves). If your idea of a hero is a samurai, you may find yourself playing a night-elf warrior specced arms because the talent build calls to your idealized heroic self.
3.) Diametrically opposed to this is your idealized fallen self. A person who's always being picked on may choose to play a Rogue and lash out at other players. This self represents all your worst tendencies and desires.
4.) A player will attempt to find his or her niche in WOW based of which idealized self is stronger. A healer who needs to be praised consistently is a good example of a mix of the two. At one end he\she is helping other and saving the group. At the same time, the need for acknowledgement is being fueled by their guild or party. If this fuel is throttled down or cut off, the negative self lashes out by either underheals, party member deaths or wipes.
5.) Since WOW is a game and people play it because it lets them be who they want to be, the real-world limitations are slowly being erased. In the real world not everyone can be powerful, see everything etc. But we play WOW to do this. This leads Blizzard to slowly remove restrictions to keep it's customers (us) happy & to increase profits. However it can and does have unintended consequences such as
a.) Undergeared players entering heroic dungeons & raids
b.) Players who had to invest significant time to achieve gear and see end-game content becoming increasingly frustrated & leave WOW or take breaks from the game in their own way.
To minimize item b.) Blizzard develops systems to compensate players: achievements, feats of strength etc.
6.) Class shortages are due to basic human nature. The reason that there's always a shortage of tanks\healers & an abundance of DPS is because for the most part human beings want to be involved in the event but not in charge of the event. It's one thing to say I went to Heroic Naxx last night, it's another to say I was the main tank for Heroic Naxx and we didn't wipe.
Human nature is to be led not to Lead. Healers, Tanks & Specialists (off-tank, off-heal etc.) have responsibilities that if not preformed correctly can have dire consequences in game. Most people do not want these responsibilities, which leads to most players choosing a DPS class.
Furthur Posts will go into more detail of the Why of this project
Until another Day
The Musing Moonkin
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