De Paoli, Stefano and Kerr, Aphra (2009) The Cheating Assemblage in MMORPGs: Toward a sociotechnical description of cheating. Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009. pp. 1-12.

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Abstract

This paper theoretically and empirically explores cheating in MMORPGs. This paper conceptualises cheating in MMORPGs as a sociotechnical practice which draws upon a non-linear assemblage of human actors and non-human artefacts, in which the practice of cheating is the result or the outcome of an assemblage. We draw upon the assemblage conceptualizations proposed in [16] and [8] and on empirical data taken from a pilot study we have conducted during the period September-November 2008 and from an ethnography we are conducting in the MMORPG Tibia (http://www.tibia.com) since January 2009. This game in particular was chosen because CipSoft, the company that develops the game, launched an anti-cheating campaign at the beginning of 2009.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2009Authors & Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA). Personal and educational classroom use of this paper is allowed, commercial use requires specific permission from the author.
Keywords:	Cheating; MMORPGs; assemblage theory; sociotechnical assemblage;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Item ID:	2892
Depositing User:	Prof. Aphra Kerr
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2011 16:26
Journal or Publication Title:	Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory. Proceedings of DiGRA 2009
Publisher:	DiGRA Digital Games Reasearch Association
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://www.digra.org/dl/display_html?chi... http://www.digra.org/
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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