Policies of Misconduct: A Content Analysis of Codes of Conduct for Online Multiplayer Games

In this paper we searched the websites of 60 popular online multiplayer games to locate their codes of conduct and then performed a content analysis on 32 unique codes of conduct. Our analysis consisted of a two-cycle coding process including initial coding, and then pattern coding for clustering categories and themes together. Our aim was to better understand how game companies include codes of conduct on their websites and what content they include in the codes of conduct. The two-cycle coding process identified five main themes: (1) game company values, (2) expectations of players, (3) bad behaviors and rules, (4) moderation practices, and finally (5) document structure. Our findings suggest that codes of conduct are routinely inaccessible, if present at all, and that codes of conduct are often framed around punitive legal language that reflect policies of misconduct rather than expressing communal values and expectations. Our findings can help contribute towards community management in online games and make codes of conduct more accessible for all stakeholders in online gaming communities. We have also provided design recommendations and a design process that should help guide game companies looking to create value focused codes of conduct.

[1]  George Valença,et al.  An Exploratory Study on the participation of LGBTQIA+ people in the Global Game Jam 2021 , 2021, ICGJ.

[2]  Nicole A. Beres,et al.  Don’t You Know That You’re Toxic: Normalization of Toxicity in Online Gaming , 2021, CHI.

[3]  Martin R. Gibbs,et al.  The Ethics of Multiplayer Game Design and Community Management: Industry Perspectives and Challenges , 2021, CHI.

[4]  Yubo Kou,et al.  Flag and Flaggability in Automated Moderation: The Case of Reporting Toxic Behavior in an Online Game Community , 2021, CHI.

[5]  Laura A. Dabbish,et al.  Code of Conduct Conversations in Open Source Software Projects on Github , 2021, Proc. ACM Hum. Comput. Interact..

[6]  Bonnie Ruberg,et al.  “Obscene, pornographic, or otherwise objectionable”: Biased definitions of sexual content in video game live streaming , 2020, New Media Soc..

[7]  Bastian Kordyaka,et al.  Towards a unified theory of toxic behavior in video games , 2020, Internet Res..

[8]  Ergin Bulut,et al.  A Precarious Game: The Illusion of Dream Jobs in the Video Game Industry , 2020 .

[9]  T. Gillespie.  Custodians of the Internet , 2019 .

[10]  Ysabel Gerrard,et al.  Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media , 2019, New Media Soc..

[11]  Amanda L. L. Cullen,et al.  Necklines and 'naughty bits': constructing and regulating bodies in live streaming community guidelines , 2019, FDG.

[12]  Neill Robson,et al.  Diversity and decorum in open source communities , 2018, ESEC/SIGSOFT FSE.

[13]  Sonam Adinolf,et al.  Toxic Behaviors in Esports Games: Player Perceptions and Coping Strategies , 2018, CHI PLAY.

[14]  Alexander Serebrenik,et al.  Code of conduct in open source projects , 2017, 2017 IEEE 24th International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution and Reengineering (SANER).

[15]  Emily Mitchell,et al.  Collecting and Applying Usability Data from Distance Learners , 2017 .

[16]  E. Parsons,et al.  Your Science Conference Should Have a Code of Conduct , 2016, Front. Mar. Sci..

[17]  Amy Bruckman,et al.  Reality and Perception of Copyright Terms of Service for Online Content Creation , 2016, CSCW.

[18]  Alexandru Iosup,et al.  Toxicity detection in multiplayer online games , 2015, 2015 International Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames).

[19]  M. Consalvo,et al.  Toxic Gamer Culture, Corporate Regulation, and Standards of Behavior among Players of Online Games , 2015 .

[20]  N. Webber.  Law, culture and massively multiplayer online games , 2014 .

[21]  René Glas,et al.  Battlefields of Negotiation: Control, Agency, and Ownership in World of Warcraft , 2013 .

[22]  Rainer Böhme,et al.  Trained to accept?: a field experiment on consent dialogs , 2010, CHI.

[23]  Yannis Bakos,et al.  Does Anyone Read the Fine Print? Testing a Law and Economics Approach to Standard Form Contracts , 2009 .

[24]  Johnny Saldaña,et al.  The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers , 2009 .

[25]  Colin Potts,et al.  Privacy policies as decision-making tools: an evaluation of online privacy notices , 2004, CHI.

[26]  Janet S. Adams,et al.  Codes of Ethics as Signals for Ethical Behavior , 2001 .

[27]  Lucy A. Sparrow,et al.  From ‘Silly’ to ‘Scumbag’: Reddit Discussion of a Case of Groping in a Virtual Reality Game , 2020 .

[28]  Scott Donaldson,et al.  I Predict a Riot: Making and Breaking Rules and Norms in League of Legends , 2017, DiGRA Conference.

[29]  Klaus Krippendorff,et al.  Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology , 1980 .