Ardavan Hemmatpour, Iffat Ali Aksar, Muhammad Zaiamri bin Zainal Abidin, *Amira Firdaus, Nur Haniz Mohd Nor, Mahmoud Danaee, Wendy Yee Mei Tien

Abstract:

MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) such as EVE Online have grown in popularity, with over 1.5 billion active players worldwide by 2015. Such games immerse players in vast virtual worlds, encouraging autonomy, competence, social interactions, and a sense of belonging. Although there is an extensive amount of research on MMORPGs, the majority of studies have primarily concentrated on the negative aspects of online gaming. To date, there is limited research on the positive aspects of MMORPGs. Conversely, this study examines the self-determination theory (SDT) elements of autonomy, competence and relatedness, and their relationship to the social capital and intrinsic motivations of MMORPGs. Based on a survey of members of a dedicated private Facebook group for EVE Online players, findings reveal a significant positive relationship between autonomy and social capital. Competence has a positive but weak relationship with social capital, whereas relatedness has a strong positive relationship.

Keywords: MMORPGs, EVE Online, self-determination theory, social capital, social interaction