Examining behavioral effects of player sex in two large-scale MMOs

Chandan Sarkar, Rabindra Ratan, Daniel Allen and Jackson Hopcroft

Abstract

Previous games research has shown a difference between male and female players in terms of their gaming behaviors, such as choice of avatar gender and engagement in combat or social activities. This article builds on such research by examining these types of behaviors within two massively multiplayer online games, CR3 and EVE, as they relate to player gender and differ between the game and cultural contexts. A multitude of variables reflecting such behaviors, pulled from privacy-protected, server log data, are used to test the hypotheses that males, compared to females, engage in more combat-related behaviors and fewer social behaviors. This analysis is currently incomplete, but will hopefully be consistent with previous findings and contribute new insights into gender differences player behavior.