Understanding Usage Behavior in Massively Multiplayer Online Games: Perspectives of Technology Affordance and Perfection Pursue

Abstract

The rapid development and maturation of online gaming, particularly massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), have significantly increased the complexity and diversity of player experiences. As these virtual worlds expand, it becomes essential to investigate and understand the usage behaviors of players. Game design typically engages players' drive for excellence by setting goals, implementing feedback systems, and constructing challenges and reward mechanisms, allowing them to experience fun and a sense of achievement in pursuing a "perfect" state. Players consciously or unconsciously exhibit a desire for perfection within the gaming environment. However, as game design increasingly caters to the pursuit of perfection, how this design philosophy shapes player behavior and expectations remains an open question. To ensure the healthy development of MMOGs, studying the intricacies of player behavior is both a business-critical endeavor and a social concern. Therefore, this study is dedicated to examining the impact of perfect design orientation in games on usage behaviors. Accordingly, three studies were organized to understand addictive use and diverse use under the influence of perfect design orientation in games.

The first study focuses on the negative usage behavior of MMOGs, identifying perfectionism and its influence on addictive use in the virtual game world. The addictive use of online games is common and could lead to severe health and social problems. As perfectionism is a recognized precursor of many psychological disorders, the study aims to investigate how virtual-domain perfectionism contributes to addictive use by leveraging the affordances of MMOGs. The study identifies virtual-domain perfectionism as seeking excellence and avoiding failure based on the dual process model of perfectionism. By leveraging the context of MMOGs, technical features of MMOGs and corresponding affordances are identified and used to explain the action potential related to virtual-domain perfectionism. The research model is developed by following the theoretical perspective of needs-affordances-features and validated by conducting an online survey with 302 valid samples in MMOGs. The findings reveal that virtual-domain perfectionism positively influences addictive use in MMOGs, and technology affordances play a significant role as antecedents of virtual-domain perfectionism with distinct impacts. The study contributes to the literature on perfectionism and the dark side of IT use by examining the effects of perfectionism in the virtual game world. The study also highlights the importance of considering individual differences in virtual environments and provides implications for designing interventions for addictive use in the virtual game world.

The second study aims to present an overview of the pursuit of perfection in a broader sense in the digital process and outlines perfectionism in the digital world. While previous psychological literature has discussed the double-edged effect of perfectionism, its representation and impacts in the digital world have not been fully explored. The role of perfectionism within digitalization remains understudied, with uncertainties about its implications for digital usage behavior and whether traditional views of perfectionism apply. The conventional concept of perfectionism does not fully account for the digital characteristics of fast-evolving technology, quantitative criteria, and expanded social circles. Research is needed to explore these issues and ensure the understanding of perfectionism evolves with digital advancements. This study proposes a reboot of perfectionism in the digital world by analyzing the interaction between digital technology and individuals' pursuit of perfection. Through the user-performance-climate framework in digital communities, the study differentiates digital perfectionism from traditional perfectionism and conducts a typology by adopting a multidimensional view and dual process theory. Four dimensions of digital perfectionism are identified, and corresponding measures are generated from instrument development. This study contributes to the literature by proposing a typology of perfectionism in the digital world, emphasizing the importance of incorporating it into research and examining its impacts more broadly.

The third study aims to explore diverse usage behaviors and the conditions under which they occur, focusing on how reinforcement and variety-seeking orientations are shaped by digital perfectionistic intentions and technology affordance. The research adopts the theoretical framework of affordance-psychological outcome-behavioral outcome in gamification. We examine the relationship between technology affordance, digital perfectionistic intention, and diverse use behaviors in MMOGs by employing a sequential triangulation mixed-methods design that contains a survey with 278 valid samples and qualitative interviews with 21 respondents. Findings reveal that digital perfectionistic intentions are critical antecedents of different use behaviors influenced by affordances provided by MMOGs. This work combines perspectives of perfectionistic intentions and technology affordance to examine virtual world usage, contributing valuable insights to understanding user behaviors within online gaming environments. By examining the impact of digital perfectionistic intentions on various use behaviors based on the primary affordance provided in MMOGs, this research seeks to deepen the understanding of game use patterns and offer insights for the healthy development of the gaming industry. This study also contributes to the practical verification of digital perfectionism in the context of MMOGs, providing a basis for future research on the impact of digitalization.

Date of Award	9 Apr 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Kwok On Matthew LEE (Supervisor) & Feng Yang (External Supervisor)