Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring Problematic Online Gaming: A Qualitative Approach, Joseph M. Waters

Open Access Dissertations

Online gaming, specifically Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), has become a very popular pastime and often is the subject of scrutiny in the literature regarding problematic play. This study aimed to develop a better understanding of problematic online gaming by recruiting and interviewing MMORPG players who potentially played at problematic levels. Ten participants (9 males, 1 female) from a Mid-Western university were screened and interviewed regarding their online gaming experiences. Consensual qualitative research was used to analyze the data. Eleven domains emerged from the data analysis: (a) antecedents to involvement in online gaming, (b) gaming activity, (c) character creation, …