Moment-to-moment decision-making in multiplayer online battle arenas

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My research looks at how players make decisions in multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBAs), such as League of Legends and DotA 2, which is particularly applicable to esports. Player decision-making not only has potential to influence game outcomes and player performance over time, but can translate back to real-world environments. I believe there are factors in the high-pressure, competitive teamwork environment of MOBA games which cannot be explained using purely theoretical decision-making models, and yet can have a powerful impact on game outcomes. Such factors include individual propensity for risk-taking, impulse control, personality traits, intuition, and similar. I am working with players to collect and analyse data to help identify these factors. I will be using surveys and interviews, controlled laboratory experiments and data obtained from gameplay itself to draw my conclusions. By figuring out what affects how players make decisions in MOBA games and how this relates to game outcomes, we can determine strategies to optimise player performance in esports. Moreover, this can help inform strategies for similar environments, such as competitive sports.