Understanding Consumer Harm in Online Multiplayer Video Games

本研究旨在了解在线多人视频游戏玩家所经历的消费者伤害。消费者伤害（或消费者损害）是指由于公司影响消费者决策的设计决策而导致消费者遭受的任何损失、损害或负面影响。这包括经济损失、心理困扰、对心理健康的负面影响，以及消费者被迫做出他们不想做或不会做的决定。立法者担心电子游戏的元素可能会对玩家造成消费者伤害。许多国家试图规范战利品盒（一种视频游戏机制，在现实世界中，玩家可以获得不确定价值的随机游戏奖励）。目前的监管依赖于这样一个假设，即在个别有问题的游戏机制和玩家正在经历的消费者伤害之间存在简单、明确的关系，因此，删除机制将消除伤害。目前尚不清楚视频游戏中经历的伤害是否与有问题的机制有具体联系并完全归因于这些机制，或者它们是否源于沉浸式视频所造成的伤害关系。游戏环境。几乎没有研究这些危害的影响或如何识别最有可能受到负面影响的人。监管个别游戏机制会阻止该机制出现在游戏中，但如果没有更好地了解玩家所经历的消费者伤害，就不可能知道监管个别游戏机制是否会成功地减少它试图解决的危害。因此，因此，如何界定电子游戏中的消费者损害，是一个迫切需要研究的课题。玩家在在线多人视频游戏中会遇到哪些危害？谁是受影响最大的人？2.可以用什么方法来衡量这些伤害的强度？3.如何更好地了解视频游戏的危害来保护消费者？这项研究将通过一种定性的方法来回答这些问题，该方法借鉴了消费者的生活经验。重要的是，游戏玩家参与研究过程，并为理解游戏伤害的过程做出贡献，因为任何试图理解消费者伤害的尝试都应该由经历这种伤害的个人提供信息。通过以用户为中心的人机交互方法，如参与式设计，来自伤害和非伤害游戏玩家的输入将被纳入这个博士学位。研究结果将被用来制定一个新的概念，消费者伤害的视频游戏，更好地捕捉游戏玩家的生活经验，以及对伤害的心理理解。这项工作将放大受害游戏玩家的声音，帮助更全面地了解消费者在视频游戏中所遭受的伤害，并为正在进行的关于如何确保视频游戏中的有效消费者保护的讨论做出贡献。这项研究也可能对更广泛地理解消费者的伤害产生影响，特别是在社交媒体平台和Metaverse等沉浸式数字媒体方面。

This research aims to understand consumer harm experienced by gamers in online multiplayer video games. Consumer harm (or Consumer Detriment) means any loss, damage, or negative impact experienced by a consumer due to the design decisions made by a company to influence consumer decision making. This includes financial loss, psychological distress, negative impacts on mental wellbeing, and consumers being pushed to make decisions that they do not want to make or otherwise would not make.There are concerns among legislators that elements of video games may cause consumer harm to players.Many countries have tried to regulate loot boxes (a video game mechanic where in exchange for real-world money, players receive a randomised in-game reward of uncertain value). Current regulation relies on the assumption that there is a simple, clear-cut relationship between individual problematic game mechanics and the consumer harm players are experiencing and that therefore, removing the mechanic will eradicate the harm.However, it is unknown whether the harms experienced in video games are specifically linked and solely attributable to problematic mechanics or whether they stem from a nexus of harm created by the immersive video game environment.There is little research into the impact of these harms or how to identify those most likely to be negatively affected by them.Regulating an individual game mechanic stops that mechanic appearing in games but without a better understanding of the consumer harm experienced by players, it is impossible to know whether regulating an individual game mechanic will successfully reduce the harm it sought to address.Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand what constitutes consumer harm in video games.This thesis will answer the following questions:1. What harms do gamers experience in online multiplayer video games? Who are the people most affected?2. What methods can be used to measure the intensity of these harms?3. How can a better understanding of video game harm be used to protect consumers?This research will answer these questions through a qualitative methodology that draws on the lived experience of consumers.It is important that gamers are involved in the research process and contribute to the process of understanding gaming harm because any attempt to understand consumer harm should be informed by the individuals experiencing that harm. Through user-centric HCI methods such as participatory design, input from both harmed and non-harmed gamers will be incorporated into this PhD.The research findings will be used to formulate a new conceptualisation of consumer harm in video games that better captures gamers' lived experiences as well as psychological understandings of harm.This work will amplify the voices of harmed gamers, help develop a more complete understanding of the consumer harm experienced in video games, and contribute to the ongoing discussions about how to ensure effective consumer protection in video games. This research may also have an impact on wider understandings of consumer harm particularly in relation to immersive, digital mediums such as social media platforms and the Metaverse.