Date of Graduation
5-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Geography (MS)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Geosciences
Advisor/Mentor
Fiona Davidson
Committee Member
Thomas Paradise
Second Committee Member
Jackson Cothren
Keywords
conflict, economics, EVE Online, mediation, movement, online games, quantitative data, video games
Abstract
EVE Online is a massively-multiplayer online game with complex interactions between players and their unique, virtual environment. These relationships are the ongoing results of a conflict-driven economy, but they vary both in duration and by location.
This study attempts to quantify the direct effects of movement and indirect effects of conflict upon economic activity in the form of currency creation and delineate how successfully these relationships can be quantified by narrower time-spans and areas. Results of the mediation models used in this exploration indicate the changing relationship between movement (Ship Jumps), conflict (Ship Kills), and currency creation (Faction Kills) is measurable, but they demonstrate the difficulty in assessing the effects in smaller time-spans.
The success and difficulty of this study in attaining more granular results reinforces the value of longitudinal statistics to model in-game relationships for successful, long-term game analysis and development.
Citation
Pryor, C. A. (2019). Spreadsheets-in-Space: A Quantitative Exploration of Movement, Currency Creation, and Conflict within EVE Online. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3236
gap_detection_in_compiled_data.txt (1 kB)
gap_detection_in_compiled_data.zip (106 kB)
hpc_work.txt (60 kB)
hpc_work.zip (420940 kB)
p_value_tables.txt (1 kB)
p_value_tables.zip (476 kB)
r_data_compile.txt (12 kB)
r_data_compile.zip (58 kB)
total_mediation.txt (1 kB)
total_mediation.zip (416 kB)
Included in
Game Design Commons, Human Geography Commons, Physical and Environmental Geography Commons, Public Economics Commons