Abstract. We propose the use of social simulations to study and support the design of online communities. In this paper, we developed an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to simulate and study the formation of social networks in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) guild community. We first analyzed the activities and the social network (who-interacts-with-whom) of an existing guild community to identify its interaction patterns and characteristics. Then, based on the empirical results, we derived and formalized the interaction rules, which were implemented in our simulation. Using the simulation, we reproduced the observed social network of the guild community as a means of validation. The simulation was then used to examine how various parameters of the community (e.g. the level of activity, the number of neighbors of each agent, etc) could potentially influence the characteristic of the social networks.
Ang & Zaphiris REF have proposed a new method for sociability design and research through the use of simulation, and have developed an ABM to simulate and study the formation of social networks in a MMORPG guild community.
Simulating Social Networks of Online Communities: Simulation as a Method for Sociability Design
INTERACT
Computer Science