When code governs community

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a qualitative study of governance in the community of League of Legends, a popular Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Riot Games. To cope with toxic behaviors such as griefing and flaming, Riot Games initially implemented a crowdsourcing system inviting players to participate in governing their own community. However, in May, 2014, they automated the system, relying heavily on code while minimizing the level of human participation. We analyzed both players' and Riot Games' narratives to understand their attitudes towards the relationship between human judgment and automation, as well as between alienation and community. We found stark differences between players and Riot Games in terms of attitudes towards code and value in designing online governance. We discuss how the design of governance might impact online community.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 50th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2017
EditorsTung X. Bui, Ralph Sprague
PublisherIEEE Computer Society
Pages2056-2064
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9780998133102
StatePublished - 2017
Event50th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2017 - Big Island, United States
Duration: Jan 3 2017Jan 7 2017

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Volume2017-January
ISSN (Print)1530-1605

Conference

Conference50th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBig Island
Period1/3/171/7/17

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Engineering

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