Learning About Real Economics in Virtual Worlds David S. Abrams University of Pennsylvania April 5, 2011 [Preliminary] Virtual worlds provide an opportunity for an entirely new economic research methodology. With tens of millions of users, billions of dollars (US) in virtual production, and many characteristics of real‐world economies, for the first time economists have access to a venue with the realism of the field and control of the laboratory. Virtual worlds additionally provide access to a subject pool far more diverse than is possible in a single physical laboratory. In order to extrapolate from virtual world results to real economics, it is imperative to understand economic behavior in virtual worlds. This paper does so by investigating two common economic games and one puzzle in the virtual world of Second Life. Compared with numerous studies from around the world, individuals in Second Life exhibit behavior indistinguishable from lab experiments in the ultimatum and trust games and Monty Hall problem. Players with greater experience and attachment to Second Life exhibit greater other‐regarding behavior in some of the games. These findings should help allay concerns about the external validity of findings on economic behavior in virtual worlds.
41
Embed
Learning About Real Economics in Virtual Worlds Microeconomics/Spring... · Learning About Real Economics in Virtual ... While the role‐playing games were the entire universe of
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
3 Unbeknownst to the subjects, the cubes actually floated in the air, something irrelevant to the experimental design, but particularly difficult to accomplish in real‐world laboratories. 4 The full instructions are provided in Appendix A.
Note card 1: WELCOME! You have been asked to participate in an economics experiment. You will be paid 500 Linden Dollars for participating and you may earn additional money in the experiment. You will be paid at the end of the experiment. This experiment is part of university research to help understand how people make decisions. Do not use the chat bar or instant messenger (IM) during the experiment, except when you are asked to do so. Please click ‘next’ when you are finished reading a card. Note card 2: THE GAME You will be paired with another person who is in another room. You and your partner will remain anonymous. You will be assigned to be either Player A or Player B. Player A will be given 1500 real Linden Dollars at the beginning of the game. Player A may choose to send some, all or none of this money to Player B by typing the amount into the chat bar when prompted to do so. Player B will be told how much money Player A sent and will decide whether to accept or reject the offer. If Player B rejects the offer, both Player A and Player B receive nothing beyond the participation fee. If Player B accepts Player A's offer, then, in addition to the participation fee, Player B receives whatever Player A offered him. Player A receives 1500 Linden dollars minus the amount sent to Player B. Note card 3: EXAMPLES Here is an example: Player A starts with 100 Linden Dollars and decides to send 5 to Player B. Player B rejects the offer of 5 Linden Dollars. In addition to the participation fee, Player A is paid 0 Linden Dollars and Player B is paid 0 Linden Dollars. Here is another: Player A receives 200 Linden Dollars and decides to send 150 to Player B. Player B accepts the offer of 150 Linden Dollars. In addition to the participation fee, Player A is paid 50 Linden Dollars and Player B is paid 150 Linden Dollars.
19
Note card 4: TEST In order to make sure you understand, please work out this example. You cannot play the game if you do not answer correctly. Player A receives 500 Linden Dollars and decides to send 75 to Player B. Player B accepts the offer. In addition to the participation fee, how many Linden Dollars is Player A paid? _____ Please type the answer into the chat bar. You have 3 chances to answer correctly. Note card 5: Your decisions in this game are private and we ask that you do not tell anyone your decision either during, or after, the experiment. Your participation is voluntary and you may leave at any time. Once you have read and understood the instructions please type "Ready" in the chat box. The game will begin as soon as both players have completed the instructions. Note card 6: SURVEY Thanks for participating! The game is now ended and you will be paid immediately after completing a short survey. There are seven questions about your background in real life which will help in the understanding of the data. All responses will be kept confidential, and your avatar name will not be recorded. Click ‘next’ to start the survey. Note card 7: THANKS! Thank you for your responses. You will now receive your payment for participating. You may only participate in this experiment one time, but look on the employment message board for future experiments. Thank you again for participating! If you have any further questions, please email David Abrams: [email protected] If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research, you may contact the Social and Behavioral Science Institutional Review Board at the University of Chicago: [email protected] Please teleport to another location.
20
Trust Game Instructions Note card 1: WELCOME! You have been asked to participate in an economics experiment. You will be paid 500 Linden Dollars for participating and you may earn additional money in the experiment. You will be paid at the end of the experiment. This experiment is part of university research to help understand how people make decisions. Do not use the chat bar or instant messenger (IM) during the experiment, except when you are asked to do so. Please click ‘next’ when you are finished reading a card. Note card 2: THE GAME You will be paired with another person who is in another room. You and your partner will remain anonymous. You will be assigned to be either Player A or Player B. Player A is given 1500 Linden Dollars at the beginning of the game. Player A may choose to send some, all or none of this money to Player B by typing the amount into the chat bar when prompted to do so. Whatever amount Player A chooses to send to Player B is tripled. Player B will be told the tripled amount and then may send back some, all, or none of the money to Player A. The game then ends. In addition to the participation fee, Player A receives 1500 Linden dollars minus the amount sent to Player B plus the amount sent from Player B to Player A. Player B receives the participation fee plus three times the amount sent by Player A minus the amount sent from Player B to Player A. Note card 3: EXAMPLE Here is an example of the experiment, where Player A is initially given 100 Linden Dollars: Player A is asked “How much would you like to send to Player B?” He responds “15”. Player B is told “You have been sent 45 Linden Dollars. How much would you like to send to Player A?” Player B types “0”. In addition to the participation fee, Player A is then paid 100 – 15 + 0 = 85 Linden Dollars and Player B is paid 45 – 0 = 45 Linden Dollars. Note card 4: TEST
21
In order to make sure you understand, please work out this example. You cannot play the game if you do not answer correctly. Player A is given 500 Linden Dollars and decides to send 100 to Player B. Player B receives 300 Linden Dollars and decides to send back 50. In addition to the participation fee, how many Linden Dollars is Player B paid? ____ Please type the answer into the chat bar. You have 3 chances to answer correctly. Note card 5: Your decisions in this game are private and we ask that you do not tell anyone your decision either during, or after, the experiment. Your participation is voluntary and you may leave at any time. Once you have read and understood the instructions please type "Ready" in the chat box. The game will begin as soon as both players have completed the instructions. Note card 6: SURVEY Thanks for participating! The game is now ended and you will be paid immediately after completing a short survey. There are seven questions about your background in real life which will help in the understanding of the data. All responses will be kept confidential, and your avatar name will not be recorded. Click ‘next’ to start the survey. Note card 7: THANKS! Thank you for your responses. You will now receive your payment for participating. You may only participate in this experiment one time, but look on the employment message board for future experiments. Thank you again for participating! If you have any further questions, please email David Abrams: [email protected] If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research, you may contact the Social and Behavioral Science Institutional Review Board at the University of Chicago: [email protected] Please teleport to another location.
22
Monty Hall Game Instructions Note card 1: WELCOME!
You have been asked to participate in an economics experiment. You will be paid 500 Linden Dollars for participating and you may earn additional money in the experiment. You will be paid at the end of the experiment. This experiment is part of university research to help understand how people make decisions. Please do not use the chat bar or instant messenger (IM) during the experiment. Please click “next” when you are finished reading a card. Note card 2: THE GAME A prize is hidden randomly behind one of the three doors before you. You must guess which door you think holds the prize. After choosing a door, one of the two remaining doors which does not hold the prize is opened. You may then change your choice of door to the other remaining closed door or keep your original choice. The prize is then revealed. If you chose the right door, you win L$ 250. If not, you win nothing. You will play ten times, with the prize hidden randomly each time. Note card 3: PRACTICE Let’s try one game now just for practice. Note card 4: After the experiment is over, you will be asked to fill out a short survey, and then you will be paid. You will receive 500 Linden Dollars for participating, plus 250 Linden Dollars for each round you chose the correct door. You will then be asked to leave the experimental lab. You will not be able to return to the lab after the experiment is over. Your participation is voluntary and you may leave at any time. Once you have read and understood the instructions please click "Ready". Note card 5: SURVEY Thanks for participating! The game is now ended and you will be paid immediately after completing a short survey.
23
There are eight questions about your background in real life which will help us understand the data. All responses will be kept confidential, and your avatar name will not be recorded. Click “next” to start the survey. Note card 6: THANKS! Thank you! You will now receive your payment. You may only participate in this experiment once, but look on the employment message board for future experiments. If you have any questions, please email David Abrams: [email protected] If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research, you may contact the Social and Behavioral Science Institutional Review Board at the University of Chicago: [email protected] Please teleport to another location. Dialog: Please touch the door you think holds the prize. <repeat every 10 seconds until click. Timeout at 5 minutes> I will now open one of the doors you did not choose and show you that it does not hold the prize. <Open one of two non-clicked doors that doesn’t contain gold> Now, with the information you have, touch the door you think holds the gold. <display win/loss message>
*Ultima Online, EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, and Star Wars Galaxies
Sources: Survey data reported in Yee (2006), http://www.nickyee.comQuotations from talks at Emerging Technology Conference, March 6-9, 2006 found on http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etech/Speech by Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Labs at Google, March 1, 2006 (available on Google Video).Krotoski (2004); Castronova(2001)
32
Table2
Table3
Title # UsersYear of
PublicationPurchase
Price
Monthly Subscription
Fee Classification
Market Share by Revenue*
Monthly Subscription
RevenueWorld of Warcraft 11,500,000 2009 $59.98** $14.99 Fantasy 62.4% $172,385,000RuneScape 10,000,000 2002 Free $5.00 Fantasy MMORPG 7.4% $50,000,000Second Life 1,761,927 2009 Free $9.95 Social MMOG <1.0% $17,531,174Final Fantasy XI 1,500,000 2003 $19.99 $12.95 Fantasy MMORPG 3.1% $19,425,000Lineage: The Blood Pledge 1,399,909 1998 Free $15.00 Fantasy MMORPG 6.5% $20,998,635Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle 1,300,000 2004 $29.99 $14.99 Fantasy MMORPG 6.2% $19,487,000Eve Online 300,000 2003 Free $14.95 Science Fiction MMORPG 1.5% $4,485,000EverQuest 200,000 1999 $19.99 $14.99 Fantasy MMORPG 1.1% $2,998,000City of Heroes/Villains 200,000 2004 $19.99 $14.99 Comic Book Fantasy 0.8% $2,998,000EverQuest II 185,000 2004 $29.99 $14.99 Fantasy 1.2% $2,773,150Star Wars Galaxies 170,000 2003 $29.99 $14.99 Science Fiction MMORPG 1.4% $2,548,300Ultima Online 135,000 1997 $29.95 $12.99 Fantasy MMORPG 1.1% $1,753,650Dark Age of Camelot 125,000 2001 $19.99 $14.95 Fantasy MMORPG ≈1% $1,868,750Toontown Online 110,000 2003 Free $9.99 Children's MMORPG 0.9% $1,098,900Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormre 90,000 2006 $49.99 $14.99 Fantasy 0.7% $1,349,100PlanetSide 65,000 2003 Free $12.99 Shooter MMOG <1.0% $844,350The Sims Online 35,500 2002 Free $9.99 Social MMOG <1.0% $354,645Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates 34,000 2003 $19.99 $9.99 Puzzle MMOG <1.0% $339,660The Matrix Online 30,000 2005 $29.99 $14.99 Science Fiction <1.0% $449,700Asheron's Call 30,000 1999 $19.95 $12.95 Fantasy MMORPG <1.0% $388,500There 17,000 2003 Free $9.95 Social MMOG <1.0% $169,150WWII Online 12,000 2001 Free $14.99 Shooter MMOG <1.0% $179,880Anarchy Online 12,000 2001 Free $14.95 Science Fiction MMORPG <1.0% $179,400Auto Assault 11,000 2006 $49.99 $14.99 Action <1.0% $164,890Horizons: Empire of Istaria 10,000 2003 Free $12.95 Fantasy MMORPG <1.0% $129,500
Total 29,233,336 $324,899,334
Table 2: Virtual World Descriptive Statistics
*Market share is calculated from paying users, and therefore may not match aggregate user numbers**$19.99 + $39.99 (expansion pack)Revenue figures reflect only monthly subscription revenues and therefore understate the games' actual revenues. Source: MMOGChart.com, mmogdata.voig.com, individual game web pages, sources cited in
Variable Mean Median Mode Min Max St. Dev ObsOffer 602 700 750 (n=20) 5 1500 288 53