The virtual world of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) relies on collaboration and communication provided through the internet, which has made this a social cognitive phenomenon that doesn’t happen in the face-to-face checkers game. For instance, the concept of eliciting anger and trash talk within the opponents so that they could make mistakes is common in most online games. However, the face-to-face game applies standard rules of civility and courtesy. Online gaming has allowed for social interaction within the shared virtual space (McCreery, Vallett, and Clark, 2015). Additionally, in massively multiplayer online role-playing games, the game programmers and developers influence interactions among players and trigger cognitive development through changing and updating the game with new tasks, rules and requirements to move up a game level.
User interaction environments in the face-to-face setting and MMORPG have similarities and differences. Bother user interaction environment offers the players a chance to make their own decisions regarding their moves and strategy to win the game. Online role-playing game environments give the players an opportunity for bonding and sharing personal information, which brings the concept of socialization and fun (Caroux et al., 2015). The face-to-face games have high stakes, which pressure the players, thus reducing the chances of socialization in the gaming environment. The user interaction environment in MMOPRG is more competitive as compared to face-to-face games. This is because online role-playing games involve people from different parts of the world with varying skill sets and levels, making the game challenging and competitive. Online role-playing games rely on computer-based characters that can be modified to fit the needs and want of the player. They have an option to choose things such as clothing, race, and weaponry. However, the face-to-face game players just come as they are, and the players in their natural form carry out all emotions and reactions. Players in the online role-playing games do not have a choice of picking who to play within their group but have selected the most suitable group for them. On the other hand, face-to-face players have an option to pick which players they are willing to play with.
The virtual environment in online role-playing games affects the ability of a player to play a game. Ideally, the gaming experience, user gaming ability, and navigation tasks influence the power of the player to perform. Relatively, the ability to understand the rules of the games, tasks, and requirements affects playing an online game. For instance, the game developers keep on changing the gaming environment by changing the rules, adding new tasks and requirements that influence the ability of the player to play the game (Lin and Sun, 2015). The online gaming environment mainly influences novice players who need to understand the games, requirements, and things such as social interaction, which is minimal in face-to-face games.
Online role-playing games rely on a virtual world where the players can interact socially. The User interface of the game is one of the most important aspects of online games. The user interface varies, but there are requirements that good gaming interfaces require. The game developers have to ensure that the game interface has the suitability of the tasks (Lin and Sun, 2015). These include graphics, video, animation, sound, and text and how they are linked to the user and gaming experience. The speech interface also needs to be incorporated while designing an online role-playing game. Online role-playing games allow communication and interaction, which means that the developers have to ensure that the players can speak and interact with other players. Controllability is an important requirement in the interface since the player has to control the direction of interaction with the system until they meet their goals. The user interface needs to be designed with understanding and care for human physiology and psychology.
In summation, social interaction and communication in online role-playing games bring about a social cognitive phenomenon that doesn’t occur in face-to-face games. The user interaction environment for online role-playing and face-to-face games have similarities and differences. Relatively, the user environment for online role-playing games impacts the user’s ability to play the game. The game designers must understand the user interaction to include the user interface requirements to engage the players effectively.
