A study of user created interfaces in video games

The popularWorld of Warcraft (WoW) game provides its players with the power to create a customized user interface (UI). Within the community of all players, WoW has a large UI modification community that creates and makes use of countless UI modifications (mods). The study reported here examined the effects that UI mods have had on the WoW game and its community. The goal was to explore six aspects of the UI modification community: (1) the background of its members, (2) their attitudes, (3) their usage of UI mods, (4) the effect of game roles on that usage, (5) the effect of UI mods on learning to play WoW, and (6) the characteristics and motivations of those who create and share UI mods. To achieve this goal, an online survey was made of 282 WoW players who created or used UI mods.;Briefly, the results of the survey are as follows. (1) Those who create and use UI mods are on average male, young, technically oriented, and dedicated fans of WoW. (2) Almost every survey participant was currently using UI mods and most participants said that the game would not be as enjoyable without them. The UI modification community was reported to be "very helpful" and "very active" by participants. (3) Modifications were used by players of all skill levels. The most heavily used categories of modifications dealt with managing the amount of information displayed on the screen. (4) Usage of role specific UI modifications was highest for those who played the most difficult (healer, tank) classes of characters, which involve managing large amounts of rapidly changing information. (5) UI mods, especially those who provided information not available in the default interface, helped them to learn how to play WoW. (6) Necessity and a desire to learn motivated players to become developers. Typically they shared their work for the gratitude of the community and the satisfaction of helping others. The results of the survey provide evidence for the claim that a game's interface is best developed in concert with the players.