Constructive Communities: Understanding user-
generated content in virtual worlds
Jonas Heide Smith (jonasheidesmith@gmail.com)

Some big questions
What motivates the
production of user-
generated content in
virtual worlds?
How can developers/
designers support user
creativity?

A slightly smaller question
How can we think about
user-generated content
in the context of virtual
worlds?

User-generated content
Publicly available material
existing as a product of end-
user activity whether
intentionally produced or not

THE NEW YORK TIMES

COMMENT IS FREE

WIKIPEDIA

FLICKR

AMAZON.COM

User-generated content
THE USER...
Adds extras
COMMENTARY
Develops content from scratch
CREATION
Adds value by personal goal-
seeking
PUBLIC ACTION

LODE RUNNER (1983)

DOOM (1993)

SIMPSONS DOOM

HABITAT (1986)

Lessons from Habitat
\"The first goal-directed event
planned for Habitat was a rather
involved treasure hunt... It took
us hours to design, weeks to
build (including a 100-region
island), and days to coordinate
the actors involved. ...
We thought it would occupy our
players for days. In fact, the
puzzle was solved in about 8
hours by a person who had
figured out the critical clue in the
first 15 minutes. ... a huge
investment in design and setup
time had been consumed in an
eyeblink.\"
Morningstar & Farmer (1991). The Lessons of Habitat. Published
in Cyberspace: First Steps, Michael Benedikt (ed.), 1991, MIT
Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Approach #1
Make more generic
content

ULTIMA ONLINE (1997)

WORLD OF WARCRAFT (2004)

Approach #2
Allow users to co-create

LAMBDAMOO (1990)

SECOND LIFE (2003)

LITTLE BIG PLANET

SPORE

SPORE

MACHINIMA

User-generated content
THE USER...
Adds extras
COMMENTARY
Develops content from scratch
CREATION
Adds value by personal goal-
seeking
PUBLIC ACTION

\"COMMENTARY\" in
virtual worlds
Usually happens outside the
VW
Usually impossible in game
worlds

\"CREATION\" in virtual
worlds
Often possible in social
worlds
Almost always impossible in
game worlds (who value
game balance over player
freedom)

\"PUBLIC ACTION\" in
virtual worlds
Other users are typically the
very reason for logging on
In game worlds, action is
only public in a very abstract
market economic sense
Even in social worlds,
actions have to be highly
goal-directed to leave a
mark

Conclusions
Users must presently
choose between the non-
goal-oriented and the non-
involving
Virtual worlds (allegedly
highly social) have untapped
potential
Publicly beneficial UGC
seems to be harnessed
more powerfully in \"non-
social\" game types