Flaming and Performance in an Online Gaming Environment

Ananda Prawira Respati, Galang Lufityanto, S.Psi., M.Psi., Ph.D., Psikolog

2023 | Skripsi | PSIKOLOGI

Flaming mengacu kepada perilaku di mana seseorang mengirim pesan yang mengejek atau pesan yang agresif. Flaming merupakan suata masalah di industri game, terutama di komunitas game e-sport, di mana perilaku tersebut mempengaruhi kesenangan pemain dan dianggap suatu perilaku yang tidak sportif, seperti trash talk di dunia olahraga. Studi ini bertujuan untuk meneliti apakah perilaku flaming mempengaruhi performa pemain di dalam game yang diberi perlakuan flaming, terutama seberapa baik seorang pemain dapat mengeliminasi pemain musuh (performa individual) dan seberapa baik seorang pemain dapat berkontribusi terhadap kesuksesan tim pemain (performa group). Studi ini mempelajari pertanyaan dengan percobaan di mana pemain diberi perilaku flaming dan membandingkan metrik performa di dalam game (rasio Kill-Death-Assist dan poin-poin) sebelum dan sesudah perlakuan perilaku flaming terhadap 15 partisipan, semua pria yang berumur 19 sampai 26 tahun. Studi ini menemukan bahwa ada indikasi yang menunjukan adanya efek perilaku flaming terhadap performa individual, di mana 10 dari 15 partisipan menunjukan kenaikan terhadap performa individual mereka. Hasil ini konsisten dengan hasil dari studi sebelumnya oleh Neto, Yokoyama, dan Becker terkait dengan perubahan performa dan kehadirannya perilaku flaming; dan juga konsisten dengan studi oleh Raglin terkait perilaku flaming merupakan suatu hal yang dapat merusak mental di situasi olahraga. Apa yang membedakan studi ini dengan studi-studi sebelumnya ialah perubahan performa yang ditunjukan merupaka perubahan yang positif, di mana perilaku flaming dari musuh menaikan performa individual partisipan. Akan tetapi, terkait bahwa satu group menunjukan performa individual mereka turun, perubahan performan tergantung terhadap masing-masing group pemain.

Flaming refers to sending hostile or insulting messages. It is an issue that the gaming industry is dealing with daily, especially in an e-sport gaming community, where it affects the overall enjoyment of the game and is considered unsportsmanlike, the equivalent of trash talk in sports. This study aims to investigate whether flaming also affects the in-game performance of players, specifically how well they eliminate the enemy player (individual performance) and how well they contribute to the team’s success (group performance), who are subjected to such treatment. This study explores the question with staged experimentation by subjecting several players to flaming behaviours and then comparing the in-game performance metrics (Kill-Death-Assist ratio and points) pre and post-treatment of 15 participants, all male ranging from 19-26 years old. The study founds there are indications that there are effects of flaming on individual performance, with 10 of the 15 participants showing an increase in their individual performance, while none of them shows a significant change in group performance. The result is consistent with previous studies done by Neto, Yokoyama, and Becker regarding performance change and the presence of flaming behaviour; as well as Raglin’s study regarding flaming behaviour served as a mental harm in a sport situation. What differs from the previous studies is that the performance change is a net positive in most cases, where flaming behaviour from the enemy team increased individual performance. However, since one group had their individual performance decrease, whether the impact is positive or negative depends on the group of players.

Kata Kunci : online gaming, e-sport, flaming behaviour, group performance, individual performance