Colegio de Calumpit Inc.

Iba O’Este, Calumpit, Bulacan

S.Y. 2019-2020

Factors of Playing Addictive Mobile Multiplayer Games as Perceived by

Grade 8 Students of Colegio de Calumpit, Inc. S.Y. 2019-2020

By:

BAUTISTA, PRINCESS KATE R.

BERNARDINO, LANCE HARRY O.

ESPIRITU, EMYLOU D.R.

FONTANILLA, ARNOLD R.

GALANG, AARON VINCE S.

GARCIA, JHAYZEL MAE S.

MESIAS, ALEJANDRO DAYNIEL E.

 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

The chapter includes the introduction of the study, statement of the problem, significance

of the study, scope and delimitations of the study, and the definitions of terms used in the study.

Introduction

In today’s modern age, people are looking for an alternative to having fun or being

entertained without leaving their house or their comfortable zone. According to the Merriam

Webster’s dictionary, video games are electronic games in which players control images on a

video screen. Video games can be an alternative for entertainment without moving physically or

going outside because most video games are played using mobile phones, computers, or

consoles. There are many reasons why people play video games, an example is that playing

video games can be fun and entertaining, and there are many studies that highlights how highly

engaged gaming can give out plenty of social and psychological rewards (Charlton and Danforth

2007; Cole and Griffiths 2007; Griffiths et al. 2003; Yee 2006).

Playing video games may have positive effects however, it also has negative ones.

According to Hartney (2020), video game addiction is compulsive or uncontrolled use of video

games, in a way that causes problems in other areas of the person’s life. Although according to

Van Rooij et al. (2014), it appears online gaming in general is not necessarily associated with

problems. However troublesome gamers seem to play online games often, and a small subgroup

of gamers, specifically boys, have showed lower psychosocial functioning and lower grades.

Troublesome gaming is an undesirable issue for a small subgroup of gamers. The discovery

further encourages the exploration of the role of psychoactive substance use in problematic
gaming. This explains as to why some gamers may be classified as problematic and avoided by

their fellow classmates.

There are circles or group of friends that play such multiplayer mobile games. Some

examples are Mobile Legends, Call of Duty Mobile, Vainglory, etc. The study aims to determine

as to why they play these games and how it is affecting the student’s life in school. If the games

are not causing them to have low grades despite playing them so much.

The study will be conducted inside the school campus of Colegio de Calumpit Inc. and

focus on determining the factors as to why students play multiplayer mobile games. The

researchers will gather information from the Junior Highschool students, particularly gamers, of

Colegio de Calumpit Inc.

Statement of the Problem

The general problem of the study is to know the factors of playing addictive Mobile

Multiplayer games to Junior Highschool students of Colegio de Calumpit, Inc. S.Y. 2019-2020.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. How does the demographic profile and the respondents be described in terms of the

following:

1.1 Age

2.2 Gender

2. What are the most played Multiplayer Mobile games among Junior Highschool students?

3. What are the factors for playing Mobile Multiplayer games?

Significance of the Study

The purpose of this study is to understand why a lot of Junior Highschool students of

Colegio de Calumpit Inc. are playing addictive Mobile Multiplayer games. In this research, it

shows information about the reasons or factors why Junior Highschool students play such games.

This research is deemed to be significant to the following:

Students. This study will help students to determine the factors that play into their

playing habits and manage their time so that they won’t be addicted to such games. The study

will also help students to learn how to be sociable by providing them the information to fit in

with their age group.

Teachers. This study will help the teachers to know the reasons why Junior Highschool

students play addictive Mobile Multiplayer games. It will also help teachers in understanding

their students more.

Parents. This study will help parents in understanding their children who play these

games and why they play them. With this research, parents may also find a way to bond with

their children in different ways by knowing what they like to do and what they usually play.

Future Researchers. This study will help future researchers in their thesis or research if

their chosen topic is somewhat related to this study. It will also help them in gathering more

information for their research.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study only includes the Junior Highschool Students in Colegio de Calumpit, Inc.

This study will focus on the factors or why students are playing addictive Mobile Multiplayer
games. The study will take place inside the school campus of Colegio de Calumpit, Inc in Iba O’

Este Calumpit, Bulacan. S.Y. 2019 – 2020. The researchers will gather the information or data

needed through interviewing the grade 8 students as their respondents. The method of

interviewing will be unstructured interview. 71 grade 8 students will be interviewed from the

sections Sampaguita, Ilang-Ilang, Hyacinth, Orchids, and Rose. Descriptive methodology will be

used in conducting the research. The method of choosing the sample respondents is purposive

sampling.

Definition of Terms

Video Games – Are games that can be played using devices such as consoles, computers,

and mobile games. It is used to entertain a person without leaving the house. It can also be used

to interact with other people online.

Mobile Phone – Are gadgets used by our respondents in which they use to play games. It

is also used to entertain oneself or waste time. Students commonly use these.

Multiplayer – Games that can be played with two or more players. It is a mode of

gaming where you can interact with people may it be online or by LAN. It can also refer to the

mode of gaming where you play purposely with other people to win a game or claim

achievements.

Online - The status given when a player or a person is active inside a game. It can also

refer to people actively playing a game live.

Addictive - Verb used to describe something when a person cannot stop what they are

doing voluntarily. It also a condition of a game when players are hooked up on the game.
 Gamer – A person who plays games such as video games, online games, and multiplayer

online battle arena (MOBA) games. It is a person that commonly play games.

Player – Refers to a person who play mobile multiplayer games. Players are the people

who are actively playing in a game. It can also refer to the people a person is playing with.
 CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter involves relevant theories, studies, and literatures related to the topic of the

research about the reasons why Junior Highschool students are playing addictive multiplayer

mobile games. This chapter also includes the conceptual framework, hypothesis and definition of

terms.

Relevant Theories

Flow Theory

Flow theory is where people are very cooperative in an activity and it seems that nothing

else matters. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1990), the experience itself is so enjoyable that

people will do it even at great costs just for the sake of doing it. According to Webster and Ahuja

(2004), Engagement is described as “a subset of flow”, “flow in a more passive state”, and “flow

without user control”. Engagement is comprised of system feedback, user control (Brown &

Cairns, 2004), attention, motivation (Chapman, 1997), and the system’s ability to challenge the

user according to their knowledge and skills (Skelly, et. al, 1994). According to O’Brien and G.

Toms (2007), engagement and flow are considered to be different. Flow requires continuous and

relatively high degree of volunteer effort wherein engagement should occur “midst of today’s

multitasking and dynamic computer environments”.

 Flow theory explains the cooperativeness of a person and the entertainment value of an

activity. This also explains how much a person is engaged to an activity. The theory states that

flow is the continuous and the high degree of voluntary effort and engagement occurs in today’s

multitasking and dynamic computer environments.

The flow theory will be used in the study in a way that it will help in determining the

factors for playing multiplayer mobile games. The concept of flow theory shows the cooperation

and the engagement of a person to the activity wherein the interest of playing will be taken into

consideration. The idea of the theory might show the factors that take place when playing mobile

multiplayer games.

Play Theory

Playing is an activity which requires the physical capabilities of a person. According to

Rieber (1996), playing promotes learning and creativity while providing psychological and social

needs, giving various aspects of collaboration and competition. The act of playing has been

connected with having an experience in reading the news (Stephenson 1967), browsing (Toms

1998; 2000), learning educational technologies (Rieber 1996; Said, 2004), playing video games

(Pausch, Gold, Skelly, & Thiel 1994) and making decisions on the web (Atkinson & Kydd

1997). According to Atkinson & Kydd N.d., playing has also been associated with the

satisfaction of system use and increased frequency. According to Woszczynski et al. (2002),

playing has a connection to increased motivation, challenge and affect. Thus, many of the

aspects of play are core to the engagement.

Play theory explains that when people play, they get to enjoy themselves and at the same

time, improve their mental health and social abilities. The theory states that playing might be
considered as reading the news, browsing, learning educational technologies, playing video

games, and making decisions on the web.

The theory will be used in the study to determine the factors for playing multiplayer

games are to attain the benefits of improving the mental and social capabilities as a student or to

satisfy the never-ending thirst for entertainment.

Theory of Behaviorism

Behaviors have the possibility to be measured, trained, and changed (Watson, 1913).

Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory related to learning based on the

idea that all behaviors are gained through conditioning. Conditioning happens through

interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that environmental stimuli shape

behaviors. The researchers can connect this phenomenon with the respondents’ background such

as where they are from. The response that comes from this is important as the researchers are

finding out the factors why people play mobile multiplayer games.

The theory is connected with the study as behaviorism can affect and may also be the

factor that takes part to what kind of multiplayer games are the respondents playing. The theory

is related with the study through means by determining the behavior of a person, the kind of

multiplayer mobile games can be determined.

RELATED STUDIES

International Studies

Stress and Mood. According to Davidson (1998), Fox (1991), and Monastra (2003), it

was hypothesized that playing casual video games would turn out to have a decreased left frontal
alpha power, increase in right frontal alpha power, and overall alpha symmetry when compared

to controls. Increases in alpha power in the left hemisphere is connected to negative mood,

depression and avoidance/withdrawal behaviors while decrease in the left alpha power would

improve mood and decrease avoidance/withdrawal behaviors. Meanwhile, decrease in right

hemisphere alpha power is related to negative mood while increase in right alpha power

improves mood and increase approach/engage behaviors. The ratio between left and right alpha

has also been used to measure emotional stability and/or mental relaxation. This may explain that

students are playing multiplayer mobile games in order to cope up with the stress that

accumulates during school or to enjoy their time after school.

Factors to Video Game Experience. According to Hooda (2018),

Engagement/immersion, social connectivity/recognition, Player’s In-game control, challenges

and difficulties and Game response/interactivity are the factors from a developer’s perspective

that takes effects for video game experience. This will help the study through determining the

categories as to why students may find a game enjoyable or addicting. The researchers will focus

on one part of the category – social connectivity/recognition – as the main topic of the research

are mobile multiplayer games.

Gameplay as Emotional Experiences. According to Järvinen (2007), emotionally,

games are made up of events, agents, and objects in a metaphoric world. He argued that for the

nature of goals, and striving towards them in a larger than life contexts, as privileged forms of

rules which are fundamental to the motivation and experience to the players. This explains that

games are made out of events that the players experience firsthand. The goals in games that

players strive to commit are fundamental to the mood and experience of the players. This will be
used in the study as basis if students play mobile multiplayer games in order to experience

situations that they would never encounter in real life.

Related Literature

Motivation. Denis and Jouvelot (2005) said that “Intrinsic motivation pushes us to act

freely, on our own, for the sake of it; extrinsic motivation pulls us to act due to factors that are

external to the activity itself, like reward or threat; amotivation denotes the absence of

motivation.” It explains that motivation to play a game is a significant characteristic of an

educational video game and that effective game design considers both intrinsic and extrinsic

rewards for play.

Objective, Goals and Rules. According to Swartout and van Lent (2003), finding goals

of different levels of a game help motivate learners to continue playing. “Game designers often

seek to keep players engaged by creating three levels of goals: short-term (collect the magic

keys), lasting, perhaps, seconds; medium-term (open the enchanted safe), lasting minutes; and

finally, long-term (save the world), lasting the length of the game” and that the “interplay of

these levels, with the support of the environment, is crafted to draw players into the storyline of

the game”. The statement explains that players are motivated to continue playing due to

satisfactory objectives, goals, and rules. This might explain why learners are continuously

playing a game for long periods of time.

Interactivity and Multisensory Cues. Swartout and van Lent (2003) deemed that the

best games are “highly interactive, deliberately generating tension between the degree of control

the story imposes and the player’s freedom of interaction”, reasoning that in games with
complete freedom of interaction, the playing experience can be boring and unchallenging. On the

other hand, when the plotline imposes too much control, the player becomes a passive observer

rather than an active participant. Providing a balance to these extremes, effective game design

gives players, “the perception they have free will, even though at any time their options are

actually quite limited”. The statement explains that the challenges that players have while

observing a set plotline is what keeps the players interested and hooked on the game.

Conceptual Framework

INPUT OUTPUT

Factors of
Articles, journals,
Junior Highschool Students
studies, theories, and
for Playing Addictive
demographic profile
-Through an Interview Mobile Multiplayer

(Structured) games

PROCESS

Figure 1. Paradigm of the study

The researchers will use articles, studies, theories, and the demographic profile of the

respondents as the input or the source of the research that will help the researchers complete their
study. They will also use a structured interview to know the opinions and reasons of their

respondents that can be the factors for playing addictive mobile multiplayer games. Through the

help of the grade 8 students that will be the respondents of the study, the researchers will

discover the factors for playing addictive mobile multiplayer games.

Definition of Terms

Alpha Power – Also known as “Alpha waves” or “Berger’s waves”, are neural

oscillations in the frequency range of 8 – 12 Hz arising from the synchronous and

coherent electrical activity of thalamic pacemaker cells in humans.

Behaviorism – Also known as “behavioral psychology”, is a theory of learning

based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning; Conditioning

occurs through interaction with the environment.

Behaviorists – Group of people who believe that the response to environmental

stimuli shapes the action of a person; A person who advocated or practices behaviorism.

Extrinsic – A type of motivation that occurs when a person does something for

external rewards or to avoid negative consequences.

Flow – A phenomena in which a group of people volunteer to do something for

the sake of doing it.

Intrinsic – A type of motivation that occurs when a person does something for

love or interest.
 CHAPTER III

METHOD OF RESEARCH
 CHAPTER IV

RESULT, ANALYSIS, AND FINDINGS

The chapter presents the data gathered from the respondents. The main source of the data

is the interview. An interpretation will be made using related information from other studies and

perspectives.

Demographics of the Interviewees

Out of the 78 respondents, 35 were female and 43 were male. Male students are much

more willing to answer what types of games they play as they are the ones who frequently play

Multiplayer Mobile Games.

Sample
Informants 13 Y.O. 14 Y.O. 15 Y.O. 16 Y.O.
Population
Male 43 19 21 3 0
Female 35 18 15 1 1
Total 78 37 36 4 1
Table 2. Category of Informants

Table 2 provides the data on the category of the respondents. At the given age range,

students have been exhibiting knowledge about Mobile Multiplayer Games and the younger they

are, they are more likely to be exposed to Mobile Multiplayer Games.

The researchers discovered that with 78 respondents, the data gathered is saturated. This

means that the researchers have seen a similar pattern in the response of the interviewees. Further
collection of the data won’t be necessary as it won’t do much for discovering a new issue. As

stated by Ritchie and Lewis (2003), it is ideal to simply to gather data until theoretical saturation

is reached.

Research Findings

T h i s p a r t o f t

on

the

factors why students play Addictive Mobile Multiplayer Games and what are the most played

Mobile Multiplayer games. The data were extracted and analysed according to the objective of

the study.

Figure 2. Ranking of the Most Played Mobile Multiplayer Games

The figure shows the ranking of the most played Mobile Multiplayer Games among the

Grade 8 students of CCI. Due to popularity, Mobile Legends has claimed the top by a large

margin compared to the other games. This explains why a lot of students play Mobile Legends

wherever they may be. While the dominating genre for Mobile Multiplayer Games is First-

Person shooter or FPS games. These are Call of Duty, PUBG, LDRS, and ROS. Swartout and
van Lent (2003) said, finding goals of different levels of a game help motivate learners to

continue playing. As First-Person shooters have different goals depending on the game, the

motivation to keep playing them is high.

Factors for Playing Mobile Multiplayer Games

Games, in general, are being played due to many factors. The gathered data from the

respondents are used to determine what are the factors that takes place when a person chooses to

play a Mobile Multiplayer Game.

“For Fun and for the Enjoyment.; Interaction with others”

Ever since games were first created, their main purpose is to cope up with boredom and

give enjoyment to the players. Mobile Multiplayer Games gets the players highly involved in the

game because they have other people with them playing the same game. As stated by Hooda

(2018), one of the factors from a developer’s perspective that takes effect to video game

experience is social connectivity/recognition. This explains why students are hooked into Mobile

Multiplayer Games because not only is it convenient, they can play with their friend whenever

and wherever they want as long as they have an internet connection.

“Acts as a Stress Reliever; To remove Stress; To be calm and chill”

As stress builds up overtime, people want to cool off doing something they love, and this

also involves students. As Davidson (1998), Fox (1991), and Monastra (2003) said, playing

video games have shows emotional stability/mental relaxation and improves the mood of a

person. When it comes to Mobile Multiplayer Games, the events from the metaphoric world of
video games are carried into the real world through their playmates and thus making the players

more interested and when someone is interested in something, they won’t notice their built-up

stress.

“Want/Like to play”

Students would come back to pick up their smartphones and play Mobile Multiplayer

Games. The researchers have concluded that motivation or interest in playing a game plays a

major part for playing.

In conclusion, the three major factors for people to play Mobile Multiplayer Games are

(1) Enjoyment/Interaction with other people, (2) Stress Reliever, and (3) Interest/motivation to

play a game. However, while these are the three major factors, there are much more factors that

takes place whenever someone plays Mobile Multiplayer Games. More than half of the sample

are playing Mobile Legends and many students prefer the genre FPS more than any other genre.
 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION