Quantitative Analysis of Customizable Player Avatars in an MMORPGEnvironment

Sammanfattning: Sexualization of video game characters has been noted to have real world consequences. While there are studies surrounding characters designed by video game developers, the same cannot be said for players' choice of attire. This study aims to fill the gap left by qualitative studies in the field of player character customization with quantitative data in an Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game environment. To test our hypothesis of players willingly dressing up their characters in sexualized clothing, we conducted a study of N = 371 characters in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Square Enix Business Division 5, 2013). As we hypothesized, the results showed that character traits variables would have an influence over players’ customization choices and came to a conclusion that there are weak, but positive, connections between player avatar characteristics and how players decide to dress and customize them.