Abstract
We studied the dynamic network of relationships among avatars in the massively multiplayer online game Planetside 2. In the spring of 2014, two separate servers of this game were merged, and as a result, two previously distinct networks were combined into one. We observed the evolution of this network in the 7 month period following the merger. We found that some structures of original networks persist in the combined network for a long time after the merger. As the original avatars are gradually removed, these structures slowly dissolve, but they remain observable for a surprisingly long time. We present a number of visualizations illustrating the post-merger dynamics and discuss time evolution of selected quantities characterizing the topology of the network.
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Notes
- 1.
In game communities, outfits are formed by players, for organization and socialization. This is the same as clans or guilds in other MMOGs.
- 2.
Except for the highest degree avatar, whose size is limited to twice that of the second largest.
- 3.
Ninety-six is the number of avatars in two 48-player platoons, and close to the minimum degree of an avatar in the heavy tail of the degree distribution [10].
- 4.
If it only has one neighbor randomly pick another node and add an edge and proceed as normal.
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Clements, J., Farzad, B., Fukś, H. (2018). Dynamics of Large-Scale Networks Following a Merger. In: Özyer, T., Alhajj, R. (eds) Machine Learning Techniques for Online Social Networks. Lecture Notes in Social Networks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89932-9_9
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