EMOTIONAL REGULATION THROUGH THE LENS OF MMORPG RAIDING: HOW THE PLAYER’S EXPERIENCES MATTER

Introduction
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are among the most socially and structurally complex digital environments. While much research emphasizes their negative psychological effects, little attention has been paid to their potential as spaces for cultivating Emotional Regulation (ER) skills.

Goals and Methods
This study explores how high-end raiding an activity characterized by challenging, cooperative, progression-based encounters involving 8–40 players fosters ER strategies transferable beyond gameplay. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), nine seasoned raiders (six male, three female) from Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft Retail, and World of Warcraft Classic were interviewed via a 30-minute voice call. Participants were recruited through in-game chat and Discord. The Emotional Regulation Questionnaire was integrated within the analysis. Following IPA procedures, steps included recruitment, consent, ERQ administration, interview transcription, theme extraction, clustering, and triangulation. Trustworthiness was ensured through member checks and consultation with three academic experts overseeing coding. Reflexively, as a high-end raider, my insider perspective sensitized the analysis to this community’s emotional nuances.

Results and Discussion
Five master themes emerged: (I) Diving into High-End Raiding : Pursuing mastery and team integration; (II) Quantifiable Competitiveness: Performance metrics and their role in player motivation ; (III) Managing Tension When Raiding: Navigating mistakes, maintaining morale, and regulating emotional responses toward teammates; (IV) A Virtual Microsociety: The role of group size and performance anxiety and accountability; (V) All for One and One for All: Trust, collaboration, and enduring bonds. Across themes, players employed adaptive ER strategies, especially attention deployment and cognitive change, reinforced by cooperative, high-pressure contexts.

Conclusion and Limitations
Findings suggest that MMORPG raiding cultivates transferable emotional regulation skills through shared challenge and team-based reflection. These insights point to practical applications in educational teamwork training and clinical interventions seeking to enhance adaptive coping and emotional resilience in collaborative settings.