"I Used to Be an Adventurer Like You": Fear of Missing Out in The Elder Scrolls Online

Abstract

We analyze players' reception of collectible mechanics as part of gameplay and their associated fear or missing out in a massively multiplayer role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls Online, based on online discussion of the game on its official forums, and focusing on a notable period of time where a special anniversary jubilee event was held, and unique rare collectibles were made temporarily available. Using machine learning methods of topic modeling we reveal the prominent and rising themes during the collection period and analyze their implications for gamified collectibles and their reception.