Free to be me: a survey study on customization with World of Warcraft and City Of Heroes/Villains players

While large amounts of resources are put into making games engaging, little is known about the effect of specific game features such as customization. This study is part of a larger research which focuses on the effect of customization on user motivation, enjoyment and engagement. The goals of this exploratory survey study were to investigate the importance of customization on players’ enjoyment and motivation to play, and the effectiveness of different forms of customizations on enjoyment and motivation. We also aimed to capture players’ reasons for specific game customizations, and investigate differences in gender, player experience in these areas