I just ran across this post by Nick Yee of the Daedalus Project about research he’s done on superstitions of MMO gamers. This is when groups of gamers have certain beliefs about how things work in a game even though they have no reason to believe (and even if the programmers have said) that these things don’t effect the game. I know I’ve run across a lot of these myself while playing online games and can even sympathize with some myself (though I don’t think I’ve ever really believed any of them.) Here’s one of my favorites.
My favorite rituals would probably be the various ‘spawn dances’ in EQ. People were very superstitious about what caused mobs (NPCs) to respawn (moreso in the early days, but it did continue), and would concoct rituals–spawn dances–to encourage spawns. They varied wildly – some people had special gear sets they used, others had sets and sequences of movements and animations (via animated emotes, spellcasting, terrain), ways to move or not move (must stay sitting, still, as much as possible; or must move continually/every X seconds), etc. [WoW, M, 23]
It’s a very interesting look at B.F. Skinner psychology and the psychology of gamers and people in general. It’s also a highly entertaining read so I’d recommend you check it out.
Superstitions of Gamers