This study introduces the ludic ethics approach for understanding the moral deliberations of players of online multiplayer games. Informed by a constructivist paradigm that places players’ everyday ethical negotiations at the forefront of the analysis, this study utilises a novel set of game-related moral vignettes in a series of 20 in-depth interviews with players. Reflexive thematic analysis of these interviews produced four key themes by which participants considered the ethics of in-game actions: (1) game boundaries, (2) consequences for play, (3) player sensibilities, and (4) virtuality. These results support the conceptualisation of games as complex ethical sites in which players negotiate in-game ethics by referring extensively – although not exclusively – to a framework of ‘ludomorality’ that draws from the interpreted meanings associated with the ludic digital context.

这项研究介绍了荒谬的伦理学方法，用于理解在线多人游戏玩家的道德考量。建构主义范式将玩家的日常道德谈判置于分析的最前沿，该研究在一系列与玩家进行的20次深度访谈中，利用了一系列与游戏相关的道德渐近论。这些访谈的反思性主题分析产生了四个关键主题，参与者根据这些主题考虑了游戏中行为的伦理：（1）游戏边界，（2）游戏后果，（3）玩家敏感性和（4）虚拟性。