Online competitive action games have flourished as a space for entertainment and social connections, yet they face challenges from a small percentage of players engaging in disruptive behaviors. This study delves into the under-explored realm of understanding the effects of moderation on player behavior within online gaming on an example of a popular title - Call of Duty(R): Modern Warfare(R)II. We employ a quasi-experimental design and causal inference techniques to examine the impact of moderation in a real-world industry-scale moderation system. We further delve into novel aspects around the impact of delayed moderation, as well as the severity of applied punishment. We examine these effects on a set of four disruptive behaviors including cheating, offensive user name, chat, and voice. Our findings uncover the dual impact moderation has on reducing disruptive behavior and discouraging disruptive players from participating. We further uncover differences in the effectiveness of quick and delayed moderation and the varying severity of punishment. Our examination of real-world gaming interactions sets a precedent in understanding the effectiveness of moderation and its impact on player behavior. Our insights offer actionable suggestions for the most promising avenues for improving real-world moderation practices, as well as the heterogeneous impact moderation has on indifferent players.

翻译：在线竞技动作游戏已成为娱乐与社交的重要平台，但少数玩家的破坏性行为对其构成了持续挑战。本研究以热门游戏《使命召唤®：现代战争®II》为例，深入探讨了游戏审核机制对玩家行为的影响——这一领域目前尚未得到充分探索。我们采用准实验设计与因果推断方法，在真实产业级审核系统中检验了审核干预的实际效果。研究进一步探索了延迟审核的影响以及惩罚严厉程度等新颖维度，并针对作弊、冒犯性用户名、文字聊天与语音聊天四类破坏性行为进行了分析。研究发现审核机制具有双重效应：既能减少破坏性行为，又能降低破坏性玩家的参与度。研究还揭示了即时审核与延迟审核在效果上的差异，以及不同惩罚严厉程度产生的分化影响。通过对真实游戏交互数据的实证分析，本研究为理解审核机制的有效性及其对玩家行为的影响开创了先例。研究结论为优化现实审核实践提供了具有可操作性的改进方向，同时揭示了审核机制对不同类型玩家产生的异质性影响。