Methods Beyond the Screen: Conducting remote player studies for game design research

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Muscat Alexander Duckworth Jonathan Wilson Douglas
2019 DiGRA '19 - Proceedings of the 2019 DiGRA International Conference: Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo-Mix

In this paper we present a qualitative research methodology for conducting scholarly remote player studies, derived from a comparison of player-testing protocols. Within the game design research field, approaches to studying designs are frequently adapted from standardized player-testing techniques. These often focus on measuring player experience so a design may be evaluated. While such methods provide a useful basis for conducting iterative design studies, these present limitations for researchers seeking to interrogate design approaches outside of conventional assessment models or gameplay paradigms. We discuss these issues through a methodological lens, in the study of WORLD4, a game designed for experiences of ambiguity. Through a two-stage player experience case study we reveal methodological considerations, insights, and highlight disciplinary questions. In doing so we present a contextually aware, time and resource conscious method for conducting remote player studies, useful for game design researchers working outside of labs or investigating alternate design spaces.

 

Abusing the Player, and Making Them Like it Too! [Abstract]

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Wilson Douglas Sicart Miguel
2009 DiGRA '09 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory

In this paper we suggest an alternative perspective: game design as abusing the player. Inspired by a number of independent and experimental games, we propose the notion of abusing the player as a creative, aesthetic position taken by the game designer. Abusing players means forcing them into adopting the arbitrary or intentionally antagonistic elements of a game. The metaphor of abuse implies that players are pushed outside of their comfort zone and into the realm of an abusive power relation in which they are punished by the game and its designer.