Digital Library Publication Archives

Search results for: http://www.digra.org/dl/db/11310.17396.pdf

- 1506 articles or papers

 

The Words of Warcraft: relational text analysis of quests in an MMORPG

Landwehr Peter Diesner Jana Carley Kathleen M.
2009 DiGRA '09 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory

As the growth in popularity of massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds has correspondingly increased research interest in investigating culture in synthetic environments. One representation of culture in games is the narrative provided in MMORPGs’ quest sets. Quests -tasks given to players- provide a window into the traits of artificial cultures created for these environments, and researchers have used specific quests to advance arguments about game cultures. We expand on this work by trying to discern cultural traits expressed in the complete quest set for the MMORPG World of Warcraft, We subdivide this set into three corpora: two for the quests intended for players in one of the two in-game factions, one for those that can be completed by members of either faction. We then performed relational text analysis on these corpora, looking across them for shared textual relationships. We find that while all three corpora employ diverse terms, locations, and organizations, the only relationships present in any of the corpora at least 5% of the time are those emphasizing the relationships between players, enemies, and quest giving computer-controlled characters. Given the simplicity of these relations, we suggest that text is currently not a method used for sophisticated themes in game worlds, and designers should either rethink their use of it or rely on alternate methods if they wish to convey such themes.

 

‘No Light Sabres Allowed’: Role-playing in Star Wars Galaxies [Abstract]

Sveinsdottir Thordis
2009 DiGRA '09 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory

While some MMOGs are worlds in their own right, i.e. where the game world and background story is designed for the particular game, other games may be derived from familiar popular culture narratives and other media forms such as films and literature. The MMOG Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) is an example of this trend and is based on the Star Wars Universe which has featured in 6 blockbuster films, books, video games, and a variety of other mediums. This paper presents findings from an ethnographic research within the roleplaying community of Freetown, which is located on one of the servers of SWG. The paper aims to demonstrate how, in addition to recognised player-typology (e.g. power-gamers, role-players and socialisers) player identity and community is established and maintained through readings and interpretation of the Star Wars narrative.

 

Morphology of the tetromino-stacking game: The design evolution of Tetris [Abstract]

Jordan Will
2009 DiGRA '09 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory

This essay presents a focused, comprehensive design study of the tetrominostacking computer puzzle game known as Tetris, tracing the structural history and evolution of the game's subtle yet complex mechanics since its invention in 1985. Although the basic algorithm is quite simple and has remained essentially unchanged throughout its history, the enormous variety of implementations and the longevity of its success across many generations of computing platforms has made the tetromino game a diverse practice of evolutionary game design worthy of historical analysis. Instead of producing a full taxonomy or phylogenetic classification of the genre of computer puzzle games derived from or inspired by Tetris (see eg. Juul 2007), my analysis is intentionally restricted to implementations which recognizably reproduce the original basic algorithm. This approach is comparable to historical analyses of Chess, Go and Mancala which attempt to trace the evolution and distribution of a distinct, identifiable gameplaying practice through various successive iterations while maintaining focus on a canonical form.

 

Is Electronic Community an Addictive Substance?

Chee Florence Smith Richard
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

In this study, we examine how online games, like the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) EverQuest, are represented and controlled through media rhetoric. We look at international attempts to regulate their use through policy, and unearth some of the ways in which media reports have constructed public opinion of online games. We then contrast those reports with an ethnographic study of the EverQuest environment. The analysis of game experience and informant testimony shows that regulation and control of games is ultimately not a correct course of action in order to heal social dysfunction, of which excessive participation in electronic communities is only a symptom.

 

Supporting Communities in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games by Game Design


2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

Communities get formed almost automatically in multiplayer games, but in some games they seem to be stronger and more active than in others. In order to find out why it is so, We study in this paper what kind of game design makes game community formation and maintenance easier in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG). Three MMORPGs are used as examples: Ultima Online, Anarchy Online and Toontown Online. The communication methods, game mechanics and environments of the three MMORPGs are compared and their effects on the game community are analyzed. Communities do not exist without communication. Game mechanics affects how important it is for the players to co-operate and compete with others and how useful it is to form different kinds of sub-communities, such as guilds. If the game supports player created content it typically strengthens the game community. The game environment provides settings for player-to-player interaction and can encourage collaboration and inspire the players to create their own stories around the sub-communities.

 

Breaking the flow: Intervention in computer game play through physical and Intervention in computer game play through physical and on-screen interaction

Eggen Berry Feijs Loe de Graaf Mark Peters Peter
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

This article investigates issues of controlling the amount of time during computer game play and potential solutions to help prevent excessive gaming. The study incorporates the realization of three different variants. Two screen based solutions and one based on a physical agent, outside the computer screen, provide notification and additionally even “intervention” to the user. The three realizations have been put to the test and the results, both quantitative and qualitative are presented. The physical agent-based solution was most attractive.

 

Parental mediation of children’s video game playing: A similar construct as television mediation

Nikken Peter
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

By means of an Internet-survey among 536 parent-child dyads, we researched which mediation strategies parents use for their children’s (8-18 years) video gaming. As in previous research on television mediation, principle factor analyses show that the same types of strategies are used: ‘restrictive mediation’, ‘evaluative mediation’, and ‘consicous co-playing’. Mediation is most strongly predicted by the age of the child and by parents’ gaming. Furthermore, parents are more restrictive and evaluative when they fear negative media-effects on behaviors and attitudes. They somewhat more often play together with the child when they suppose positive social-emotional effects of gaming.

 

Project Massive 1.0: Organizational Commitment, Sociability and Extraversion in Massively Multiplayer Online Games

Seay A. Fleming Jerome William J. Lee Kevin Sang Kraut Robert
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMPs) continue to be a popular and lucrative sector of the gaming market. Project Massive was created to survey MMP players about their play experience, social experience, and communication tool usage both inside and outside of their gaming environments. 1852 MMP players have completed the online Project Massive survey, reporting on their play patterns, commitment to their player organizations, and personality traits like sociability and extraversion. The primary focus of Project Massive has been on the player groups that form in MMPs. Most MMPs support and attempt to foster group formation of some kind or another among their players. These formal player groups, often called guilds, can be as persistent as the digital worlds in which they exist. We have found that players who are highly committed to their guilds spend significantly more time in-game than do moderately committed guild members and solo (non-guild) players. Enhancing a player's commitment to their guild can translate into extending their commitment to the game world. In turn, this may result in longer subscriptions and increased revenue for the game's creators. This research is important because there has not been substantial research into the traits and practices of the more successful player organizations that are able to sustain committed bodies of members. Project Massive has investigated how these groups develop, organize, communicate, and operate across a number of independent game worlds. Here we report on our findings and describe our future longitudinal work as we track players and their organizations across the evolving landscape of the MMP product space.

 

“You Shoot Like A Girl!”: The Female Protagonist in Action-Adventure Video Games

Grimes Sara M.
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

This paper was inspired by the popularity of female video game protagonists despite girls’ and women’s continued hesitance to participate in digital gaming activities. The pilot study examines how the imagery and narrative structure of popular, contemporary video games construct a paradigm of the ideal female heroine. An in-depth content analysis of three best-selling action-adventure video games was conducted. Key findings indicate the recurrence of a paradoxical interplay between beauty ideals and characterization, wherein the female protagonist must reconcile traditional ideals about beauty and body type with the decidedly untraditional gender roles and actions she engages in.

 

Developing a hybrid of MMORPG and LARP using usability methods: the case of Takkar

Christensen Laust Juul Jørgensen Thomas Tae-Yang Jørgensen Anker Helms
2003 DiGRA '03 - Proceedings of the 2003 DiGRA International Conference: Level Up

This paper examines the idea of combining Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) and MMORPG into a hybrid game named Takkar. We developed three versions of Takkar in an iterative fashion. In each iteration we constructed and tested game play and features using principles and ideas drawn from game development theory and usability/Participatory Design such as user interviews and expert reviews. Between iterations we made use of LARP-theory and theories of virtual environments to further develop the concept. Considerations of embodiment, concurrency in actions and rich communication emerge as central factors for the successful transfer between the two parts of the hybrid. Usability methods proved effective during game development giving a better and faster understanding of the needs of the players.