Determinantes for colloboration in networked multi user games

Game users can behave co-operatively or competitively with other players. An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that a shared social space (SSS) with continuous and "rich" communication possibilities leads to an increase in forming coalitions. The DOOM game – as a simulation of a competitive world – provides a test environment, where a group of four players has to fight against each other. Two samples of 12 players each were tested playing DOOM: one with the SSS conditions (continuous spoken communication mode, small physical distance among players, no headphones) and another under the condition of separation during the game (discontinuous communication mode: spoken communication only during a break, large physical distance and headphones during the game). During a break all players had have the chance to discuss the outcome of the first trial (group process feedback). The SSS conditions led to a significantly increased amount of coalitions between players. Group process feedback also had a positive effect on the extent of coalitions among players. Finally, design recommendations for networked multi-user games are provided

Emotional effects of shooting activities : 'real' versus 'virtual' actions and targets

The results of an empirical study are presented to investigate the relationship between different action types (real versus virtual shooting) and different target types (real versus virtual targets) on the actual emotional state (wellbeing)of the player. The results show significantly that virtual shooting on real targets in a group (Laser Tag game) enhances the well-being, and on the other side that virtual shooting on virtual targets (Wolfenstein game) diminishes the well-being of an individual player

Emotional effects of shooting activities : 'real' versus 'virtual' actions and targets

The results of an empirical study are presented to investigate the relationship between different action types (real versus virtual shooting) and different target types (real versus virtual targets) on the actual emotional state (wellbeing)of the player. The results show significantly that virtual shooting on real targets in a group (Laser Tag game) enhances the well-being, and on the other side that virtual shooting on virtual targets (Wolfenstein game) diminishes the well-being of an individual player

La dimensión social de los videojuegos 'online': de las comunidades de jugadores a los 'e-sports'

The experienced advances by ICT have provoked changes in the way to understand and to consume media. Video games are not alien to these changes. To the exponential growth of their use and relevance, new social structures are joined, marked by the network. The active communities of players connected through the Internet, change the conception of the user of video games lonely and the way to consume this product of electronic entertainment. An example of such evolution of the consumption of video games is those which support electronic sports (e-sports). Such a phenomenon suggests a transition of the games understood as an entertainment to its conception as a social event, spectacle and, ultimately, professional competition. This work offers an approach to the changes that the consumption habits of video games have experienced since the popularization of Internet and the web 2.0, focusing on the influence that they have on player communities. The analysis of existing thematic literature allows you to set the steps of this evolution and to advance future lines of research. Finally, it is confirmed the existing relationship between the social dimension of video games and the participatory culture, focusing on e-sports future.Los avances experimentados por las TIC han provocado cambios en la forma de entender y consumir los medios de comunicación. Los videojuegos no han sido ajenos a estos cambios. Al crecimiento exponencial de su uso y de su relevancia, se unen nuevas estructuras sociales marcadas por la red. Las comunidades activas de jugadores conectados a través de Internet modifican la concepción del usuario de videojuegos en solitario y la forma de consumir este producto de ocio electrónico. Un ejemplo de esa evolución del consumo de videojuegos es el que suponen los deportes electrónicos o e-sports. Dicho fenómeno propone una transición de los videojuegos entendidos como entretenimiento a su concepción como evento social, espectáculo y, en última instancia, competición profesional. Este trabajo ofrece un acercamiento a los cambios que han experimentado los hábitos de consumo de videojuegos desde la popularización de Internet y la web 2.0, centrándose en la influencia que estos ejercen sobre las comunidades de jugadores. El análisis de la bibliografía temática existente permite establecer las pautas de esa evolución y avanzar futuras líneas de investigación. Finalmente, se constata la relación existente entre la dimensión social de los videojuegos y la cultura participativa, fijando la mirada de futuras líneas de investigación construidas alrededor del fenómeno de los deportes electrónicos.

Supporting mega-collaboration: a framework for the dynamic development of team culture

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)This research project, inspired by the nationwide crisis following Hurricane Katrina, identifies mega-collaboration as an emergent social phenomenon enabled by the Internet. The substantial, original contribution of this research is a mega-collaboration tool (MCT) to enable grassroots individuals and organizations to rapidly form teams, negotiate problem definitions, allocate resources, organize interventions, and mediate their efforts with those of official response organizations. The project demonstrated that a tool that facilitates the exploration of a team’s problem space can support online collaboration. It also determined the basic building blocks required to construct a mega-collaboration tool. In addition, the project demonstrated that it is possible to dynamically build the team data structure through use of the proposed interface, a finding that validates the database design at the core of the MCT. This project has made a unique contribution by proposing a new operational vision of how disaster response, and potentially many other problems, should be managed in the future

Determinantes for collaboration in networked multi-user games

Game users can behave co-operatively or competitively. An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that a shared social space (SSS) with continuous and 'rich' communication possibilities leads to an increase in forming coalitions. The DOOM game provides a test environment. Two samples of 12 players each were tested playing DOOM: one with the SSS conditions (continuous communication mode, small physical distance among players) and another under the condition of separation during the game (discontinuous communication mode, large physical distance). During a break all players had have the chance to discuss the outcome of the first trial (group process feedback). The SSS conditions led to a significantly increased amount of coalitions between players. Group process feedback also had a positive effect on the extent of coalitions among players. Finally, design recommendations for networked multi-user games are provided

Determinantes for collaboration in networked multi-user games

\u3cp\u3eGame users can behave co-operatively or competitively. An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that a shared social space (SSS) with continuous and 'rich' communication possibilities leads to an increase in forming coalitions. The DOOM game provides a test environment. Two samples of 12 players each were tested playing DOOM: one with the SSS conditions (continuous communication mode, small physical distance among players) and another under the condition of separation during the game (discontinuous communication mode, large physical distance). During a break all players had have the chance to discuss the outcome of the first trial (group process feedback). The SSS conditions led to a significantly increased amount of coalitions between players. Group process feedback also had a positive effect on the extent of coalitions among players. Finally, design recommendations for networked multi-user games are provided.\u3c/p\u3

Collaborative Game-based Learning - Automatized Adaptation Mechanics for Game-based Collaborative Learning using Game Mastering Concepts

Learning and playing represent two core aspects of the information and communication society nowadays. Both issues are subsumed in Digital Education Games, one major field of Serious Games. Serious Games combine concepts of gaming with a broad range of application fields: among others, educational sectors and training or health and sports, but also marketing, advertisement, political education, and other societally relevant areas such as climate, energy, and safety. This work focuses on collaborative learning games, which are Digital Educational Games that combine concepts from collaborative learning with game concepts and technology. Although Digital Educational Games represent a promising addition to existing learning and teaching methods, there are different challenges opposing their application. The tension between a game that is supposed to be fun and the facilitation of serious content constitutes a central challenge to game design. The often high technical complexity and especially the instructors' lack of control over the game represent further challenges. Beyond that, the distinct heterogeneity of learners who often have different play styles, states of knowledge, learning speed, and soft skills, such as teamwork or communication skills, forms a pivotal problem. Apart from that, the vital role of the instructor needs to be taken into account. Within the scope of this dissertation, the problems mentioned above are analyzed, concepts to solve them introduced, and methods developed to address them. The first major contribution contains the conceptualization of a framework for adaptation of collaborative multiplayer games as well as for the control of those games at run-time through an instructor using the Game Master principle. The core concept hereby addresses the design of a model to represent heterogeneous groups and to represent collaborative Serious Games. Based on that, a novel concept for adaptation of collaborative multiplayer games is developed, implemented, and evaluated. Automatic recognition and interpretation of game situations, as well as determination of the most well suited adaptation based on the recognized situations, is a major challenge here. Further, a concept is developed to integrate an instructor in a meaningful way into the course of the game, giving him/her the necessary resources to recognize problems and to intervene and adapt the game at run-time. Therefore, it will be taken into account that the elaborated concepts are applicable in a generic way independent of the underlying game. The second major contribution of this work is the conceptualization and design of a simulation of players and learners in a collaborative multiplayer game that behave realistically based on a player, learner, and interaction model. This is supposed to enable an evaluation of the adaptation and Game Mastering concepts using freely configurable player and learner types. The concepts introduced and developed within this thesis have been thoroughly evaluated using a twofold approach. As a test environment, a collaborative multiplayer Serious Game was designed and implemented. Within that simulation environment, the developed Game Mastering and adaptation concepts were assessed and tested with large sets of virtual learners. Additionally, the concepts were evaluated with real users. Therefore, two different evaluation studies with a total of 60 participants were conducted. The results of the conducted evaluations help to broaden the areas of application of Serious Games as well as to improve their applicability, hence raising acceptance among instructors. The models, architectures, and software solutions developed within this thesis thus build a foundation for further research of multiplayer Serious Games