A methodology for the analysis of interactive narrative environments : a four-factor framework

Stories have been engaging humans for thousands of years, but in interactive narrative environments, the narrative is perceived to diminish as the source of engagement. One reason for this apparent diminution, is that in interactive environments there has been difficulty in understanding the relationship between design of the unfolding story, and the ability of a user within the story to alter the course of events. As yet there are no standard or accepted evaluative methods to understand interaction at a granular level, and to understand how stories and narratives flow across the expanse of technologies and mixed realities that characterise the way people communicate, share knowledge and are entertained. This thesis presents a novel methodology called the Four-Factor Framework, that takes as its premise that there are four fundamental elements in interactive stories and narratives that can be observed.Doctor of Philosoph

Spielerisch romantisch

Seit Jahren schon existiert eine hitzige Debatte zwischen Vertretern der Narratologie und der Ludologie. Im Kern des Konflikts dieser Fachbereiche steht die Frage wie ein Spiel zu behandeln ist, als Text welcher zu rezipieren ist oder als durch Regeln und Interaktion geprägtes Erlebnis. Ebenfalls in diesen Konflikt eingebettet sind die unterschiedlichen Darstellungen sozialer Beziehungen (Freundschaften, Liebesbeziehung und sexuelle Beziehungen) in Videospielen. Die Frage, die sich bei diesen stellt, ist, sollen sie im Dienste der Handlung sein oder sollen sie sich der Interaktivität verschreiben? Um diesen Konflikt, und die Art wie soziale Beziehungen in Videospielen durch ihn beeinflusst werden, geht es in dieser Arbeit. Es wird gezeigt, dass sowohl hinsichtlich der Narrativität als auch der Interaktivität immer gewisse Einschränkungen gegeben sein müssen. Wie sich diese Einschränkungen gestalten können, wird anhand ausgewählter Beispiele („Mass Effect 2“, „Final Fantasy X“, „Heavy Rain“ und „Ico“) und auch unter Berücksichtigung filmanalytischer Methoden untersucht. Das Ergebnis bestätigt den Einfluss von Film und Fernsehen sowie des technologischen Fortschritts auf die Gestaltung von Geschichten und sozialen Beziehungen in Videospielen. Es zeigt weiters, dass entweder eine strikte Trennung von Narrativität und Interaktivität in Videospielen besteht, oder ein Verhältnis, wobei, wenn der Fokus auf einem der beiden Aspekte liegt, der andere entsprechend darunter leidet – ein Umstand, der sich auch in der Einbindung von Beziehungen in Videospiele zeigt.There is an ongoing debate between representatives of narratology and ludology. At the core of the conflict of these departments is the question of how to treat a game: as text or as something defined by rules and interaction. Also embedded in this conflict are the different representations of social relationships (friendships, romances and sexual relationships) into video games. The question that arises is, should relationships serve the narrative or should they further the interactivity? This conflict, and the way social relationships in video games are influenced by it, is the topic of this paper. It is shown that both in terms of narrativity and interactivity certain restrictions must be met. What these restrictions might look like is discussed using select examples ("Mass Effect 2," "Final Fantasy X," "Heavy Rain" and "Ico"), also taking certain film analytical methods into account. The result confirms the influence of film and television as well as technological progress on the design of stories and social relationships in video games. It also shows that there is either a strict separation of narrativity and interactivity in video games, or a relationship, wherein, if the focus is with one of the two aspects, the other suffers accordingly - a fact which is also reflected by the way relationships are integrated into video games

The Modern Alice: Adaptations in Novel, Film and Video Game from 2000 - 2012

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There have and continue to inspire many adaptations since their publication. The purpose of this thesis is to compare the treatment of the narrative, characters and dialogue of Alice in different forms of media. I will be looking at Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Nick Willing’s Alice, American McGee’s Alice, and Madness Returns

A experiência do utilizador em campanhas digitais multiplataformas: uma proposta metodológica

A convergência dos meios e consequente surgimento de um consumidor mais participativo e ativo, gerou a necessidade de analisar a experiência do mesmo em novas estratégias de comunicação implementadas pelas marcas, resultantes deste contexto. As respostas a esta necessidade são reduzidas. Os métodos de análise já existentes baseiam-se principalmente na descrição das estratégias de comunicação, transmedia ou crossmedia, implementadas, pelo que não são capazes de avaliar e discutir a experiência do utilizador nessas mesmas estratégias. Neste contexto, foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico para desenvolver uma abordagem metodológica que permitisse analisar a experiência do utilizador em campanhas publicitárias multiplataformas. Assim, a metodologia desenhada divide-se numa análise descritiva das campanhas em causa e na realização de testes à experiência do utilizador, guiados por cinco diferentes dimensões. De modo a testar a eficiência da abordagem metodológica proposta, foi realizado um estudo de caso, utilizando como objeto de estudo as campanhas de Natal de 2021 da Vodafone e da MEO. Estas seguiram uma estratégia de transmedia, no entanto, revelam um problema de consistência, de mapeamento do seu universo e de elementos de call-to-action. Os resultados do estudo realizado demonstram ainda a eficiência na metodologia proposta e revelaram espaço para alargar o campo de análise para além do digital.The media convergence and consequent emergence of a more participative and active consumer, generated the need to analyse an experience in new communication strategies implemented by brands, resulting from this context. There are not a lot of answers to this need. The existing analysis methods are mainly based on the description of the communication strategies, transmedia or crossmedia, implemented, so they are unable to evaluate the user experience in those same strategies. In this context, a bibliographic survey to develop a methodological approach to analyse user experience in multi-platform advertising campaigns. The designed methodology is divided into a descriptive analysis of the campaigns in question and the performance of usability tests, guided by five different dimensions. In order to test the efficiency of the proposed methodological approach, a case study was conducted using as an object of study the campaigns of Vodafone and MEO Christmas 2021. These followed a trans-media strategy, however, they revealed a problem of consistency, mapping of its universe and call-to-action elements. The results of the study also demonstrate the efficiency in the proposed methodology and revealed space to expand the field of analysis beyond the digital

Playing the Story: The Emergence of Narrative through the Interaction between Players, Game Mechanics, and Participatory Fan Communities.

If all games are understood as ultimately driven by the operation of their mechanics, then that operation cannot fully exist without the interaction of a player, and by extension the participatory fan community in which that player is situated. This interaction, in turn, can often produce a form of constructed reality known as emergent narrative, leading to this dissertation’s primary question: Do game mechanics inherently produce emergent narrative? Throughout this dissertation, I will argue that game mechanics produce an emergent narrative as an inherent consequence of their interaction with players and the surrounding community. In answering how emergent narrative comes out of the interaction between players, games, and ultimately the surrounding community, I will examine five key issues: player agency, the actual production of emergent narrative, narrative in non-narrative games, the role of participatory fan communities, and the potential use of emergent narrative in applied game design. Each of these areas in turn will be investigated through the lens of a case study on a relevant game. The main underlying idea that this dissertation adds to ongoing research is that the production of emergent narrative is an unavoidable consequence of playing a game. While the degree and direction of emergent narrative may vary considerably depending on the interaction itself, the very act of interacting between the player, their surrounding participatory community, and the game itself always produces some form of emergent narrative. This distinction makes any play experience potentially meaningful, and helps move the academic discussion of narrative in games beyond outdated ludology-versus-narratology models towards a more fluid and accurate theory of emergent narrative in games. This should allow for better games scholarship, better game design, and better application of game elements in applied contexts

Power and trust : analysis of the effects of deglobalisation and financial technology in the United Kingdom, United States and European Union

This thesis researched the effects deglobalisation and financial technology are having on the United Kingdom, United States and European Union since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Particular attention is paid to financial services, as it is the industry most closely related to the GFC and is central to the concept of financial technology.It begins by examining the development and dynamics of the globalised economy, defines what deglobalisation is, reviews financial crises predating the GFC and introduces the concept and history of financial technology. Analysis then focuses on the current financial regulatory landscape of the EU, UK and US. It then reviews technological developments that have occurred in the aftermath of the GFC to determine which have the greatest likelihood for adoption by the financial services industry within the next five to ten years and how they are most likely to be implemented. Particular attention is given to blockchain and smart contracts and their potential for business integration.It then assesses financial legislation passed during Trump’s tenure to determine its ramifications. The thesis concludes with analysis of the state of deglobalisation and socioeconomic conditions, especially within the UK as of 2021, the outcome of the finalised Brexit agreement for financial services and how they have affected the UK economy. This is to determine what the consequences of the period of deglobalisation from 2016 to early 2021 have ultimately meant for the US, UK and EU

Mediating markets: financial news media and reputation risk management

The increase of interest in financial culture following the financial crisis, which started in 2008, as well as the proliferation of financial data, have sparked an emerging research agenda into the role of financial news media. Moreover, financial news media is an important research topic in finance because information released through the media has a wider audience than other information intermediating systems in the financial market. This thesis defines the financial journalist as a significant actor in the intermediation of financial information. It also contributes to understanding how the relationships between intermediaries in firms’ information environments affect financial markets, and in particular whether claims for professionalization can be made by financial journalists and public relations practitioners for their interrelating activities. The further contribution of the thesis is its integration of an interdisciplinary and mixed methods approach. The thesis investigates the research problem through three independent empirical studies that are linked to the research aim of the thesis, and each other, but can be read independently. The first study uses the quantitative, event-study method and tests how 100 small-cap US stocks are affected by different types of carefully-selected information, namely analysts’ recommendations, corporate filings, news media, public relations wires and stock tips received over five years from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010. Its first contribution is a problematisation of firms’ information environments from an information intermediation perspective. It therefore finds that news media has the largest negative and absolute effect on stock prices, trading volumes and volatility. The intuitions for this are news media’s wide dissemination; its attraction to reporting bad news, as well as to interpreting events negatively. Further, its independence from firms and role in corporate governance are thought to make bad news especially surprising. The second and third studies form two halves of a qualitative symmetrical study that tests for the intuitions and findings of the quantitative study. They do so through structured and semi-structured interviews with experienced journalists and corporate public relations practitioners about their own perceptions of their respective self-constitutions and ethics; their relationships to each other; their understandings about how their own work and other information intermediaries’ work in firms’ information environments affect financial information; and to determine if and how these factors affect the manner in which they go about doing work. Study 2 considers journalists as actors in the financial market by problematizing them as information intermediaries who disseminate financial information and contribute to corporate governance. It finds they have a professional ethic biased towards reporting bad news and contributes to understanding the professional constitutions and knowledge construction activities of journalists through demonstrating how their beliefs, motivation and self-awareness influence reporting choices and actions. Their level of expertise and credibility in these activities is linked to the relative performativity of news stories. Study 3 studies the expansion of public relations’ reputation risk management activities in relation to journalists and evaluates the industry’s claim for professionalism using Gieryn’s (1983) analytical framework of boundary-work. It considers public relations practitioners as actors in financial markets in the context of globalised, high-speed financial markets and increased demands for corporate social responsibility. It finds that public relations is increasing its monopoly over the dissemination and intermediation of financial information but cannot yet make a claim for professional jurisdiction over these activities

La dimensión narrativa de los videojuegos first-person shooter (FPS)

Muchos videojuegos, incluyendo los First-Person Shooters (FPS) o de disparos en primera persona, poseen una dimensión narrativa. Es posible estudiarlos desde el punto de vista de la comunicación, como vehículos para contar historias. Los desarrolladores de videojuegos actúan como mediadores culturales; sus productos transmiten valores explícitos a través de normas sobre el comportamiento de los personajes (reglas, objetivos, recompensas y castigos), y ofrecen justificaciones para las acciones del jugador en el mundo ficcional del juego. Sin embargo, el jugador participa en la construcción de un relato no lineal y suele experimentar una sensación de ‘agencia’ (capacidad de acción suprema), que se traduce en una ilusión de no mediación. El reto es averiguar cómo es ese relato. Esta tesis doctoral aborda ese fenómeno desde el paradigma de la mediación social, y plantea modelos analíticos específicos para desvelar cómo están asociados los elementos narrativos en los FPS, especialmente los personajes y los roles que éstos desempeñan. Los modelos analíticos desarrollados en esta investigación resultan aplicables a una amplia variedad de productos comunicativos de carácter audiovisual, icónico, escrito y oral, incluso aunque sean de naturaleza no lineal o interactiva..

Deliverable 1.1 review document on the management of marine areas with particular regard on concepts, objectives, frameworks and tools to implement, monitor, and evaluate spatially managed areas

The main objectives if this document were to review the existing information on spatial management of marine areas, identifying the relevant policy objectives, to identify parameters linked to the success or failure of the various Spatially Managed marine Areas (SMAs) regimes, to report on methods and tools used in monitoring and evaluation of the state of SMAs, and to identify gaps and weaknesses in the existing frameworks in relation to the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and management of SMAs. The document is naturally divided in two sections: Section 1 reviews the concepts, objectives, drivers, policy and management framework, and extraneous factors related to the design, implementation and evaluation of SMAs; Section 2 reviews the tools and methods to monitor and evaluate seabed habitats and marine populations.peer-reviewe