Negativists, enthusiasts and others: a typology of players in free-to-play games

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel multidimensional typology of free-to-play gamers, based on the theory of consumption values and to test whether these types of gamers differ in their premium content consumer purchasing behavior. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a survey of 839 Czech free-to-play gamers, where the players' values are tested across 27 items. Factor analysis is used to identify 6 different factors (values) influencing the gamers, which are then used as variables in a cluster analysis to identify 5 distinct gamer types. Findings – Results show that each identified gamer type differs not only in gaming (length of gameplay) but also in purchasing behavior (current purchase and future purchase intention, average monthly spend). One new gamer type, previously unidentified in the literature, has been identified (the enthusiasts), alongside the development of additional details for three of the more “standard” game types (economic aesthetes, identification seekers and killers). Research limitations/implications – Gamers from the Czech Republic are used in the sample, limiting the generalizability of the study. Originality/value – The research complements existing gamer typologies by developing an empirically supported view of free-to-play gamers that is based on value, which results in the identification of one new gamer type. We also extend consumption values theory by identifying the multi-dimensional impact of value characteristics on purchase behavior in a context of emerging commercial and social importance

Game wizard

Hoje em dia, há um aumento evidente dos produtos ou soluções sob medida, com o objectivo de melhor se adaptarem às necessidades dos perfis de clientes. Num outro contexto, existe um largo crescimento da presença da computação informática nas salas de aulas, de maneira a auxiliar o professor a cativar e motivar os alunos, através de jogos educativos. Contudo, nem todos os docentes têm conhecimentos informáticos avançados, então não têm forma de perso-nalizar jogos, o que beneficiaria as crianças com soluções adaptadas às suas necessidades. Com isto, foi idealizado um sistema, que assenta sobre uma framework de criação de jogos, e que possibilite a um utilizador com menos habilidades informáticas a possibilidade de criar um jogo. Apesar de existirem diversos jogos desse tipo, seria vantajoso um professor poder criar um jogo, personalizando-o de acordo com as necessidades do aluno e com as competências que se desejam desenvolver. Este sistema consiste numa interface em que o utilizador segue uma série de passos definidos, do qual resulta um ficheiro com todas as características de jo-go, que será depois importado para uma framework, permitindo assim a criação de diferentes jogos, desde que se enquadrem na mesma mecânica

Adapting Behavioral Parent Training as an Interactive Computer Game

Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) is a well-established therapy that reduces child externalized behaviors and parent stress. Although BPT was originally developed for parents of children with defiant behaviors, the program’s key concepts are relevant to parenting all children. Since parents might not fully utilize BPT due to cost and program location, we created an online game as a low-cost, easily accessible alternative or complement to BPT. We tested the game with nineteen undergraduate students at the University of Maryland. The experimental group completed pretest survey on core BPT knowledge, played the game, and completed a BPT posttest, while the control group completed a pretest and posttest survey over a three week period. Participants in the experimental group also completed a survey to indicate their satisfaction with the overall program. The experimental group demonstrated significantly higher levels of BPT knowledge than the control group and high levels of satisfaction. This suggests that an interactive, online BPT platform is an engaging and accessible way for parents to learn key concepts