WRITING FOR EACH OTHER: DYNAMIC QUEST GENERATION USING IN SESSION PLAYER BEHAVIORS IN MMORPG

Role-playing games (RPGs) rely on interesting and varied experiences to maintain player attention. These experiences are often provided through quests, which give players tasks that are used to advance stories or events unfolding in the game. Traditional quests in video games require very specific conditions to be met, and for participating members to advance them by carrying out pre-defined actions. These types of quests are generated with perfect knowledge of the game world and are able to force desired behaviors out of the relevant non-player characters (NPCs). This becomes a major issue in massive multiplayer online (MMO) when other players can often disrupt the conditions needed for quests to unfold in a believable and immersive way, leading to the absence of a genuine multiplayer RPG experience. Our proposed solution is to dynamically create quests from real-time information on the unscripted actions of other NPCs and players in a game. This thesis shows that it is possible to create logical quests without global information knowledge, pre-defined story-trees, or prescribed player and NPC behavior. This allows players to become involved in storylines without having to perform any specific actions. Results are shown through a game scenario created from the Panoptyk Engine, a game engine in early development designed to test AI reasoning with information and the removal of the distinction between NPC and human players. We focus on quests issued by the NPC faction leaders of several in-game groups known as factions. Our generated quests are created logically from the pre-defined personality of each NPC leader, their memory of previous events, and information given to them by in-game sources. Long-spanning conflicts are seen to emerge from factions issuing quests against each other; these conflicts can be represented in a coherent narrative. A user study shows that players felt quests were logical, that players were able to recognize quests were based on events happening in the game, and that players experienced follow-up consequences from their actions in quests

Organizacijsko modeliranje višeagentnih sustava velikih razmjera s primjenom na računalne igre

The most popular and frequent methods of conducting a system of agents, of smallor large-scale, are those based on swarm intelligence, and organisational models. Organisational models for multi-agent systems are being developed alongside their role in the modern world. Technological improvements lead to creation of systems comprising thousands, or millions, of agents – large-scale multiagent system (LSMAS). Numerous LSMAS application domains (Internet of Everything (IoE), massively multi-player online games (MMOGs), smart cities, etc.) make LSMAS a genuinely useful concept in the modern era. Recent studies argue higher efficiency of LSMAS with imposed organisation, as opposed to systems with emerging intelligence. This makes organisational modelling of LSMAS a particularly interesting research subject. Organisational model based on ontology comprising LSMAS-related organisational concepts, built conforming to modern organisational perspectives for LSMAS, is a step towards easier LSMAS modelling. The ontology is basis for an organisational metamodel for LSMAS, which, coupled with graph grammars and logic, is suitable for modelling organisational dynamics, especially in the domain of massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs).Najpoznatiji i najučestaliji oblici uređenja sustava agenata, velikog ili malog razmjera, su oni koji se temelje na inteligenciji roja i oni koji svoje osnove vuku iz organizacijskih modela. Organizacijski modeli višeagentnih sustava razvijaju se usporedno s ulogom takvih sustava u modernom svijetu. Razvojem tehnologije stvaraju se sustavi koji broje tisuće ili milijuneagenata–višeagentnisustavivelikihrazmjera(VASVR).Mnogobrojneaplikacijske domene za VASVR (Internet svega, mrežne računalne igre namijenjene većem broju igrača (MMORPG), pametni gradovi i sl.) čine VASVR realno potrebnim konceptom u moderno doba. Recentna istraživanja ukazuju na veću učinkovitost VASVR uređenih temeljem organizacijske teorije, od onih koji prate inteligencija roja, te je stoga organizacijsko modeliranje VASVR iznimno interesantno podučje za istraživanje. Organizacijski model temeljen na ontologiji organizacijskih koncepata i modernim načelima organizacije VASVR korak je prema lakšem oblikovanju VASVR. Ontologija je baza za organizacijski metamodel za VASVR koji, spojen s gramatikama grafova i logikom, dobiva na prikladnosti za modeliranje organizacijske dinamike, naročito u domeni MMORPG

Facilitating immersion, engagement and flow in multi-user virtual environments

Virtual worlds are providing myriad opportunities for the development of innovative curricula for tertiary educators. They provide a virtual meeting space for those students and lecturers who are geographically remote from one another, rendering distance irrelevant and facilitating the formation of community. This paper will look at those factors - physical, social, virtual and those related to pedagogy - which facilitate immersion in virtual worlds; that suspension of disbelief which generates the feeling of presence or 'being there', crucial to promoting student engagement and ultimately, flow

Organizacijsko modeliranje višeagentnih sustava velikih razmjera s primjenom na računalne igre

The most popular and frequent methods of conducting a system of agents, of smallor large-scale, are those based on swarm intelligence, and organisational models. Organisational models for multi-agent systems are being developed alongside their role in the modern world. Technological improvements lead to creation of systems comprising thousands, or millions, of agents – large-scale multiagent system (LSMAS). Numerous LSMAS application domains (Internet of Everything (IoE), massively multi-player online games (MMOGs), smart cities, etc.) make LSMAS a genuinely useful concept in the modern era. Recent studies argue higher efficiency of LSMAS with imposed organisation, as opposed to systems with emerging intelligence. This makes organisational modelling of LSMAS a particularly interesting research subject. Organisational model based on ontology comprising LSMAS-related organisational concepts, built conforming to modern organisational perspectives for LSMAS, is a step towards easier LSMAS modelling. The ontology is basis for an organisational metamodel for LSMAS, which, coupled with graph grammars and logic, is suitable for modelling organisational dynamics, especially in the domain of massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs).Najpoznatiji i najučestaliji oblici uređenja sustava agenata, velikog ili malog razmjera, su oni koji se temelje na inteligenciji roja i oni koji svoje osnove vuku iz organizacijskih modela. Organizacijski modeli višeagentnih sustava razvijaju se usporedno s ulogom takvih sustava u modernom svijetu. Razvojem tehnologije stvaraju se sustavi koji broje tisuće ili milijuneagenata–višeagentnisustavivelikihrazmjera(VASVR).Mnogobrojneaplikacijske domene za VASVR (Internet svega, mrežne računalne igre namijenjene većem broju igrača (MMORPG), pametni gradovi i sl.) čine VASVR realno potrebnim konceptom u moderno doba. Recentna istraživanja ukazuju na veću učinkovitost VASVR uređenih temeljem organizacijske teorije, od onih koji prate inteligencija roja, te je stoga organizacijsko modeliranje VASVR iznimno interesantno podučje za istraživanje. Organizacijski model temeljen na ontologiji organizacijskih koncepata i modernim načelima organizacije VASVR korak je prema lakšem oblikovanju VASVR. Ontologija je baza za organizacijski metamodel za VASVR koji, spojen s gramatikama grafova i logikom, dobiva na prikladnosti za modeliranje organizacijske dinamike, naročito u domeni MMORPG

Implementing Machine Learning in Video Games to Simulate Subjects

Em todos os campos científicos costumam haver separações entre aquilo que é pesquisado e as tecnologias utilizadas pelas indústrias relevantes. Com a inteligência artificial e a indústria de videojogos esta separação é significante; pesquisadores tipicamente trabalhem na descoberta de algoritmos mais eficientes enquanto a indústria necessita de custo-efetividade e confiabilidade. Este estudo foi desenvolvido para analisar tecnologias e técnicas atualmente disponíveis que foram desenvolvidos por pesquisadores e definir os requerimentos para a sua implementação em videojogos de uma maneira custo-efetivo. Especificamente, este estudo valida a possibilidade de criar sujeitos que aprendem como comportar-se através do Reinforcement Learning e determina o custo-efetividade e potencial em comparação a alternativas geralmente utilizadas.N/

I, Posthuman:embodying entangled subjectivities in gaming

We live in an era where the fundamental principles of what it means to be human are being reconsidered and reconceptualised, and we are moving towards a more entangled and relational understanding of the human’s ontology. The “boundaries” of what constitute a human as separate from both its surroundings and human and non-human others are being problematised. How do you separate “the human” from its contexts? In an age where advanced technology often constitutes these contexts, how can you separate the human from technology? Whilst we have always been entangled, today this occurs in a context that is more technologically driven, and this has provoked further debate on the status of the “posthuman”. This PhD thesis is concerned with what it means and how feels to be posthuman, by exploring how posthuman subjectivities are enabled and embodied. What we are capable of doing emerges contextually: it is profoundly dependent on our environments. In my view of the posthuman, the stable “human” self is disrupted, giving way to a subjectivity where our interactions in the world are more intra-active. But how might we consider the emergence of posthuman subjectivities in more depth? I suggest using a particular example of posthuman subjectivity, the MMORPG avatargamer, to demonstrate how the humanistically separated entities of “avatar” and “gamer” can provide a context to explore how “other” and “self” are not ontologically distinct. In doing so, I ask: what specific practices enable or provoke this ontological entanglement? Engaging in an autoethnographic inquiry, I use my intra-action with my avatar Etyme in the MMORPG World of Warcraft as one example of posthuman subjectivity. This methodology in itself is intriguing to explore the multiplicity of selves we experience, and negotiates the humanistic overthrows of “selfhood” whilst experiencing the self as entangled. Through my construct of the posthuman, where the human cannot be meaningfully separated from its environment, we are nevertheless still drawn to speak of an “I” and have a desire to understand ourselves as independent agents. However, the fieldnotes analysed in this thesis disrupt the “I”, and instead reflect on the shifting sense of self with and through an entity that is experienced as both me-and-not-me. Whilst an autoethnographic posthumanism might seem contradictory, I argue that it is a fundamental step in acknowledging our humanistic tendencies and beginning to reflexively engage with, and critique, these ideals. To do so, this thesis “posthumanises” traditionally humanistic constructs: acting and empathy. To widen this concept further, a third analytic re-interrogates different aspects of subject formation to consider how these too could be “posthumanised”. This suggests a broader application of posthumanism, demonstrating how previous notions of mastery, autonomy, and individuality can be critiqued and destabilised in order to view our practices and “selves” as emergent and entwined

Collaborative narrative generation in persistent virtual environments

This thesis describes a multi-agent approach to generating narrative based on the activities of participants in large-scale persistent virtual environments, such as massivelymultiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). These environments provide diverse interactive experiences for large numbers of simultaneous participants. Involving such participants in an overarching narrative experience has presented challenges due to the difficulty of incorporating the individual actions of so many participants into a single coherent storyline. Various approaches have been adopted in an attempt to solve this problem, such as guiding players to follow pre-designed storylines, or giving them goals to achieve that advance the storyline, or by having developers (‘dungeon masters’) adapt the narrative to the real-time actions of players. However these solutions can be inflexible, and/or fail to take player interaction into account, or do so only at the collective level, for groups of players. This thesis describes a different approach, in which embodied witness-narrator agents observe participants’ actions in a persistent virtual environment and generate narrative from reports of those actions. The generated narrative may be published to external audiences, e.g., via community websites, Internet chatrooms, or SMS text messages, or fed back into the environment in real-time to embellish and enhance the ongoing experience with new narrative elements derived from participants’ own achievements. The design and implementation of this framework is described in detail, and compared to related work. Results of evaluating the framework, both technically, and through a live study, are presented and discussed

The Rationalist’s Spirituality: Campbell’s Monomyth in Single-Player Role-Playing Videogames Skyrim & Mass Effect

This thesis is an investigation of how mythographer Joseph Campbell’s monomyth narrative pattern manifests in computer and console role-playing videogames (CRPGs). It argues that this pattern is conducive to the CRPG being received as a spiritual experience, one potentially transformative in its capacity to impart and facilitate the practice of monomythic values by players, both within the game world and without. Focusing on two CRPG games, Skyrim and Mass Effect, it considers noteworthy parallels between the monomythic quest structure of these games and the ‘quest’ nature of authenticity—the modern, individual, personal search for meaning, analysing how the CRPG’s emphasis on the ‘epistemologically individualistic’ reflects aspects of alternative spirituality (as against traditional institutional religion). As such, the CRPG actively seeks to reconcile the spiritual with the material in a ‘rationalist’s spirituality’, a fact best represented in the game’s logical structuring of the monomythic hero’s journey to apotheosis as rites of passage (that is, as successive stages of narrative, but also as a numerical ‘levelling’ system for avatar development). The spiritual is exemplified by the presence of the monomythic pattern and by how the videogame draws upon themes native to fantastic fiction (ruins, deep time, dark genesis, the sublime), themes which evoke the enchanted world and ‘porous self’ of pre-modern society and represent a desire for re- enchantment and thus an enduring interest in the spiritual. These elements together operate within the rationalised framework of a rule-based game system, where the player has the freedom and agency native to the modern, rationally empowered ‘buffered self’ but is ultimately (and somewhat contrarily) answerable to these very same rules, as determined by a god-like designer. This relationship suggests a continuing albeit surreptitious belief in the transcendent, validating Victoria Nelson’s assertion that art and entertainment in the modern world serves as an ‘unconscious wellspring of religion’ (2001: viii). This thesis also explores the CRPG’s capacity to fulfil the four functions traditionally played by mythology—the mystical, cosmological, sociological and pedagogical—as described in the writings of Joseph Campbell, looking at how the sociological and pedagogical in particular are addressed by the monomythic narrative and the implicit values of this narrative (such as devotion of the self to the community). It will argue that the CRPG—in its capacity to facilitate embodied learning and action (as ritualised performance and contest)—serves as an ideal environment for the practice and possible adoption of such values by the player. Adoption, as I will illustrate, is influenced by a number of factors. Firstly, the game itself as an experience (its narrative and emotive credibility, and thus player investment in their character, or more specifically that character is an idealised construct—the ‘projective identity’). Secondly, how the player’s role is framed within the game world, and thirdly, how the player reads his/her experience. This reading can be to some degree shaped by a game’s goals and rules, and this is where procedural rhetoric—the use of game-based systems for the purposes of persuasion—may help to foreground monomythic values and lessons as well as encourage active practice of these values in day-to-day life. Herein lies the CRPG’s potential to fulfil the Romantic proposition that art can inspire moral improvement in the individual and instigate efforts to realise an idealised world. While games are ultimately shaped by the tastes of the market and the demands of the CRPG community, the question of whether a videogame should actively adopt such an approach is one that arguably falls to game designers: authors of the game-as-text. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the thesis, while Chapter 2 explores the transition from pre-modern society to modern secularity as a default position in the West, the disappearance of the enchanted world, the emergence of alternative spiritualities as a recourse to institutional religion, and the ‘quest’ spirit that characterises the modern search for meaning (authenticity). Chapter 3 looks at the four functions previously played by mythology and how the CRPG can fulfil them, arguing for a classification of the CRPG as an alternative spirituality, and also as a continuation of a tradition of fantastic fiction representing a desire for re-enchantment, one whose origins may very well be found in modern crises of meaning. Chapter 4 details the origins of CRPG in wargaming and fantastic fiction, discussing the videogame genre’s unique emphasis on player choice, agency and autonomy, while analysing how the monomythic pattern manifests in Skyrim and Mass Effect, as well as its implied values, such as the commitment of the individual to the service of his/her society. Chapter 5 discusses how the CRPG combines fantastic fictional worlds with rational rules. The spiritual takes the form of the abovementioned aesthetic themes and the monomythic pattern, which together signal an enduring interest in re-enchantment and thus the spiritual. The rational takes the form of the videogame’s distinct emphasis on the powers of the player as a rational agent, powers that nevertheless are shaped by the rules of a transcendent, god- like game designer. This melding of the spiritual with the material, it will be asserted, represents a desire to reconcile these two disparate elements in a form of ‘rationalised’ spirituality. Chapter 6 analyses how the videogame as a form of external symbolic media can facilitate the transference of monomythic values and act as an arena for the embodied practice of these values. The transfer of such practice into the world beyond the game depends upon player investment in his/her role (via his/her idealised ‘projective identity’) and the game as a ritualised performance and contest for, if not representation of, monomythic values. Chapter 7 investigates how procedural rhetoric may help to persuade players of the significance and possible utility of monomythic values, by not only involving the player in everyday moral/ethical dilemmas within the game world but also giving him/her the freedom to address these dilemmas as s/he see fit, while discouraging actions that compromise the ‘heroic’ image of the monomythic hero. This chapter will also suggest ways for CRPGs to avoid formulaic storytelling and problematic depictions of the monomythic hero, so as to better improve the CRPG’s ability to persuade players of monomythic values and hence fulfil the pedagogical and sociological functions ascribed by this thesis. The question of whether such functions should be associated with the CRPG is one, I will argue, that game designers alone can address

From Civic Lessons To Everyday Democracy: Democratic Habits, Video Games, And Collaborative Game Making

The civic world is rapidly changing in response to the affordances of the digital age, which ushered the rise of participatory politics: interactive, loosely-structured and collaborative modes of civic action. Though still a nascent field, civic video games have been presented as a ripe setting to respond to these changes, offering students engaging and situated learning contexts. My dissertation reconceptualizes citizenship education broadly conceived, and video games’ contribution to this endeavor, by developing Dewey’s framework of citizenship education as the cultivation of habits of democracy. Schools’ influence on students’ civic behaviors goes beyond direct civic lessons: through the pedagogies, norms and routines practiced throughout the school, children develop habits of interactions with peers and adults. Dewey’s use of the term ‘habit’ deviates from the everyday connotations of mindless, repetitive modes of action. Instead, habits are ingrained solutions to problems we encounter in the environment. Therefore, democratic habits are best developed by presenting students with situations that indirectly encourage behaviors such as collaboration, deliberation, and compromise. I identify and develop three attributes of habits that distinguish them from the prevailing emphasis on civic skills and dispositions, and that facilitate a more refined understanding of the democratic role of schools: habits are (i) social; (ii) a form of practice; and (iii) interconnected. I then apply this framework to civic video games, arguing for extending citizenship education beyond game-playing and into the realm of connected gaming. Striving to challenge and enrich my theoretical arguments, I present vignettes from a series of collaborative game-making workshops conducted with high-school freshmen. These vignettes highlight two aspects of game-making conducive to practicing democratic habits: first, the loosely-structured, collaborative and iterative nature of constructionist learning environments is reflective of today’s civic sphere. Second, game design can support a unique form of iterative perspective taking, stemming from designers’ attempts to assess and predict the conduct of players. Whereas most educational projects are evaluated by a teacher, games are created for the use of diverse others, and are hence civically-minded. These analyses unpack the complexities of game-making, and democratic habits more broadly, and establish a conceptual roadmap for further investigation