Using Big Data Tools and Techniques to Study a Gamer Community: Technical, Epistemological, and Ethical Problems

This paper discusses an exploratory approach taken by researchers in the fields of semiotics and communications in order to not only share a specific research experience, but also help build a research sector that combines game analytics with social sciences. The main objective of our research was to define parameters of digital identity within the framework of the study of an online video game player community. To this end, we examined several constitutive elements of digital identity, namely the effects of the “avatar” apparatus on the identity of users, online interactions, and the meaning of “living together” in the digital world. We used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies: a semiotic analysis of the game, a discursive analysis of the forum, semi-structured interviews, and an automated analysis of big data sets. In this paper we will focus on the automated analysis of big data sets, addressing two key points: the working method developed by the research team, and the achievement of the research objectives by merging quantitative and qualitative perspectives together. Following a summary of the research approach, this article will present the methodological, epistemological, and ethical difficulties that may be encountered in studying a player community with this type of research approach

Les laboratoires des entreprises vidéoludiques installées au Québec et les partenariats avec l’université: L’exemple de la recherche sur les pratiques de jeu et les communautés de joueur.se.s et l’avenir ouvert par l’intelligence artificielle

Given the large production of video games in Quebec, the province has been able to develop an exceptional context of research partnerships between video game companies and university laboratories, each of which has developed an expertise specific to their field. In this article, the following question will first be asked: what kind of research is carried out in companies? The objective is not to make a systematic survey of the various forms of research carried out within all companies located in Quebec, but rather to identify the main realities experienced in gaming companies in order to answer a second question: what kind of research is not carried out those companies? The answer will be used to illustrate possible partnerships with researchers interested in gaming practices and in gaming communities, a research theme that is not often addressed by companies. Among the university gaming laboratories in Montreal, the example of the laboratory of the Université du Québec à Montréal will be briefly presented in order to situate researches that explicitly aims to understand identification, communication and social dynamics of gaming communities. The article concludes with an exposition of some of the future perspectives of research in this field, mainly related to the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning.Il y a une grande production de jeux vidéo au Québec, et, en matière de recherche, la province a su favoriser les partenariats entre les entreprises vidéoludiques et les laboratoires universitaires, les unes et les autres ayant développé une expertise propre. Dans cet article, la question suivante sera d’abord posée : quels genres de recherches sont menées en entreprise? L’objectif n’est pas de faire un relevé systématique des diverses formes que prend la recherche dans toutes les entreprises localisées au Québec, mais plutôt de décrire les principales réalités qui s’y affirment afin de répondre à une seconde question : quel genre de recherche n’est pas menée en entreprise ? La réponse servira à tracer les grandes lignes de possibles partenariats avec des chercheur.se.s s’intéressant aux pratiques de jeu et aux communautés de joueur.se.s, thématique peu étudiée en entreprise. Parmi les laboratoires universitaires, celui de l’Université du Québec à Montréal fera l’objet d’une brève présentation, occasion de situer la recherche qui s’attache à la compréhension des dynamiques identitaires, communicationnelles et sociales au sein des communautés de joueur.se.s. L’article se conclut sur quelques perspectives d’avenir qu’ouvre à la recherche dans ce domaine le développement de l’intelligence artificielle et de l’apprentissage machine

Me, Myself, and Interface: The Role of Affordances in Digital Visual Self-Representational Practices

A growing number of digital games and virtual worlds allow users to create a virtual self, commonly referred to as an ‘avatar.’ Essentially, the avatar is a digital entity which is controlled by the user to attain agency within the virtual world. Avatars are visually customized by users via interfaces, referred to within the body of this work as Character Creation Interfaces (CCIs). CCIs are often framed as tools that are utilized by players to create a desired avatar. In other words, the popular approach is one that is anthropocentric in nature and neglects to take into account the ways in which interface affordances - the action possibilities afforded by an artifact - potentially constrain our interactions with them. In my dissertation, I argue that CCIs co-construct avatars with players. I mobilize Actor-Network Theory in order to re-position these interfaces as actors, rather than benign tools in digital-visual self-representational practices. In order to investigate the interface-as-actor I present an analytical framework: the Avatar Affordances Framework, and apply this framework to 20 CCIs in order to systematically study their affordances. In the second phase of this investigation, I present data on two user studies: the first, a within-subjects study investigating self-representational practices in the Massively-Multiplayer-Onlne-Game (MMOG) Rift (n = 39), the other, a between-subjects study of self-representational practices on the Nintendo WiiU console's MiiCreator (n = 24). Results of these two studies are presented alongside analytical data derived from both interfaces via the Avatar Affordances Framework in order to illustrate how interface affordances are negotiated by players. A final study, an autoethnographic chapter, situates myself within the dissertation as both a researcher and user of the technology, addressing how my own experiences with these games, and my own self-representational practices, have come to shape this research. Data from the aforementioned studies was then utilized in order to generate a list of best practices for game developers. To date, such documentation is absent from game design literature. It is my hope that the practices outlined herein help developers make design choices that invite opportunities for identity play without simultaneously creating socially exclusive spaces

To Play or Not to Play: Non/Participation in Eve Online

This dissertation addresses a gap in the academic study of digital games whereby investigations remain focused on current players and the experiences of former or non-players are rarely accounted for. Using EVE Online (EVE), a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) known for its difficult learning curve and homogenous community as a case study, I conducted an investigation of who does/does not play this particular game and their stated reasons for playing or not. I argue that while EVE is positioned in the MMOG market as a sandbox style game where in-game activities are only limited by a players imagination, in reality only a very particular type of play (and player) is publically acknowledged by EVEs developer (CCP Games), the gaming enthusiast press, and academics investigations of this game, emphasizing just how little is known about who plays EVE beyond the stereotypical imagined player. Drawing on literature from leisure studies to articulate a framework for exploring barriers/constraints to gameplay and theoretically informed by feminist theories of technology, I conducted an Internet-based survey to capture the thoughts and experiences of current, former, and non-EVE players. A total of 981 participants completed the survey. In my analysis of open-ended responses, I found that current players described the game in a way that emphasized its exceptionality, relied heavily on jargon, and assumed their reader was already familiar with EVE, its player community, and its surrounding norms and conventions. Non-players who were familiar with the game described their perceptions of EVE being an unwelcoming community meant they had opted out of playing without ever downloading the trial. Former players fell into three groupings: ex-players who had permanently quit EVE, a group who want to play but felt forced to take a temporary break due to external constraints (e.g. exams at school or financial limitations), and a third group would consider returning if changes to their personal circumstances and/or the game happened in future. Ultimately this research complicates what it means to play or not play MMOG, opening up avenues for future research about how access and barriers to digital game play inevitably shift over time

Playing and Making History: How Game Design and Gameplay Afford Opportunities for a Critical Engagement with the Past

For decades there has been a call for educators to explore new possibilities for meeting educational goals defined broadly under a number of 'twenty-first century competencies' curricula (Dede, 2014; Voogt et al., 2013). These stress the need for students to combine critical skills development with an understanding of the processes and reach of technologies in daily life, in order to prepare them for a shifting cultural and economic landscape. In response, an extensive literature has grown up about game-based learning (Brown, 2008; de Castell, 2011; Gee, 2003; Gee and Hayes, 2011; Jenson, Taylor, de Castell, 2011; Jenson et al., 2016; Kafai, 1995; 2012; 2016; Prensky, 2001; Squire, 2004; 2011; Steinkuehler, 2006) that seeks to explore whether/how games can be used productively in education. History as a discipline lends itself particularly well to game-based learning. It is bound up in questions of interpretation, agency, and choice, considerations that gameplay and game design as processes highlight well. My research explores the uses of digital historical games in history education, and most especially in the acquisition of critical historical skills. These skills are defined as the capacity to view and engage with the constitutive parts of historical scholarship and objects: interpretation, argument, evidence, ideology, subject position, class, race, sex, etc. This thesis will present findings from two participant-based research studies that I organized and ran between 2018 and 2019. In the first, participants were tasked with playing a counterfactual historical game, Fallout 4, and talking about their experiences, as well as answering questions about history and historical understandings. The second study took the form of an interactive digital history course. In it, students, working in small groups, were tasked with creating their own historical games. Exploring both gameplay and game production answers the call issued by Kafai and Burke (2016) that researchers should view the potential for games in education holistically, rather than in either/or terms. Taken together, this thesis argues that playing and especially making historical games offers opportunities for learners to engage with epistemological concepts in history in meaningful ways that can advance their critical understanding of history as a subject

Projekt.ID: investigating how game elements and mechanics can be aligned to players preferences

Existing research in personality and motivation psychology has developed many theories and player typologies to explain an individual’s behaviour. Many of these theories and typologies have used similar approaches to personality types to understand how and why individuals play, through finding traits, and in-turn types to categorise players based on their behaviour. Many of the typologies have also been context specific, causing concern with their practicality of use in contexts outside of their conception. To date, no research exists that categorises players based on their preferences for game elements and mechanics (GEMs). Embracing the possibility of developing such a framework based on players preferences for GEMs, would afford game designers an opportunity to design experiences regardless of context. Therefore, the aim of this research is understanding how to map a player’s preferences for GEMs and how this information can be used during the game design process. To this end, I describe the design and method of four studies. The first three studies are surveys (n=279, n=231, n=162) that assess players Australian Personality Inventory (API) type, preferences for game elements, and mechanics (surveys 2 and 3), and the Basic Psychological Needs of Satisfaction (BPNS) score (surveys 2 and 3). The data from these surveys were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify any existing relationships between the data; stepwise linear regression to determine if API and/or BPNS could be used to predict factors; bi-variate correlations to observe if relationships existed between the factors and API and/or BPNS types. EFA revealed that GEMs are preferred by players in three unique factors groups for game elements and four factor groups for game mechanics. In addition, stepwise linear regression and bi-variate correlation revealed that both API type and BPNS did not affect a player’s preferences for GEMs (including their factors) and were not a suitable assessment for mapping a player’s preferences for GEMs on. Following these three surveys, the GEM Framework was developed, which included a separate model for each GEM factor group. The GEM Framework was then adapted to an existing game design tool titled Gamicards. The fourth study was a workshop (n = 47) that assesses the practical use of the GEM framework and Gamicards. The results of the workshop revealed that both the GEM Framework and its adaption to Gamicards provided game designers from various skill levels a useful resource during the game design process and would likely use it again during their next game design session. Through these four studies, this work contributes to the current literature in the following manner. Firstly, this work extends the current understanding the impact personality and motivation types have on a player’s preferences for GEMs, via the data from the surveys. As such, this work explores three areas: personality, motivation, and game design to develop a novel framework. Secondly, this thesis discusses practical implications of using the GEM framework through Gamicards. To conclude, this work encourages game academics to look at player typologies through the lens of the GEMs of games itself and not through psychometric assessment