Misunderstandings during gameplay of Dungeons and Dragons

Abstract. The goal of this study was to locate misunderstandings, their causes and ways of resolving them during the gameplay of Dungeons and Dragons, in hopes of discovering what causes misunderstandings that disrupt the game and make it less enjoyable for players. Along with a short history of the development of the game, key terminology, core of gameplay, and the three main aspects of gameplay were also introduced. Dungeons and Dragons was inspected as a game and a co-operatively constructed narrative, thus narrative theory was included in the theoretical framework of this study, in addition to theory of miscommunication. The study was conducted by analysing extracts of a video recording of a single gameplay session of Dungeons and Dragons. The extracts under analysis were categorised under one of the three aspects of gameplay (combat, exploration, social interaction). The extracts were then presented with an amount of context, after which the causes of misunderstandings present in the extract were analysed and discussed. Collective discussion of the extracts and linguistic elements that caused misunderstanding followed the analysis section. During the discussion, the extracts were comparatively discussed and related to the specific elements that seemed to cause misunderstanding. Finally, the results of the study were summarized in the concluding section of the study. Most of the misunderstandings that were present in the data occurred during the combat aspect of the game and were caused by, or closely related to rules of the game. Misunderstandings that occurred during exploration and social interaction were found to be less disruptive, as they could occasionally be tied to the surrounding narrative, which would arguably reduce their disruptiveness. The misunderstandings that occurred were most commonly resolved by negotiating an understanding between the communicants, or by way of repair. Because of the small sample size, generalizable ways to counteract or avoid misunderstandings were not discovered. Nevertheless, tentative speculation of ways to avoid misunderstandings was provided on occasions where possible. Further research of role-playing games might be directed towards the effects that a dungeon master’s actions have on a game. Alternatively, focus could be directed towards the functions that table-top role-playing games might have outside of entertainment, such as educational functions for example.Tiivistelmä. Tutkimuksen kohteena olivat väärinymmärrykset Dungeons and Dragons pöytäroolipelissä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli paikallistaa mikä aiheuttaa väärinymmärryksiä, miten väärinymmärrykset ratkaistiin, sekä miten väärinymmärryksiä voidaan välttää, jotta peliä häiritsevien elementtien syyt saataisiin selville ja siten häiriötekijät voitaisiin minimoida. Pelin kehityshistoria sekä sen terminologia ja perusteet esiteltiin lyhyesti tutkimuksen yhteydessä. Perusteista tärkeimpinä mainittakoon pelin toimintaperiaate sekä sen kolme peruspilaria (taistelu, tutkinta, ja sosiaalinen kanssakäynti). Dungeons and Dragons -peliä analysoitiin yhteisesti luotuna narratiivina, minkä takia kommunikaatiovaikeuksien teorian lisäksi tutkimuksen viitekehykseen kuului myös narratiivintutkimus. Tutkimuksen aineistona toimivat otteet yhden kokonaisen pelisession videonauhoitteesta. Otteet lajiteltiin pelin kolmen peruspilarin mukaan, jonka jälkeen ne esitettiin lukijalle ja analysoitiin yksitellen, keskittyen väärinymmärrystä aiheuttaviin tekijöihin. Analyysia seuraavassa osiossa keskustelu keskittyi otteita yhdistäviin tekijöihin ja väärinymmärrystä aiheuttaviin elementteihin kollektiivisesti. Tutkimuksen päätteeksi analyysin ja keskustelun pohjalta esitettiin yhteenveto. Suurin osa väärinymmärryksistä tapahtui taistelujaksojen yhteydessä ja johtui säännöistä. Säännöistä johtuvat väärinymmärrykset haittasivat pelin etenemistä myös eniten, verrattuna väärinymmärryksiin pelin kahden muun aspektin aikana. Muiden peruspilarien aikana tapatuvat väärinymmärrykset sidottiin usein pelin narratiiviin, mikä vähensi niiden haittavaikutusta ainakin säännöistä johtuviin väärinymmärryksiin verrattuna. Väärinymmärrykset ratkaistiin useimmiten neuvottelemalla yhteisymmärrys keskusteluun osallistuvien osapuolien kesken. Yleistettäviä keinoja torjua ja välttää väärinymmärrystä ei kyetty johtamaan tutkimusmateriaalin rajatusta koosta johtuen. Siitä huolimatta muutamia hypoteettisia keinoja esiteltiin silloin kun niitä kyettiin johtamaan analysoitavista otteista. Pöytäroolipelien tutkimusta voitaisiin tulevaisuudessa suunnata kohti vaikutuksia, joita pelinjohtajan roolia täyttävällä pelaajalla ja hänen teoillaan on peliin kokonaisuudessaan. Tulevaisuudessa tutkimus voisi myös suuntautua pöytäroolipelien eri tarkoituksiin viihteen lisäksi, kuten esimerkiksi pöytäroolipeleihin opetustyökaluna

IMF effect on sporadic-E layers at two northern polar cap sites: Part I ? Statistical study

International audienceIn this paper we investigate the relationship between polar cap sporadic-E layers and the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) using a 2-year database from Longyearbyen (75.2 CGM Lat, Svalbard) and Thule (85.4 CGM Lat, Greenland). It is found that the MLT distributions of sporadic-E occurrence are different at the two stations, but both are related to the IMF orientation. This relationship, however, changes from the centre of the polar cap to its border. Layers are more frequent during positive By at both stations. This effect is particularly strong in the central polar cap at Thule, where a weak effect associated with Bz is also observed, with positive Bz correlating with a higher occurrence of Es. Close to the polar cap boundary, at Longyearbyen, the By effect is weaker than at Thule. On the other hand, Bz plays there an equally important role as By, with negative Bz correlating with the Es occurrence. Since Es layers can be created by electric fields at high latitudes, a possible explanation for the observations is that the layers are produced by the polar cap electric field controlled by the IMF. Using electric field estimates calculated by means of the statistical APL convection model from IMF observations, we find that the diurnal distributions of sporadic-E occurrence can generally be explained in terms of the electric field mechanism. However, other factors must be considered to explain why more layers occur during positive than during negative By and why the Bz dependence of layer occurrence in the central polar cap is different from that at the polar cap boundary

Guiding and reflecting light by boundary material

We study effects of finite height and surrounding material on photonic crystal slabs of one- and two-dimensional photonic crystals with a pseudo-spectral method and finite difference time domain simulation methods. The band gap is shown to be strongly modified by the boundary material. As an application we suggest reflection and guiding of light by patterning the material on top/below the slab.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

CMC is more than a measure of corticospinal tract integrity in acute stroke patients

In healthy subjects, motor cortex activity and electromyographic (EMG) signals from contracting contralateral muscle show coherence in the beta (15-30 Hz) range. Corticomuscular coherence (CMC) is considered a sign of functional coupling between muscle and brain. Based on prior studies, CMC is altered in stroke, but functional significance of this finding has remained unclear. Here, we examined CMC in acute stroke patients and correlated the results with clinical outcome measures and corticospinal tract (CST) integrity estimated with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). During isometric contraction of the extensor carpi radialis muscle, EMG and magneto encephalographic oscillatory signals were recorded from 29 patients with paresis of the upper extremity due to ischemic stroke and 22 control subjects. CMC amplitudes and peak frequencies at 13-30 Hz were compared between the two groups. In the patients, the peak frequency in both the affected and the unaffected hemisphere was significantly (p < 0.01) lower and the strength of CMC was significantly (p < 0.05) weaker in the affected hemisphere compared to the control subjects. The strength of CMC in the patients correlated with the level of tactile sensitivity and clinical test results of hand function. In contrast, no correlation between measures of CST integrity and CMC was found. The results confirm the earlier findings that CMC is altered in acute stroke and demonstrate that CMC is bidirectional and not solely a measure of integrity of the efferent corticospinal tract.Peer reviewe

Drift compensation using a multichannel slot waveguide Young interferometer

Polymeric integrated Young interferometer sensor chips utilizing a slot waveguide have demonstrated to be sensitive, to work at visible wavelengths, to be manufacturable by simple process, and to have a reduced sensitivity to temperature fluctuations. Although slot waveguide Young interferometers have these desirable features for low-cost rapid diagnostics, the sensor readout is disturbed by mechanical drifts of the sensing system. In this paper we demonstrate that mechanical drifts of the readout system can be compensated by using a multichannel slot waveguide Young interferometer having two reference waveguides and applying a drift compensation method based on the analysis of the spatial shifts of the interferogram fringes. The applicability of the drift compensation method was studied by conducting experiments with undisturbed and with mechanically disturbed setup to measure the phase changes induced by the changes of the bulk refractive index. By applying the drift compensation method, the sample induced phase change responses were extracted from up to 18 times larger measured phase changes in the disturbed experiments proving the applicability of the method with multichannel slot waveguide Young interferometers

Multiscale magnetic underdense regions on the solar surface: Granular and Mesogranular scales

The Sun is a non-equilibrium dissipative system subjected to an energy flow which originates in its core. Convective overshooting motions create temperature and velocity structures which show a temporal and spatial evolution. As a result, photospheric structures are generally considered to be the direct manifestation of convective plasma motions. The plasma flows on the photosphere govern the motion of single magnetic elements. These elements are arranged in typical patterns which are observed as a variety of multiscale magnetic patterns. High resolution magnetograms of quiet solar surface revealed the presence of magnetic underdense regions in the solar photosphere, commonly called voids, which may be considered a signature of the underlying convective structure. The analysis of such patterns paves the way for the investigation of all turbulent convective scales from granular to global. In order to address the question of magnetic structures driven by turbulent convection at granular and mesogranular scales we used a "voids" detection method. The computed voids distribution shows an exponential behavior at scales between 2 and 10 Mm and the absence of features at 5-10 Mm mesogranular scales. The absence of preferred scales of organization in the 2-10 Mm range supports the multiscale nature of flows on the solar surface and the absence of a mesogranular convective scale

On an Analytical Framework for Voids: Their abundances, density profiles and local mass functions

We present a general analytical procedure for computing the number density of voids with radius above a given value within the context of gravitational formation of the large scale structure of the universe out of Gaussian initial conditions. To this end we develop an accurate (under generally satisfied conditions) extension of unconditional mass function to constrained environments, which allowes us both to obtain the number density of collapsed objects of certain mass at any distance from the center of the void, and to derive the number density of voids defined by those collapsed objects. We have made detailed calculations for the spherically averaged mass density and halo number density profiles for individual voids. We also present a formal expression for the number density of voids defined by galaxies of a given type and luminosity. This expression contains the probability for a collapsed object of certain mass to host a galaxy of that type and luminosity as a function of the environmental density. We propose a procedure to infer this function, which may provide useful clues as to the galaxy formation process, from the observed void densities.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS in pres