Undercurrents – A Computer-Based Gameplay Tool to Support Tabletop Roleplaying

This paper introduces Undercurrents, a computer-based gameplay tool for providing additional communication and media streams during tabletop roleplaying sessions. Based upon a client-server architecture, the system is intended to unobtrusively support secret communication, timing of audio and visual presentations to game events, and real-time documentation of the game session. Potential end users have been involved in the development and the paper provides details on the full design process

On Making Good Games - Using Player Virtue Ethics and Gameplay Design Patterns to Identify Generally Desirable Gameplay Features

This paper uses a framework of player virtues to perform a theoretical exploration of what is required to make a game good. The choice of player virtues is based upon the view that games can be seen as implements, and that these are good if they support an intended use, and the intended use of games is to support people to be good players. A collection of gameplay design patterns, identified through their relation to the virtues, is presented to provide specific starting points for considering design options for this type of good games. 24 patterns are identified supporting the virtues, including RISK/REWARD, DYNAMIC ALLIANCES, GAME MASTERS, and PLAYER DECIDED RESULTS, as are 7 countering three or more virtues, including ANALYSIS PARALYSIS, EARLY ELIMINATION, and GRINDING. The paper concludes by identifying limitations of the approach as well as by showing how it can be applied using other views of what are preferable features in games

On The Foundations of Digital Games

Computers have lead to a revolution in the games we play, and, following this, an interest for computer-based games has been sparked in research communities. However, this easily leads to the perception of a one-way direction of influence between that the field of game research and computer science. This historical investigation points towards a deep and intertwined relationship between research on games and the development of computers, giving a richer picture of both fields. While doing so, an overview of early game research is presented and an argument made that the distinction between digital games and non-digital games may be counter-productive to game research as a whole

Invisible colleges in the adult education research world

Invisible colleges - researchers’ networks of communicating academic work – are power-generating actors shaping research fields. A key question concerns the relation between local research communities and their dependence on global actors. A key arena is articles and citations in academic journals. An actor-network-inspired empirical investigation of the geographical origin of articles and references in the journal “Studies in the Education of Adults” and a check of references to journals in “Adult Education Quarterly” was made. The origin of articles and study objects in the International journal of Lifelong education was also analysed. Some conclusions can be drawn from the material. One is the heavy impact of “real” geographical location, i.e. the origins of texts and references are located in very specific areas on the map, i.e. in spite of the possibilities of cyberspace and global mobility. Another conclusion is the unilateral relation between an Anglo-American centre and a periphery in the distribution systems of texts. Adult education is faced with a contradictory situation between culturing invisible colleges in adult education and getting resources in the emerging economy of publications and citations through membership in other invisible colleges. (DIPF/orig.

Bureaucratic limits of firm size: Practitioner's summary

The research tests Oliver Williamson’s proposition that transaction cost economics can explain the limits of firm size. Williamson suggests that diseconomies of scale are manifested through four interrelated factors: atmospheric consequences due to specialisation, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits of the employment relation and communication distortion due to bounded rationality. Furthermore, Williamson argues that diseconomies of scale are counteracted by economies of scale and can be moderated by adoption of the multidivisional organisation form and by high internal asset specificity. Combined, these influences tend to cancel out and thus there is not a strong, directly observable, relationship between a large firm’s size and performance. A review of the relevant literature, including transaction cost economics, sociological studies of bureaucracy, information-processing perspectives on the firm, agency theory, and studies of incentives and motivation within firms, as well as empirical studies of trends in firm size and industry concentration, corroborates Williamson’s theoretical framework and translates it into five hypotheses: (1) Bureaucratic failure, in the form of atmospheric consequences, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits and communication distortion, increases with firm size; (2) Large firms exhibit economies of scale; (3) Diseconomies of scale from bureaucratic failure have a negative impact on firm performance; (4) Economies of scale increase the relative profitability of large firms over smaller firms; and (5) Diseconomies of scale are moderated by two transaction cost-related factors: organisation form and asset specificity. The hypotheses are tested by applying structural equation models to primary and secondary cross-sectional data from 784 large U.S. manufacturing firms. The statistical analyses confirm the hypotheses. Thus, diseconomies of scale influence the growth and profitability of firms negatively, while economies of scale and the moderating factors have positive influences. This implies that executives and directors of large firms should pay attention to bureaucratic failure.bureaucratic failure, diseconomies of scale, transaction cost economics

Ideology-driven public opinion formation in Europe: The case of third sector attitudes in Sweden

This paper uses third sector attitudes in Sweden as a test case for general assumptions about how citizens in ideologically structured West European political systems apply ideological schemas as shortcuts to political preferences. Third sector attitudes are found to be affected by all ideological schemas mirrored by the party system (state-market, Christian traditionalism, and growth-ecology). Moreover, contrary to what is implied by findings from America, these effects are very stable across socio-economic groups (especially those of the dominant state-market schema). Similarly, no interaction effects of political sophistication could be traced, and the relative impact of the schemas remains the same regardless of whether or not the third sector is presented as an alternative to the welfare state. Finally, consistent with theoretical expectations, the extent to which schemas have been made salient prior to the judgement affects their relative impact. The implications of these findings for the nature of public opinion formation in ideologically clear and structured political systems are discussed. -- Dieses Papier nutzt die Einstellungen zum Dritten Sektor in Schweden als Testfall für generelle Annahmen darüber, wie Bürger in westeuropäischen politischen Systemen, die ideologisch strukturiert sind, von ideologischen Schemata auf kürzestem Wege zu politischen Präferenzen kommen. Es läßt sich feststellen, daß Einstellungen zum Dritten Sektor von allen ideologischen Schemata beeinflußt werden, die sich im Parteiensystem wiederfinden (Staat-Markt, christlicher Traditionalismus und Wachstum-Ökologie). Im Gegensatz zu dem, was US-amerikanische Untersuchungsergebnisse implizieren, sind diese Effekte zudem über sozio-ökonomische Gruppen hinweg sehr stabil (vor allem die Effekte, die mit dem dominierenden Staat-Markt-Schema zusammenhängen). Es läßt sich gleichermaßen keine Wechselwirkung mit politischer Erfahrung nachweisen und der relative Einfluß der Schemata bleibt gleich, egal ob der Dritte Sektor als Alternative zum Wohlfahrtsstaat dargestellt wird oder nicht. Schließlich bestätigen sich die theoretischen Erwartungen, daß das Ausmaß, in dem die Schemata vor der Beurteilung hervorgehoben werden, sich auf ihren relativen Einfluß auswirkt. Es wird diskutiert, welche Implikationen diese Ergebnisse für die Vorstellung davon haben, wie Meinungsbildung auf der individuellen Ebene in ideologisch klaren und strukturierten politischen Systemen funktioniert.

The Price and Risk Effects of Option Introductions on the Nordic Markets

This paper examines the effects of option introductions on the price and risk of the underlying assets. The data, covering 58 introductions during the period 1985-1997, have been collected from the Nordic markets (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden). A persistent increase of stock returns is found right after the announcement date, rather than at the introduction date, as in US data. The volatility is found to decrease continuously over the ten-month period following the introduction of stock options.

Bureaucratic limits of firm size: Academic summary

The research tests Oliver Williamson’s proposition that transaction cost economics can explain the limits of firm size. Williamson suggests that diseconomies of scale are manifested through four interrelated factors: atmospheric consequences due to specialisation, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits of the employment relation and communication distortion due to bounded rationality. Furthermore, Williamson argues that diseconomies of scale are counteracted by economies of scale and can be moderated by adoption of the multidivisional organisation form and by high internal asset specificity. Combined, these influences tend to cancel out and thus there is not a strong, directly observable, relationship between a large firm’s size and performance. A review of the relevant literature, including transaction cost economics, sociological studies of bureaucracy, information-processing perspectives on the firm, agency theory, and studies of incentives and motivation within firms, as well as empirical studies of trends in firm size and industry concentration, corroborates Williamson’s theoretical framework and translates it into five hypotheses: (1) Bureaucratic failure, in the form of atmospheric consequences, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits and communication distortion, increases with firm size; (2) Large firms exhibit economies of scale; (3) Diseconomies of scale from bureaucratic failure have a negative impact on firm performance; (4) Economies of scale increase the relative profitability of large firms over smaller firms; and (5) Diseconomies of scale are moderated by two transaction cost-related factors: organisation form and asset specificity. The hypotheses are tested by applying structural equation models to primary and secondary cross-sectional data from 784 large U.S. manufacturing firms. The statistical analyses confirm the hypotheses. Thus, diseconomies of scale influence the growth and profitability of firms negatively, while economies of scale and the moderating factors have positive influences. This implies that executives and directors of large firms should pay attention to bureaucratic failure.bureaucratic failure, diseconomies of scale, transaction cost economics

The Relation of Federal and State Securities Laws

   This paper presents a framework for guiding policy-makers intervening in emerging innovation systems in 'catching-up' countries. The process whereby the central policy issues are identified rests on the notion that there are seven key processes, or 'functions', involved in the formation of such systems and that these processes can be empirically studied. A 'functional approach' is argued to be helpful in finding 'system weaknesses' that can act as focusing mechanisms for policy-makers. An illustrative case from Germany is followed by an analysis of emerging innovation systems in catching-up countries, in particular Brazil, Korea and Chile.This is an electronic version of an article published in:Staffan Jacobsson and Anna Bergek, A framework for guiding policy makers intervening in emerging innovation systems in 'catching up' countries, 2007, European Journal of Development Research, (18), 4, 687-707.European Journal of Development Research is available online at informaworldTM: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09578810601094902Copyright: Taylor & Francishttp://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/default.as