A framework for branched storytelling and matchmaking in multiplayer games

Video games often either have good single player campaign modes or good multi-player campaign-less modes. This paper presents a framework aimed at the full game development pipeline, from designers to programmers, to aid in creating multiplayer campaigns by providing components that help singleplayer story modes to be used in multiplayer interaction settings. We also propose a custom matchmaking system capable of matching players so as to intertwine their individual stories. The proposed framework has been validated in a case study. A set of experimental results show that the framework is capable of producing valuable story crossings and proper matchmaking.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

No secrets between the two of us: Privacy concerns over using AI agents

The diverse spread of artificial intelligence (AI) agents provides evidence of the most notable changes in the current media landscape. AI agents mostly function based on voluntary and involuntary sharing of users’ personal information. Accordingly, users’ privacy concerns have become key to understanding the varied psychological responses towards AI agents. In this study, we adopt the “computers are social actors” paradigm to identify the association between a set of relational variables—intimacy, para-social interactions, and social presence—and privacy concerns and to determine whether a user’s motivations moderate this relationship. The results from an online survey (N = 562) revealed that this occurs primarily to gratify three AI agent user needs: entertainment motivation, instrumental motivation, and passing time. The results also confirmed that social presence and intimacy significantly influence users’ privacy concerns. These results support the moderating effect of both entertainment and instrumental motivation on the relationship between intimacy, para-social interaction, social presence, and privacy concerns about using AI agents. Further implications for privacy concerns in the context of AI-mediated communications are discussed