Doing Reading 03
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| Screenshot of some of my resources collected in RefWorks |
Object, Me, Symbiote, Other: A social typology of player-avatar relationships
by Jaime Banks.
First Monday, Volume 20, Number 2 - 2 February 2015
The author looks at the outlook of the player to avatar connection and examines if their relationship can be seen as a variably social relationship or not. This resource points out that the player and avatar relationship can be very strong when a player has the ability to customize their avatar which leads to a stronger connection. The article looks deep into the PAR (the player and avatar relationship) to discover if this relationship can ever so often be called a social relationship. As the avatar is non a real person it is said to be non-existing outside the player's mind. To further develop the research of the PARs and to establish if these relationships are capable to be social relationships an investigation was done. The players of the MMO (World of Warcraft) were interviewed to examine the PARs with over 10 years of experience. The investigation showed that self-differentiation, emotional intimacy, and variations in the perceived agency were found in the PARs. It shows that different players developed a different type of relationship with their avatars and some were similar to human relationships. The article gives strong and good points for every paragraph written and research that has been done. Everything information is proven and backed up to show that it is valid. The game world is mentioned as well as it motivates the players and can allow the player to create some very outstanding stories for their avatar and it adds to the narration of the world. According to the written piece, the more breathtaking and unique the game world is the more likely the player will want to explore it and have more enjoyable adventures. All of this adds to the PAR as the player will have more adventures in the game world meaning the connection between the player and the avatar will grow bigger especially if the player can experience the full ability of the avatar to get to know their skills and their surroundings.
Jørgensen, K. “I’m Overburdened! ” An Empirical Study of the Player, the Avatar, and the Gameworld.
This article focuses not only on the relationship the player might build with the avatar but also looks at the features and the abilities of the game world that the player plays as the avatar. It looks at how the three are connected and how it matches the whole game. Research along with the results of some questions asked such as if the avatar in the game knows it is being controlled, who is the avatar speaking to, and if the avatar knows their health status os not was taken to examine the relationship that the player has with the avatar in the featured gameworld. Such unusual questions were asked to find out how close can a PAR really be in an isolated digital game world and to point out to the players that they are switching between two different worlds where one is the reality and the other is nothing more than created by a computer program. This research study looked at how much the player's world could tie up to the avatar's world. It examines how every game mentioned in the article like "Sims" (which is basically a click and move type of game) don't give the player the same experience or ability to develop a deep PAR as the player has full control of the avatar that they created and there is no storyline. The player can only create a story in their mind. The Player simply just controls the units that act on the tasks given by the player and can control 7 different units at once which shows that there is very little emotional connection developed. In the reading, it has been shown that games where the player is given less control over the avatar, play as one avatar throughout the whole game and is given an impression of being in the avatar's world are more effective on the player. However, the article points out in the conclusion that at the end of the day the player only plays a certain role in every game rather than developing or taking on the role of a character. This proves that there is no identification created in the game and that there is no feeling that the player becomes the figure. The player controls the avatar or some units in the game that respond to the player's orders which have been scripted and personality is not involved. The resource looks at a different form of PAR and says that although the player connects with the game world and the avatar the player only plays a role.
Wang, H., Ruan, Y., Hsu, S. and Sun, C. Effects of Game Design Features on Player-Avatar Relationships and Motivation for Buying Decorative Virtual Items.
The article looks into how the designed game features can affect the gameplay and the player-avatar relationship. It is discussed and researched how the features designed in the game impact the player's ability to form a PAR with their avatar and to what extend. To answer those questions participants were taken from 15 online games to do two surveys on the topics above. Despite the online ability to connect with real people in the real world to play together as avatars together, the whole PAR is still formed in a digital world that isn't linked to the player's actual world meaning that the PAR is not present outside the game. The article looks at how the players can socialize with the virtual avatars on their screen and how the players enter their world to complete quests. Research has shown that the players see their avatars as more than just a scripted piece of code made by some computer program to follow their orders and complete the game. The player is drawn to their avatar's story and often connects them in a way to have strong feelings for their avatar. The author says that it has been found that often player's form a strong PAR with avatars that are either a form of what the player would wish to be themselves for example as strong or as brave, other times the player and the avatar might have strong similarities like a loss of a loved one which has an effect on the player. The article gives good details about looking deeply in some areas on how close the PAR be. It checks to see if the whole design of the game such as vivid stories and realistic-looking avatars affects how much the PAR will be established and how strong it will grow throughout the gameplay.
Papale, L. (2014) Beyond Identification: Defining the Relationships between Player and Avatar [online], Available from <http://gamescriticism.org/articles/papale-1-2> [Accessed Feb 11, 2021]
The author discusses what the player goes through when playing the role of the avatar in the game world. The relation that happens between the player and the avatar is seen by many people see as having a close relationship and bond with the avatar that they are playing with. However, it points out that what seen by most players as a relationship that involves feelings and a sense of identification is only said to be a psychological response that the player experiences throughout the gameplay. This article discusses and examines what type of relationship is and can be formed between the players and the avatar throughout the game such as "detachment", "Projection"," Identification", "Empathy" and "Sympathy". A case study done by Heavy Rain is included which observed how easy and fast it is for the player to change from one feeling to another while playing as the avatar. The case studies show how it really depends on the player and how an emotional player can experience more feelings and impact from playing the game than a detached player who chose to be random. It talks about what the player can feel and how they can be affected by playing the avatar. The author looks at how much identification is developed and involved in the PARs along with the player's most common feeling can get towards the avatar. The author says how much the point of view from which the player plays and sees the avatar have an impact and play a very important role in the PARs like the ability to customize the avatar and control its actions and decisions. These features and many more are mentioned in the article of how they add to the PARs and what kind of an impact it has on the player's point of view towards the avatar.
I found this week's reading difficult to do and very time-consuming, I have definitely spent more than 3 hours on the whole process. It has taken me a lot of time to go through the articles to understand them well enough to write the annotated bibliography. I re-watched the video and ran a bit about the annotated bibliography but I feel like I went off the point many times and feel like it is not fully correct. It was difficult not to just write a summary and despite trying I feel like I still wrote a summary rather than the annotated bibliography. I have some issues with some of the resources found as for some reason they don't seem to be having to RefWorks. I had to download or bookmark some of them to keep a track of them.
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