46 Emotions. Technology, and Digital Games

Table 3.2 All empathy-related thought processes used in Fable III, by category Thought processes Category Prioritization of other's perspectives Empathy-related Prioritization of feelings/ernotions Empathy-related/emotion- related Prioritization of relationships Empathy-related Solving a problem from another perspective Empathy-related Prioritization of someone vise’s opinions Empathy-related Integrating perspectives from another Empathy-related character

for an inter-rater agreement of at least 85%, which was surpassed following the first round of testing. Rather than privilege one definition or use of empathy over another, in this exploratory study, all expressed cognitive, behavioral, and affective activities used, which related to Batson’s (2009) eight uses, listed above, or Gerties et al.’s (2011) four described components of empathy, are labeled as empathy-related.

Summary of Game and Scenarios Used Synopsis of Fable III Fable III is a role-playing game developed by and released in October 2011. It is set in the same world (Albion) as prequels Fable (2004) and Fable II (2008), but includes a different story' and characters. In general, the Fable series includes story-driven experiences where participants play an , or a character that represents the player in the virtual world of the game. They can shape this character (the “role”) by how they play in the game; for example, through the successful completion of quests, how they treat others in the game and make decisions in the game, and through level­ ing up or gaining new skills (e.g., sword abilities or magic casting abilities). In Fable III, specifically, the player begins as the prince or princess o f Albion. The first half of the game involves going on quests (such as finding special diamonds) and building relationships with NPCs, or virtual, computer-generated characters not controlled by a human player. The goal in the first halfof the game is to overthrow one’s brother, the evil King Logan. Once Logan is overthrown, the player becomes the King or Queen of Albion, and the game’s structure changes. In this half of the game, players decide how to rule Albion. They are asked by an NPC, at specific intervals Emotion, empathy, ana ethical thinkirg in Fable III 47

in the game, to make decisions, for example, about raising or lowering taxes, or preserving the environment. Throughout the entirety of Fable III, the player builds his avatar’s repu­ tation based on his or her behavior during quests, interactions with any NPCs, and the choices he or she makes. As a result, the avatar’s moral stand­ ing changes, the avatar’s appearance changes, how NPCs treat the avatar changes, and the world of Albion also evolves. For example, players, via their avatar, can kill an innocent townsperson, which may decrease their moral standing; NPCs in the game may treat the avatar with more fear. One par­ ticipant noted that his in-game child NPC would repeatedly ask him why he killed one ot the innocent townspeople, which he had accidentally shot dur­ ing a quest. For the purposes of this chapter, two of the ethical decisions experienced in Fable III will be focused upon, as well as one additional scenario, which was provided to all participants in all conditions during the semi-structured interview. While there were many more scenarios that w'ere identified as being ethical decisions by the participants, these are focused upon particularly because they were all identified as being an ethical decision and helped to elucidate the complex relationship among emotions, empathy, and ethical thinking. While there were hundreds of decisions in the game (e.g., from should 1 walk up or down, to should 1 use a bow and arrow, or cast a spell on this enemy), all participants identified these two specific decisions in the game as being “ethical”—that is, having a choice that involves a value judg­ ment. It was not predetermined which scenarios to include prior to the study, in order to reduce interviewer bias, and to ensure that the study only analyzed ethical decisions, and not just any decision points.

"Surrender a Friend" The “Surrender a Friend” scenario occurs in the very beginning of Fable III. In this scenario, the player, as a prince or princess, is introduced to his/her childhood friend, named Elise or Elliot, depending on the avatar’s gender. (The friend is the opposite gender.) After a very brief period of time with the friend, the prince/princess is captured and brought to his/her brother. King Logan, who has caught three protesting villagers. Logan asks partici­ pants to sacrifice either Elise/Elliot or the three villagers. Or, if participants do not decide or wait too long, both Elise/Elliot and the villagers are killed. Also, during this scene, Elise/Elliot begs to be sacrificed and the villagers look scared.