Do Non-Player Characters Dream of Electric Sheep?
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Do non-player characters dream of electric sheep? A thesis about players, NPCs, immersion and believability Magnus Johansson © Magnus Johansson, Stockholm 2013 REPORT SERIES NO.13-004 ISSN 1101-8526 ISBN 978-91-7447-708-5 Printed in Sweden by US-AB, Stockholm 2013 Distributor: Department of Computer and System Sciences Do non-player characters dream of electric sheep? A thesis about players, NPCs, immersion and believability Magnus Johansson Abstract This is a thesis that deals with the norms and rules of players playing online games together. It is also a thesis about believability, the current capabilities of non-player characters (NPCs) and the attitudes amongst game developers towards dynamic and systemic games AI. The primary theme of this thesis considers which means of communication and coordination in terms of norms and rules are present in groups of players and particularly in guilds and clans playing Massively Multi Online Games (MMOGs) and First Person Shooters (FPSs) respectively. Norms are largely related in the literature to sociology and reflected in game-related research that deals with group behaviour. The presence of norms in these types of groups has been overlooked in previous research even though guilds have been addressed to some extent (Taylor 2006; Jakobsson and Taylor 2003). When rules have been discussed in games research (Salen and Zimmerman 2004; Montola 2009), the actual use, meaning and interpretation behind these rules from a player perspective has been omitted. In this thesis rules and norms are interpreted from a guild and clan perspective as important means for coordination, used in order to keep the group together. The implicit rules (Salen and Zimmerman 2004) are further seen as implicit rules made explicit through guild and clan forums where these groups of players express how to preserve the shared game experience. The absence of rituals, norms and rules has also been studied in temporary groups of one MMOG, with the explanation that existing relations with other players are maintained in these game sessions, but new relations are usually seen as too costly to invest in. The second theme of the thesis is directed at believability and the state of current NPCs, how immersion is influenced by NPCs that do not act in believable ways and the effect of the experience of players. The second theme is also influenced by the first theme, whereby rules and norms are seen as valuable tools for creating believability in NPCs, directly targeting the social layer mentioned in (Lankoski and Björk, 2007) that this far has been a slightly overlooked aspect in previous research (Mateas 1999; Mateas and Stern, 2003; Loyall, 1997) only dealing with believability on an individual level. The last section is directed at combining the results from the first section, how players play by the rules and norms of the group, and how this could foster believability in NPCs. Finally, this thesis does not provide an answer to NPCs' hopes and dreams but it does provide methods for analysing them, and, it is hoped, a way to develop them further. The contribution made by this thesis is relevant for: • Game developers and game researchers with an interest in plausible social behaviour in that it bridges a gap where the social dimension of NPCs have been left out. • Game researchers who are interested in player communities in that it provides insights and indications regarding the importance of player- created behavior-regulating mechanisms through the use of norms and rules. • Game developers in understanding the need for sanctioning mechanisms in social games, since this influences the whole player community. Keywords Social norms, MMOGs, MORPGs, FPS, Clans, Guilds, Rules, NPCs, Games AI, Game design, Game evaluation tools, Immersion, Believability INDEX 1 Acknowledgements .......................................................................... 1 2 Abbreviations ................................................................................... 2 3 Preface .............................................................................................. 3 4 Introduction ..................................................................................... 7 5 Research questions .......................................................................... 8 6 Articles ............................................................................................ 10 7 Limitations ..................................................................................... 12 8 Aim .................................................................................................. 13 9 Intended audience .......................................................................... 14 10 Background .................................................................................. 14 10.1 Section introduction ...................................................................................... 14 10.2 Games research ............................................................................................. 15 10.2.1 Philosophical aspects (C1) .................................................................... 15 10.2.2 Game-based learning and serious games (C2) ...................................... 17 10.2.3 Design aspects (C3) .............................................................................. 17 10.2.4 Cultural/social aspects (C4) .................................................................. 18 10.2.5 Game worlds (C5) ................................................................................. 19 10.2.6 Technical/games AI aspects (C6) ......................................................... 20 10.3 Multidisciplinary research ............................................................................ 20 10.3.1 Social sciences ...................................................................................... 21 10.3.2 Anthropology and ethnography ............................................................ 22 10.4 Section summary ........................................................................................... 22 11 Methods ........................................................................................ 23 11.1 Section introduction ...................................................................................... 23 11.2 Methods ........................................................................................................ 24 11.3 Overview of methods in relation to articles .................................................. 26 11.3.1 Observations ......................................................................................... 27 11.3.2 Interviews and questionnaires ............................................................... 27 11.3.3 Web search ............................................................................................ 27 11.3.4 Content analysis .................................................................................... 27 11.3.5 General analytical approach .................................................................. 28 11.3.6 Design science ...................................................................................... 28 11.4 Section summary ........................................................................................... 28 12 Players ........................................................................................... 31 12.1 Section introduction ...................................................................................... 31 12.2 Methods ........................................................................................................ 31 12.2.1 Observations ......................................................................................... 32 12.2.2 Web search ............................................................................................ 33 12.2.3 General analytical approach .................................................................. 34 12.2.4 Content analysis .................................................................................... 34 12.3 Players ........................................................................................................... 35 12.4 Groups ........................................................................................................... 37 12.5 Rules ............................................................................................................. 37 12.6 Norms ............................................................................................................ 39 12.6.1 Defining norms and evaluating norm breaches .................................... 40 12.6.2 Sanctions ............................................................................................... 41 12.7 Expectations .................................................................................................. 43 12.8 Discussion of norms ...................................................................................... 44 12.9 Discussion of rules ........................................................................................ 45 12.10 Differences and similarities between rule sets of guilds and clans ............. 47 12.11 Summary of norms ...................................................................................... 48 12.12 Summary of rules ........................................................................................ 48 12.13 Section summary ........................................................................................