Thesis no: MSCS-2016-13 Empirical Investigation on Measurement of Game Immersion using Real World Dissociation Factor Gadila Swarajya Haritha Reddy Faculty of Computing Blekinge Institute of Technology SE–371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden This thesis is submitted to the Faculty of Computing at Blekinge Institute of Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science. The thesis is equivalent to 20 weeks of full time studies. Contact Information: Author(s): Gadila Swarajya Haritha Reddy E-mail: [email protected] University advisor: Prof. Sara Eriksén Department of Creative Technologies Faculty of Computing Internet : www.bth.se Blekinge Institute of Technology Phone : +46 455 38 50 00 SE–371 79 Karlskrona, Sweden Fax : +46 455 38 50 57 Abstract Context. Games involve people to a large extent where they relate them- selves with the game characters; this is commonly known as game immer- sion. Generally, some players play games for enjoyment, some for stress relaxation and so on.Game immersion is usually used to describe the degree of involvement with a game. When people play games, they don’t necessar- ily realize that they have been dissociated with the surrounding world. Real world dissociation (RWD) can be defined as the situation where a player is less aware of the surroundings outside the game than about what is happen- ing in the game itself. The RWD factor has been expected to measure the losing track of time, lack of awareness of surroundings and mental trans- portation. Objectives. In this thesis, we measure and compare the difference in game immersion between experienced and inexperienced players using RWD fac- tor. In addition, the study involves exploring the significance of game im- mersion and various approaches used to measure it. Methods. In this study literature review has been carried out to explore the meaning of game immersion and further user studies in the form of an experiment has been conducted to measure game immersion between expe- rienced and inexperienced gamers. The game immersion has been measured using the real world dissociation (RWD) factor. After the experiment has been conducted, a statistical technique has been carried out to measure the difference in game immersion among the two groups. Results. The empirical investigation on the measurement of game immer- sion has been done using RWD factor. The results state that the signifi- cance value is less than 0.05 and hence null hypothesis is rejected for both the games. The measurable difference has been calculated by using Cohen’s d effect size between experienced and inexperienced players. Conclusions. After analyzing the data and calculating the effect size, the overall results state that inexperienced group of players are more im- mersed than the experienced group of players when measured by RWD factor. Hence it can be concluded that irrespective of the game played, inexperienced players are more dissociated from the real world than the experienced players. Keywords: Game Immersion, Real world dissociation (RWD), experienced players, inexperienced players. Dota 2, CS:GO. i Acknowledgement Immeasurable appreciation and deepest gratitude for the help and support to the people who in one way or the another have contributed in making this study (Master’s Degree) possible. It is a genuine pleasure to express my deep sense of gratitude and sincerity to my supervisor Prof. Sara Eriksén. I’m grateful to my supervisor, whose expertise, understanding, generous guidance and support made it possible for me to work on a topic that was of a great interest to me. I would also like to forward my thanks to the examiner of Computer Science Department Dr. Martin Boldt, who have supported with valuable guidance and encouragement throughout my study. Finally, I would like to show my gratitude from the bottom of my heart to my parents Gadila Veerender Reddy and Gadila Hima Bindu, my brother Sa- harsh Reddy for their eternal support and love throughout my study. I would like to forward a special thanks to all my family members and friends who have supported me at every step of my study which has put me forward with confidence and success. ii List of Figures 2.1 SCI Model . 10 2.2 Relationship between factors and models of immersion . 11 2.3 Factors affecting RWD . 14 3.1 Minimap of the arena in Dota 2 during a battle between two teams 21 3.2 Map representing teams: terrorists and counter-terrorists in CS:GO 22 3.3 Experimental Process . 31 4.1 Immersion scores for experienced players of Dota2 . 41 4.2 Immersion scores for inexperienced players of Dota2 . 42 4.3 Comparison of immersion scores for experienced and inexperienced players (Dota 2) . 42 4.4 Immersion scores for experienced players of Counter Strike . 43 4.5 Immersion scores for inexperienced players of Counter Strike . 43 4.6 Comparison of immersion scores for experienced and inexperienced players (CS:GO) . 44 5.1 Means and Standard deviations for Dota 2 . 46 5.2 Values for Independent Sample T-test (Dota 2) . 46 5.3 Difference in means of immersion scores for both the groups (Dota 2).................................... 47 5.4 Means and Standard deviations for CS:GO . 47 5.5 Values for Independent Sample T-test (CS:GO) . 47 5.6 Difference in means of immersion scores for both the groups (CS:GO) 48 5.7 Interpretation of Cohen’s d . 48 B.1 Snapshot of Steam Website for top games . 66 iii List of Tables 2.1 Description of five factors of immersion . 9 2.2 Characteristics of RWD with sub-categories . 13 3.1 Search results for literature review . 19 3.2 Sample calculated for each game individually . 25 4.1 Presence Questionnaires used in investigating gaming experience . 34 4.2 Questionnaires used in investigating gaming experience in concept of flow . 36 4.3 Questionnaires used in investigating gaming experience that mea- sures specific aspect of games . 38 4.4 Questionnaires used in investigating gaming experience which aim to capture full gaming experience . 40 C.1 Immersion scores of experienced players of Dota2 game . 69 C.2 Immersion scores of inexperienced players of Dota2 game . 71 D.1 Immersion scores of experienced players of CS:GO . 73 D.2 Immersion scores of inexperienced players of CS:GO . 75 iv List of Abbreviations RWD Real World Dissociation MOBA Multi-player Online Battle Arena FPS First Person Shooter CS:GO Counter Strike:Global Offensive HCI Human Computer Interaction VR Virtual Reality IEQ Immersive Experience Questionnaire GexpQ Game Experience Questionnaire GengQ Game Engagement Questionnaire ITC-SOPI ITC Sense of Presence Inventory TAM Technology Acceptance Model CEGE Core Elements of Gaming Experience SPGQ Social Presence in Gaming Questionnaire CAAS Computer Apathy and Anxiety Scale v Contents Abstract i 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Problem Statement . 2 1.2 Aim and Objectives . 3 1.3 Research Questions . 3 1.4 Thesis Outline . 4 2 Background and Related Work 5 2.1 Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) . 5 2.2 Computer Games . 5 2.3 An Overview of Immersion . 6 2.3.1 Presence . 7 2.3.2 Flow . 7 2.4 Definition of Game Immersion . 7 2.5 Models of Game Immersion . 9 2.5.1 SCI Model of Game Immersion . 9 2.5.2 Modified SCI Model of Game Immersion . 10 2.5.3 Adams’ Model of Game Immersion . 10 2.5.4 Levels of Game Immersion . 11 2.6 Real World Dissociation Factor . 12 2.7 Research Gap Identification . 14 2.8 Contribution . 14 3 Method 16 3.1 Literature Review . 17 3.2 Experiment . 20 3.2.1 Selection of Games . 20 3.2.1.1 Description of Dota 2 . 21 3.2.1.2 Description of Counter Strike: Global Offensive . 22 3.2.2 Participants and Sampling . 23 3.2.2.1 Stratified Random Sampling . 23 3.2.3 Questionnaire Development . 25 3.2.3.1 Motivation for Choosing IEQ Questionnaire . 25 vi 3.2.4 Procedure . 27 3.2.5 Data Analysis . 28 3.2.5.1 Description of Independent Sample T-test . 28 3.2.5.1.1 Hypothesis Testing . 29 3.2.5.2 Cohen’s D Effect Size . 29 4 Results 32 4.1 Literature Review . 32 4.1.1 Methods for Measuring Game Immersion . 32 4.1.1.1 Objective Measures for Game Immersion . 32 4.1.1.2 Subjective Measures for Game Immersion . 33 4.2 Experiment . 41 4.2.1 Measures of Game Immersion . 41 4.2.1.1 Dota 2 . 41 4.2.1.2 Counter Strike:Global Offensive . 42 5 Analysis 45 5.1 Data Analysis for Results . 45 5.1.1 Difference in Game Immersion . 45 5.1.1.1 Independent Sample T-test . 45 5.1.1.1.1 Hypothesis Testing for Dota 2 . 46 5.1.1.1.2 Hypothesis Testing for Counter Strike:Global Offensive . 47 5.1.1.2 Effect Size . 48 5.1.1.2.1 Cohen’s D for Dota 2 . 49 5.1.1.2.2 Cohen’s D for Counter Strike:Global Of- fensive . 49 6 Discussions and Validity Threats 50 6.1 Discussions . 50 6.2 Threats to Validity . 51 6.2.1 Internal Validity . 52 6.2.2 External Validity . 52 6.2.3 Construct Validity . 52 6.2.4 Conclusion Validity . 52 7 Conclusions and Future Work 54 7.1 Conclusions . 54 7.1.1 Answering Research Questions . 54 7.2 Future Work . 55 References 56 Appendix A Game Immersion Questionnaire 64 vii Appendix B Snapshot of Steam Website 66 Appendix C Immersion scores of Dota 2 67 C.1 Results of experienced players . 67 C.2 Results of inexperienced players .