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Jaime Banks
@amperjay
West Virginia University, USA
@wvucommstudies
#ixlab
Of beard physics and worldness:
The (non) effect of enhanced anthropomorphism on player-avatar relations
I CAN HAZ
MOAR
POLYGONZ
PLZ?
Player-Avatar Interaction (PAX)
Object Me Symbiote Other
(Banks, 2015; Banks & Bowman, 2013, 2014, 2016)
“ ”
~45-50% ~45-50% ~5-10% ~5-10%
(Relational) anthropomorphism• Avatar contributions (eval = self-sameness)
• Appearance – ear length, skin color, cartoonishness, organic curves
• Behaviors – expressions, gaits, gaze, autonomy
• Other qualities – genderedness, speech, social norm adherence
• Player contributions (eval = phenomenal response)
• Process of rationalization by superimposing human frames
• Schema activation and inference
• Cognitive biases against non-human agencies/subjectivities
Research Question:Does enhanced
avatar anthropomorphism
(of familiar avatars)
influence player-avatar relations?
Study context …
World of Warcraft, October 2014
Shape/texture enhancements
Expression/posture enhancements
Movement enhancements
Method• Longitudinal field experiment
• Recruitment questionnaire + 3 surveys
• PAX Scale (Banks & Bowman, 2016)Dimension M∆ by condition over time
• Survey 1 = Past, 2 = Present (model changes), 3 = Future
• Identify favorite avatar
• Naturally occurring conditions• Old avatars (low anthro, unchanged): Blood Elves (~21%)
• Modern avatars (high anthro, unchanged): Pandaren, Worgen Goblins (~12%)
• Upgraded avatars (low anthro, changed to high anthro): Draenei, Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, Undead (~67%)
Participants• Recruited through online WoW forums, FB groups
• 1 year of WoW game time (~$180) drawing
• Characteristics
• ~81% male (n = 247)
• ~79% Caucasian (n = 240)
• WoW tenure ≈ 7 years
• Avatar tenure ≈ 4.5 years, M = ~63% of playtime
• Attrition
• Recruitment Questionnaire, 3-5 weeks prior, N = 857
• Survey #1, 2 weeks prior, N = 491 (43% attrition)
• Survey #2, 1 week after, N = 370 (25% attrition)
• Survey #3, 3 weeks after, N = 305 (18% attrition)
Results …
NO.
No significant differences by Time, Condition, or Time*Condition when controlling for demographics and play habits.
Post-hoc thematic analysis
Thoughts on a “current event” – avatar model changes:
• Explicit anthropomorphism mentioned infrequently
• Implicit anthropomorphism “more believable”
• Cleaner, more fluid, lifelike, believable, closer to reality
• Depth and energy > Literal animacy
• Nostalgic concern for the ‘soul’ of the avatar ……………………….
• Tension: Game needs v. Avatar changes
• Modernization necessary to survive, but jarring
• Linked to changes in gameworld feel ………………………
• (Dis)satisfaction with discrete features
• Love: beard physics, hair styles, curves
• Hate: feet, perma-grin, run animations, skin tones ……………
Model changes may result in …• Shifts in perceptual (not social) realism
… Implicit (not explicit) anthropomorphism
… Human-likeness (not humanness)
… PAX operationalizes AA as explicit anthro
• Shifts in worldness, not relations
… Interplays: world aesthetics, combat dynamics,
expressive potentials, social interactions
… Systemic phenomenological change
Implications Academic v. lay notions of human(like)ness
Short-term/assigned v. long-term/familiar
Examining games/play/avatars as systems
• Discrete effects of perceptual/social realism
• Interplays of explicit/implicit anthropomorphism
• Themes: souls, benefit tensions, avparts/whole
• Phenomenology of (relational) anthropomorphism
Future Research