1. 1 Starcraft from the Stands Understanding the Game Spectator Gifford Cheung, Jeff Huang The Information School, DUB Group University of Washington, Seattle

2. 2 Who are these people? How can we understand their roles and design for them? 3. 3 Spectators People who follow the in-game experience, but are not direct participants in the game. 4. 4 Related work 2 perspectives 5. 5 Understanding Performed Computing Designing the Spectator Experience (Reeves et al., 2005) Performing Perception Dalsgaard et Hanson (2008) 6. 6 Game/System Design If the experience is entertaining enough, people may even consider buying a console mainly for watching games Drucker (2002) 7. 7 WHO are the spectators and WHY do they spectate? How do different STAKEHOLDERS affect the spectator experience? What makes spectating a game ENJOYABLE ? 8. 8 Overview Pick a computer game, Starcraft(1998) & Starcraft II (2010) Collect online self-reports about spectating (127 stories from game forums, social news sites, online videos, blog posts) Analyze qualitatively, (Grounded Theory, Strauss & Corbin, 1990) Themes of spectatorship Spectator types (9) 9. 9 Why Starcraft? Starcraft is very, very popular and is spectated. Starcraft 1 (1998) 11 million units sold Professional Gaming Circuit in Korea 2 Dedicated TV Channels Most popular game at the annual World Cyber Games Starcraft 2 (2010) 4.5 million units sold Blizzard is sponsoring publicly broadcast tournaments aimed at an international audience. Video channels online have subscriptions of 300,000+ 10. 10 What is Starcraft? 11. 11 Commands are conveyed via mouse & keyboard conventions: left/right-clicks, drag- select, menu buttons, shortcut keys Your battleground is filled with resources (minerals and gas). Your units obey your commands to build, harvest resources, attack, move, etc Units are specialized harvesters, melee combatants, ranged artillery, aircraft, spell- casters, etc (paper/rock/scissor dynamic) Your buildings expand your capacity to wage war: training new kinds of units, upgrading them, firing on enemies, etc 12. 12 Isometric, Limited View 13. 13 Fog of War 14. 14 outmatched.rep Replay files 15. 15 Observers camera-men 16. 16 Findings 17. 17 Nine Types Bystander (uninformed) Bystander (uninvested) Curious Inspired (to play) Pupil (learning to play) Unsatisfied (watching is a substitute) Entertained Assistant Commentator 18. 18 Bystander (uninformed) Barrier to engagement: Lack of information what? 19. 19 Bystander (uninvested) Barrier to engagement: Lack of investment why? 20. 20 CuriousEngagement via learning ? 21. 21 The Pupil Learning specifically to play ? 22. 22 Inspired Engagement: Seeking enthusiasm to play !!! 23. 23 Unsatisfied Watching is a substitute for playing sigh. 24. 24 Entertained Watching is enjoyable 25. 25 Assistant Role: Helps the player 26. 26 Commentator (formal and informal) 27. 27 The Crowd A Community of Spectation 28. 28 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 29. 29 2 Selected Themes 30. 30 [ ][ ][ ][ ] The Work of Spectating A case of co-labor. Observer Camera- man 31. 31 Who is the performer? Korean obs [camara men] are much better at making the spectating of SC2 more exciting. That was a great choice to NOT show TLO's [player] tanks [artillery] at the back door, and finally show it right as the roaches [units] get in range. I've seen a lot of this stuff in Korean matches where someone is setting up an ambush or building lots of a surprise unit, and the obs focuses on other [parts of the map] and shows the stuff at the last moment. 32. 32 "if I watch [videos] on youtube i use paper+ducktape to cover the scores at the top of the screen and the "time-tracker" or how you wanna call it at the bottom, so I don't know the scores and the length of the match... BUT: I have to switch to fullscreen - so I have to close my eyes so that I can barely see anything and quickly switch to fullscreen without seeing the score or the length of the [video]. The work in spectating? 33. 33 [ ][ ][ ][ ] The Work of Spectating A case of co-labor. Observer Camera- man 34. 34 What makes Starcraft enjoyable to watch? 35. 35 Information Asymmetry Player Information Spectators Information 36. 36 Information Asymmetry Player Information Choice of strategy Awareness of own army and buildings Spectators Information Vision of both players Access to the entire map Limited to what the observer cameraman can pick out 37. 37 Design: Enjoyable tension in games can be created by situations where information asymmetry exists. 38. 38 Information Asymmetry Player Information Known Spectators Information Unknown Planned build order during the opening, especially cheese (unorthodox trick opening play) Attack strategy, e.g. a multi-pronged invasion, distracting the front while dropping in behind defenses 39. 39 Information Asymmetry Player Information Unknown Spectators Information Known The positions and compositions of opposing players units; enemy armies may unintentionally collide Traps laid by one player for another, causing catastrophic damage at inopportune times 40. 40 Information Asymmetry Player Information Unknown Spectators Information Unknown Outcome of a close battle Unpredictable attacks: Reaver Scarabs (bombs) may fizzle or decimate an army. 41. 41 Our favorite design implication Given the priority of information, one might suppose that better spectating = more information 42. 42 Consider spoilers A spoiler is information that that prematurely collapses the desired game suspense for a spectator. 43. 43 Solution? Instead of,"how do we give more information to spectators?", as spectators participate in and co-construct their own experience as a body of viewers, 44. 44 Where should we place control over the game information?" 45. 45 46. 46 Summary 9 Spectator types for Starcraft Uncovering the Work of spectating A theory of Information Asymmetry Design Idea: Information Control as an relevant consideration Future Directions Continuing discovery of spectating themes and types in other contexts. Further design inquiry 47. 47 Thank you! Questions? Photo Credits: flickr user vlidi, Attribution-ShareAlike http://www.flickr.com/photos/vlidi/380031730/ flickr user justinwdavis, Attribution-ShareAlike http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinwdavis/2853952950/ 48. 48Released in 1998 and 2010 The following are extra slides 49. 49 Method 50. 50 Data / Methodology Collected from gaming forums, blog posts, video comments, social news sites 5 articles, 10 article comments, 8 blog posts, 36 comments, 39 forum posts, 19 videos, and 9 video comments. (Total: 127) Analyzed via a Grounded Theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) 51. 51 Vicarious a champion of spectators (Huizinga, 1938) 52. 52 Communal Narratives They get it back now to the 30, they're down to the 20... Oh, the band is out on the field!! He's gonna go into the end zone! He's gone into the end zone!! Announcer Joe Starkley during the Big Game between Berkeley and Stanford, 1982. 53. 53 Designing the Spectator Experience (Reeves et al., 2005) Manipulation and Effects secretive, where manipulations and effects are largely hidden; expressive, where they tend to be revealed enabling the spectator to fully appreciate the performers interaction; magical, where effects are revealed but the manipulations that caused them are hidden; suspenseful, where manipulations are apparent but effects are only revealed as the spectator takes their turn. 54. 54 Bystander (uninformed/uninvested) i remember watching AoE [Age of Empires] at the austrian WCG finals (never played it tho) it looked so boring, and when one of the 2 players left, i didnt even know why :D 55. 55 Curious Once I learn all of this for myself, it will become far less fascinating, but right now it's all new and exciting. Before i thought SC was slow, ugly, and ponderous like a drunkin elephant, but as i watched pro gamers go at it, i realized that SC was fast, harsh, and hardcore. I started watching more and more commentary's[sic], learning more about SC then i had ever thought possible. 56. 56 Inspired Starcraft 2 played by experts is absolutely great to watch. I could definitely get behind some of the players out there. It actually makes me want to fire the game up and try the same shit. Watching all the talent and hearing all of these in-depth analyses of advanced strategy has inspired me to go buy the game myself and start playing playerVsplayer online for the first time. 57. 57 Pupil At the same time I learned the benefits of watching replays of matches where Id gotten panned, because Id always come away with some trick or idea (hard not to when SC2 lets you watch how your opponent moved his camera and cursor) 58. 58 Unsatisfied I started playing the single player game with my son and he is constantly bugging me to play so it is likely I will only get to watch him play and see the story 59. 59 Entertained On the other hand, I have never really played SC [Starcraft] but I enjoy watching it greatly. My girlfriend has never played games at all and she loves watching SC. Not WC3. [Warcraft 3] Why would that be? 60. 60 Assistant When Starcraft came out my brother always played it (since we had only 1 computer) and I would always sit next to him and helping him like telling him he is under attack in that section, your research is complete (I know the computer gives you this messages but you can't handle everything at once), it was like I was playing the in-game assistant. 61. 61 Commentator I really appreciate the insight [commentators] give on players, about their past accomplishments and how they've been doing recently, coming into a match. It's much more enjoyable when you know the players and the stakes. 62. 62 The Crowd I know if something insane happens, there's going to be an insane reaction. From the crowd, from the commentators, from the players and coaches even! The fact that there's a scene makes a huge difference. 63. 63 The Spectator Ecosystem 64. 64 Circles of Watching 65. 65 Selected Spectating Themes Spectating involves COLLABORATION Players showing awareness of spectators in play-style Camera-man role Commentator role (Formal & Informal) Spectators actively avoiding spoilers Next: a theory of enjoyment: Information Asymmetry