explorations in player motivations: game mods barbaros bostan, national university of singapore ugur...
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EXPLORATIONS IN PLAYER MOTIVATIONS:
GAME MODS
Barbaros Bostan, National University of SingaporeUgur Kaplancali, Yeditepe University
Player Motivations
Motivation to reach a goal is influenced by both personal and situational factors.
Personal factors: needs, motives and goals of the player.
Situational factors: opportunities and possible incentives provided by the gaming environment.
Murray’s Need Framework
A need refers to a potentiality or readiness to respond in a certain way under given conditions and each need is characterized by a certain effect or the occurrence of a certain trend (Murray, 1938).
Game Modding
Game modding refers to the activity of making modifications to an existing commercial computer game’s aesthetics, experience and structure.
• used as a recruiting pool, • strengthens the brand name, • adds to the shelf-life of the original product, • increases customer loyalty,• reduces game developers R&D efforts and marketing costs.
Selected RPG: Fallout 3
• High level of interactivity,
• Moderate level of sociability,
• Believable autonomous virtual characters,
• Open-ended story structure,
• High user freedom of choice,
• High visual and behavioral realism.
Game Mods vs. Needs
• For 16 categories of mods, the 10 most downloaded mods for each category are tested and analyzed with respect to the needs they satisfy.
Common Needs
Satisfied by Mods
Game Mods vs. Needs
nAcq11%
rExh11%
rRec11%
nAgg9%
nHarm6%
nRet6%
nSex5%
nAff5%
nOrd4%
nSen25%
nCons4% nSen
nAcq
rExh
rRec
nAgg
nHarm
nRet
nSex
nAff
nOrd
nCons
Percentage of needs satisfied by the 160 mods.
Case Study with 7 students shows a 68.6% recognition rate for the hypothesized mod-need relations.
Conclusion
Restrictions imposed by the game mechanics, significantly reduce the number of player needs satisfied by a game.
The player is usually trapped within the common motivational cycle of Achievement, Aggression, Harmavoidance and Acquisition.
Gaming mods satisfy a broader range of needs (Sentience, Exhibition, Recognition, Sex, Play and Affiliation) and provide valuable information on player preferences.
Understanding these preferences should facilitate the identification of independent player profiles or playstyles.
EXPLORATIONS IN PLAYER MOTIVATIONS:
GAME MODS
Please send your questions and comments to:
Barbaros Bostan: [email protected] Kaplancali: [email protected]