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Digital games incorporate systems that allow players to customise and develop their controllable in-game representative (avatar) over the course of a game. Avatar customisation systems represent a point at which the goals and values of players interface with the intentions of the game developer forming a dynamic and complex relationship between system and user. With the proliferation of customisable avatars through digital games and the ongoing monetisation of customisation options through digital content delivery platforms it is important to understand the relationship between player and avatar in order to provide a better user experience and to develop an understanding of the cultural impact of the avatar. Previous research on avatar customisation has focused on the users of virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games, leaving single-player avatar experiences. These past studies have also typically focused on one particular aspect of avatar customisation and those that have looked at all factors involved in avatar customisation have done so with a very small sample. This research has aimed to address this gap in the literature by focusing primarily on avatar customisation features in single-player games, aiming to investigate the relationship between player and customisation systems from the perspective of the players of digital games. To fulfill the research aims and objectives, the qualitative approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis was adopted. Thirty participants were recruited using snowball and purposive sampling (the criteria being that participants had played games featuring customisable avatars) and accounts of their experiences were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Through this research, strategies of avatar customisation were explored in order to demonstrate how people use such systems. The shortcomings in game mechanics and user interfaces were highlighted so that future games can improve the avatar customisation experience.

<p>Purpose/Aim: The aim of this paper is to study how guild leaders in World of Warcraft (WOW) and leaders of real life organizations compare in terms of tasks, every-day experiences, environment, responsibilities and motivation. This comparison is used to build a new theory describing leadership in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).</p><p>Material/Method: The paper uses the grounded theory approach to build a new theory. 12 interviews were conducted, six with WOW guild leaders and six with leaders of real life organizations. The Four Capacities Framework and the Leadership Grid were used to analyze and compare the results of the interviews.</p><p>Main results: Leadership in MMORPGs is as complex and challenging as real life leadership with the difference that it stresses the internal relationships of the organization very much while neglecting outside relations to a big extend. Guild leadership is in many ways similar to real life leadership as both require long term political decisions, policy setting and good work in the field of human resources. However, it stresses the ability to build working social relationships and to motivate using only digital communication. Some aspects of real life leadership like customer orientation and an organizational instance over the leader like an owner or share holders that the leader is responsible to are not existent.</p>

<p>Massiva onlinerollspel är idag mycket populära och försäljningen och spelandet utav dessa ökar markant. I och med detta väcks frågan om vad det är i dessa onlinespel som gör att människor spelar och fortsätter spela. Denna uppsats inriktas främst mot MMORPG:s, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, då författarna anser att det är i denna onlinespelsgenre den största möjligheten att finna och definiera de faktorer, som påverkar</p><p>spelares vilja att spela, finns. För att ta reda på dessa faktorer skapades en enkät vars frågor utformades med en gameflowmodell i baktanken. Denna enkät lades sedan ut på sex olika onlinespelsanknutna forum, där totalt 105 spelare anonymt deltog. Den bygger dock även på tidigare gjorda undersökningar och rapporter om onlinespelandets anledningar, analyserade artiklar inom ämnet MMORPG spel och sist men inte minst författarnas egna erfarenheter utav MMORPG spel.</p>

Purpose/Aim: The aim of this paper is to study how guild leaders in World of Warcraft (WOW) and leaders of real life organizations compare in terms of tasks, every-day experiences, environment, responsibilities and motivation. This comparison is used to build a new theory describing leadership in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs). Material/Method: The paper uses the grounded theory approach to build a new theory. 12 interviews were conducted, six with WOW guild leaders and six with leaders of real life organizations. The Four Capacities Framework and the Leadership Grid were used to analyze and compare the results of the interviews. Main results: Leadership in MMORPGs is as complex and challenging as real life leadership with the difference that it stresses the internal relationships of the organization very much while neglecting outside relations to a big extend. Guild leadership is in many ways similar to real life leadership as both require long term political decisions, policy setting and good work in the field of human resources. However, it stresses the ability to build working social relationships and to motivate using only digital communication. Some aspects of real life leadership like customer orientation and an organizational instance over the leader like an owner or share holders that the leader is responsible to are not existent.

Digital game developers often struggle with creating games that are challenging but inviting towards new audiences. One of these challenges revolves around the complexity of character creation, specifically in Role-Playing Games. Presenting and utilizing statistics that a player can alter is done at a critical moment of play, often before a player has begun playing the main portion of the game. A risk therefore exists of confusing or alienating those who have adopted the game with too much information that has a significant effect on later experiences with said game. This paper sought to determine which player demographics seek or may avoid specific numerical complexity within digital games and suggests which range of decisions they would accept when presented with a new gaming experience, focusing specifically on character attributes (also known as statistics). / Digitala spelutvecklare måste ofta kämpa med att skapa spel som både lockar nya spelare men samtidigt är svåra nog att klara för att vara utmanande. En utmaning kopplad till detta är skapandet av karaktärer, specifikt i rollspel. Presentationen av karaktärsattribut som spelare kan ändra sker vid ett kritiskt moment av spelande (dess början), oftast innan en spelare har börjat spela huvuddelen av ett spel. Det existerar därför en risk av att förvirra eller skrämma bort de som införskaffat spelet, då de överväldigas av för mycket information om spelelement som har markant effekt, speciellt senare i det nämnda spelets delar. Denna uppsats hade därför som uppgift att bedöma vilka grupper av spelare som söker eller undviker viss numerisk komplexitet inom digitala spel. Uppsatsen föreslog även en skala av det antal val som spelare skulle acceptera när de får en ny spelupplevelse presenterad för sig, med fokus specifikt på karaktärsattribut.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T14:37:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_EDUARDO_MIRANDA.pdf: 682411 bytes, checksum: 02471e1edaa7016b11b9c148dbdcc320 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-03-23 / Os jogos de interpretação de papéis (RPG) têm sido alvos de críticas e apologias das mais variadas, muitas vezes sem embasamento científico. Tais jogos aparecem cada vez mais entre as práticas lúdicas de adolescentes e é crescente o número de pesquisas acerca de seu uso em educação. Assim, tornase necessária uma investigação com bases psicológicas sobre o tema. Para chegar a esse posicionamento, foram relacionados aspectos contidos na dinâmica do jogo e discurso de 22 jogadores da região da Grande Vitória, analisados sob um viés psicológico. Com base nessas informações, pôde-se traçar um panorama das características da atividade, bem como o lugar que ela ocupa nas relações que esses jogadores perfazem e suas conseqüências para esses mesmos sujeitos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionários e entrevistas e foram agrupados em categorias estabelecidas a posteriori. Os resultados finais caracterizam um grupo de praticantes de RPG do Estado do Espírito Santo e tornam possível a análise psicológica das particularidades detectadas. Pôde-se avaliar o lugar que a prática de jogar RPG ocupa na rotina dos participantes, bem como analisar, por meio dos dados coletados, aspectos psicológicos intrínsecos ao jogo. / Role Playing Games (RPG) had been constantly criticized or defended in many forms, several times without a scientific approach. These kind of games appear in the playful behaviors of many adolescents. With the increasing use of RPG on education and more researches been developed in the area, it makes necessary a psychological approach of the matter. To make this possible, this work relates the speech of some players with intrinsic aspects of the RPG dynamics. A view of the RPG characteristics could be done with these data, as well as a look on the relations that the subjects make with the game and its possible consequences. The data were grouped in categories after some questionnaires and interviews had been done. The final results show the way of being of a small group of players of Espirito Santo's state and allows a psychological analysis of the characteristics collected. It was possible to evaluate what is the place of RPG in the subjects routine, as well as specific characteristics of the game that are of special interests of Psychology.

Submitted by Edineia Teixeira (edineia.teixeira@unioeste.br) on 2018-02-19T13:25:26Z No. of bitstreams: 2 lisiane_colussi2016.pdf: 1060199 bytes, checksum: 0375520564cf985e0e4a247713114288 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-19T13:25:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 lisiane_colussi2016.pdf: 1060199 bytes, checksum: 0375520564cf985e0e4a247713114288 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-15 / In the perspective of Cultural-Historical Theory, based on Vygotski, Leontiev and Elkonin, child development is conceived as a historical and dialectic phenomenon, determined by the objective conditions of social organization. In this manner, it comprehends several psychic stages characterized by distinct forms of relating with the world and by different guide-activities, responsible for this process, being that role playing games are the fundamental guide-activity from ages three to six. In the present study, the objective was to verify the contribution of role playing games towards the development of superior psychological functions in children from ages five to six. To accomplish this, the specific objectives were: study the “state of knowledge”, about the periodization of psychic development in Children‟s Education, in the period between 2004-2014; analyze the contributions of the Cultural-Historical Psychology in order to comprehend psychic development of the young child; describe role playing games experienced by children ages five to six; investigate the dynamic of interactions and of negotiations relative to the roles played by the children during role playing games; identify how functional psychological processes manifest during role playing games. To reach these specific objectives a qualitative field survey was developed in a public school, involving 12 students in Children´s Education, in this age range, and the teacher. Data collection was organized into two phases. In Phase I, a pilot survey took place that consisted in observing “Toy Day” (name given in the classroom routine) during six hours with the intention of responding some questions to better guide the planning of Phase II. This phase involved filming role playing games, over the course of 15 days, involving six sessions, with an average duration of 45 minutes each, summing a total of five hours of footage, that were then transcribed for analysis. The research about the State of Knowledge, together with the data collected in Phase I revealed the lack of knowledge about role playing games as a factor in infantile psychological development. The analysis of role playing games collected during Phase II demonstrated that the protagonized children‟s experiences improve the superior functional processes of the children, which enables them to be more active since it favors interactions that make the exchange of experiences between children and adults possible. This way, role playing games are a way of cultural appropriation of the social relations produced in the context into which the child inserts himself in, making it possible for the child to recognize his or her capacity and potential, demonstrate his or her feelings and moral and ethic judgments, and reveal his or her conscience in seek of humanization. Thus, it is important for the teacher to recognize and favor the educative potential of role playing games. / Na perspectiva da Teoria Histórico-Cultural, com base em Vygotski, Leontiev e Elkonin, o desenvolvimento infantil é concebido como um fenômeno histórico e dialético, determinado pelas condições objetivas da organização social. Desse modo, compreende vários estágios psíquicos caracterizados por distintas formas de relação com o mundo e por diferentes atividades-guia, principais responsáveis por esse processo, sendo o jogo ou brincadeira de papéis a atividade-guia fundamental dos três aos seis anos. Na presente pesquisa, objetivou-se verificar a contribuição dos jogos de papéis para o desenvolvimento das funções psicológicas superiores em crianças de cinco a seis anos. Para alcançá-lo elegeram-se como objetivos específicos: pesquisar o “Estado do conhecimento”, acerca da periodização do desenvolvimento psíquico na Educação Infantil, no período entre 2004-2014; analisar as contribuições da Psicologia Histórico-Cultural para a compreensão do desenvolvimento psíquico da criança pequena; descrever “jogos de papéis” vivenciados por crianças de cinco a seis anos; investigar a dinâmica das interações e das negociações relativas aos papéis que as crianças desempenham durante o jogo de papéis; identificar como os processos funcionais psicológicos manifestam-se nos jogos de papéis. Para atingi-los desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa de campo qualitativa, em uma escola pública municipal envolvendo 12 alunos da Educação Infantil, nessa faixa etária, e a professora. A coleta de dados foi organizada em duas fases. Na Fase I, realizou-se uma pesquisa piloto com seis horas de observação da atividade “Dia do Brinquedo” (assim designada na rotina da sala de aula) com o objetivo de responder a alguns questionamentos que orientaram o planejamento da Fase II. Essa fase envolveu filmagens dos jogos de papéis, efetuadas durante 15 dias, envolvendo seis sessões, com duração média de 45 minutos cada uma, totalizando cerca de cinco horas, as quais foram posteriormente transcritas para análise. A pesquisa sobre o Estado do Conhecimento, assim como os dados coletados na Fase I revelou o desconhecimento dos jogos de papéis como fator de desenvolvimento psicológico infantil. A análise dos jogos de papéis coletados na Fase II demonstrou que as vivências infantis protagonizadas oportunizam a ampliação dos processos funcionais superiores das crianças, o que lhes possibilita serem mais ativas na medida em que favorece interações que possibilitam trocas de experiências entre as crianças e os adultos. Desse modo, o jogo de papéis é uma forma de apropriação cultural das relações sociais produzidas no contexto em que a criança se insere, possibilitando-lhe reconhecer suas capacidades e potencialidades, demonstrar seus sentimentos e julgamentos éticos e morais, e revelar sua consciência na busca de humanizar-se. Assim, é importante que o professor reconheça e favoreça o potencial educativo do jogo de papéis.

Det är uppenbart att narrativ används i spel, inte minst i offline-RPG:n (ORPG:n), där berättelserna är vad som står i centrum. Samtidigt som dessa är ett välkomnatfenomen har de också en tendens att passivisera spelaren och påverka känslan avfrihet. I hur hög grad de gör detta är till viss del subjektivt och därför är det av viktvad som motiverar ORPG-spelaren till spelandet. Denna studie har utvecklat tvåspelprototyper som baseras på motivationerna immersion respektive prestation föratt påvisa motivationsgruppernas preferenser. Studien har fokuserat på att ta reda påhur stor vikt de båda grupperna lägger på känslan av frihet, och haft som hypotes attkravet är högre hos prestationsmotiverade spelare. Av utvärderingen att döma gårdet inte att med säkerhet falsifiera eller bekräfta detta.

Massiva onlinerollspel är idag mycket populära och försäljningen och spelandet utav dessa ökar markant. I och med detta väcks frågan om vad det är i dessa onlinespel som gör att människor spelar och fortsätter spela. Denna uppsats inriktas främst mot MMORPG:s, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, då författarna anser att det är i denna onlinespelsgenre den största möjligheten att finna och definiera de faktorer, som påverkar spelares vilja att spela, finns. För att ta reda på dessa faktorer skapades en enkät vars frågor utformades med en gameflowmodell i baktanken. Denna enkät lades sedan ut på sex olika onlinespelsanknutna forum, där totalt 105 spelare anonymt deltog. Den bygger dock även på tidigare gjorda undersökningar och rapporter om onlinespelandets anledningar, analyserade artiklar inom ämnet MMORPG spel och sist men inte minst författarnas egna erfarenheter utav MMORPG spel.