[Abstract]: Mobile Games are becoming very popular. Players play games under various conditions and so we need protocols which can adapt. However, unlike the desktop, there are many issues with that of mobile communication. This dissertation proposes a stratified protocol to be implemented in order to solve these communication problems more effectively. The protocol itself dynamically adapts to the changing bandwidth capacity of the network. The term stratified means that the payload in the protocol packets is subdivided into different categories, or strata, of data which are handled differently dependingon network conditions. Such a protocol needs to be responsible as it must make decisions which do notworsen the problem of network congestion when it arises.An experiment was conducted with a view to determining whether it is important to address difficulties with technical quality of communication. This experiment showedthat gaming satisfaction of players does depend on technical quality of communication and that the way in which this dependence on technical quality is exhibited depends upon the particular gaming genre. This dependence on genre and the fact that different games make use of communication services differently suggests that stratification of communication protocols could be useful.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Geschichte--Wien, 1948. / Bibliogr. p. 77-81.

This case study examined casino gaming by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI) in Alabama within the context of tribal sovereignty. It critiqued tribal developments over a five-year period beginning in 2009 with the opening of their first multi-million dollar casino and hotel. No previous studies on gaming or tribal sovereignty for this tribe existed. There were only a few studies on this dual topic for other Indian tribes but none of which utilized a political science theoretical approach. The study found that tribal sovereignty existed since American Indian tribes existed. Sovereignty was strong during the treaty-making period. Thereafter, tribal authority and self-determination of Indian tribes became limited as it was redefined by federal policies, Congressional actions and Supreme Court decisions. When treaty-making ended, the political history for Indian tribes became a narrative of termination, relocation and assimilation. The Poarch Band of Cree Indians were a small group that remained poor and obscure after the Indian removal period. Casino gaming has given them an economic and political resurgence. The early legal interpretation of tribes' political status was that of "domestic dependent nations" which continues to influence federal Indian policy today and thus the parameters of tribal sovereignty as well. While the level of federal dependency for some gaming tribes has been reduced, tribes are not fully self-sufficient. Similar to other industries, casino gaming is impacted by supply, demand and increased competition and thus long-term permanent gains cannot be predicted. For the Poarch Band Creeks, gaming increased their political awareness and led to greater political involvement in lobbying. It also created new community and business partnerships. Gaming also prospered the Poarch Band Creeks not only in terms of improving their quality of life but they now have the financial resources to sustain legal battles to protect their sovereignty from intrusion by the state of Alabama. Alabama was successful in closing all non-Indian casinos but not when it attempted to close Indian casinos. This study highlights the political strategies and sovereignty protections utilized by the Poarch Creek Indians in their response to contemporary political challenges by the state of Alabama.

Background: In the last two decades, the rapid technological advancement in digital solutions had paved way for a transition of traditional gambling activities to internet-based platforms. Online casinos with video-game-like features have become a common platform for gambling. Consequently, gambling-like features is increasingly being adopted by mobile- and computer games. The latest example of these features called loot boxes, are getting a lot of attention from gamers and regulators alike.   Problem: Game publishers are reporting hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue from loot boxes and governmental agencies are struggling with determining whether to classify loot boxes as a form of gambling, therefore regulating it. The main reason for this conflict is the lack of empirical studies in the subject.   Purpose: This thesis aims to shed light upon the phenomenon. More specifically, it will do so from the gamers’ perspectives and reveal the underlying motivations for loot boxes activities, as well as their views on loot boxes.   Method: A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews with twelve participants has been conducted. These findings have later been compared to existing literature regarding gambling.   Results: The findings showed that there are distinct similarities between gambling and loot boxing. In terms of motivations, the same nature is applied for socialization and amusement. Two new motivations were discovered, value-based motive and collecting purpose which are video-game specific. Additional components that influenced both gambling and loot boxing were found to be impulsivity and distorted beliefs. Other than that, the participants see loot boxes as a form of gambling based on the uncanny likeness of the mechanism and the emotional effects. Despite having a negative view on loot boxes, they do not wish the feature to be removed.

Throughout disability history, attitudes towards individuals with a disability have been a defining topic for research. History has shown that discrimination and stereotypes have been a common concern among people with disabilities and existing research has provided information regarding the general populations’ disability attitudes. This pilot study investigates the differences between Rehabilitation Counseling students’ disability attitudes utilizing the SADP and the Personal Information Form. This pilot study explores video game usage of Rehabilitation Students in training. This topic is explored in relation in terms of escape, attention, tangible, and sensory factors. Research questions analyzed within this pilot study include: What are undergraduate and graduate rehabilitation students in disability attitudes? and What are undergraduate and graduate rehabilitation video gaming tendencies?

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / Set against the tenuous relationship between government (public sector), organisations (private sector) and trade unions, employees’ commitment to the success of their respective organisations are of utmost importance. Heugens and Schenk (2004) maintains stakeholders may oppose restructuring efforts as invariably some constituencies will be likely to lose a strategic advantage as a result of drastic change such as a restructure. This reality has resulted in these stakeholders having to find a common ground to ensure economic competitiveness and longevity of South African organisations. Where this common ground has been elusive, organisations need to find the balance between profitability, environment and its people. According to the King III Report (2009, as cited in Du Plooy & Roodt, 2013) this is referred to as the triple bottom line that is profit, planet and people, which are integrally linked to employee turnover and organisational strategy. Organisational commitment is a key factor to success for organisations in order to obtain and maintain a competitive advantage. Coetzee and Botha (2012) posit that organisations in today’s competitive world require each employee to be committed to the organisation’s objectives and function as an effective team. A competitive advantage is needed to achieve high performance (Nienaber & Masibigiri, 2012). The working world has evolved from one where job security is no longer as prevalent as it used to be. Consequently and understandably, employees’ commitment to their organisations has diminished. Organisations are required to now investigate, understand and put measures in place to grow employee commitment in order have a successful business operation. This study intended to primarily establish whether a relationship exists between organisational commitment and turnover intentions amongst employees in an organisation undergoing restructuring. Additional variables namely age and tenure were used to establish if these variables have any bearing on levels of organisational commitment. The matter of organisational restructuring may act as an antecedent variable to both organisational commitment as well as turnover intentions. An organisational restructuring is likely to have a negative effect on employees’ organisational commitment. Thus, the affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment of employees were also contrasted with turnover intentions. Correspondingly, news of an impending restructure may serve to increase employees’ intentions to terminate employment with the organisation. The sample included 144 respondents (n = 144) from an organisation within the hospitality industry. A method of non-probability, convenience sampling was utilised due to the nature of the study. A Biographical Questionnaire, Organisational Commitment Questionnaire and Turnover Intention Questionnaire were utilised for data collection purposes. The biographical questionnaire aimed to elicit among others important details such as gender, race, age, marital status, qualifications, language preferences and years of service were used for statistical purposes. Once the information was collected, the Pearson data analysis technique and Analysis of Variance technique were used to establish the relationships and differences between the respective variables under investigation. The results in the study indicate that significant inverse relationships exist between organisational commitment and turnover intentions. Significant differences were found in organisational commitment based on age and tenure. Similar statistically significant differences were discovered in turnover intentions according to employees’ age and tenure. Affective, continuance and normative commitment exhibited significant relationships with turnover intentions. The study in closing makes reference to the limitations experienced in the study as well as recommendations for future research especially on organisational commitment and turnover intentions of employees within a restructured or restructuring environment.

The aim of this work is to describe progaming scene development since its beginings till present days. Also I would like to focus to progaming importance for current world. To achieve this goal I analyse individual years since 1997 till 2016 and I sumarize state of the current progaming scene. In this work I describe professional players chracteristics and I also describe various game types, some individual games, competitions, tournaments... In analysed years there are described prize money, players counts in tournaments and coutnry origins of players. In conclusion there is shown development of these statistics in the whole analysed period of time. Outcome of the statistics development in time is detailed overview of progaming scene including its current importance.

abstract: This thesis project explores the nature of power dynamics in the dialogue of video gamers within designated online forums of discussion. Previous scholarly work has noted the lack of diverse representation and tolerance in the gaming community, despite statistics revealing that the video game community is not as homogeneous as it is often represented. Specifically, the prominent literature analyzing gaming culture focuses on poor representations of gender within video games and the gaming community itself, including sexualized and objectified depictions of women as well as prejudice toward women as members of the gaming community. More recent entries to the field of research draws attention to the experiences of other marginalized communities in gaming. This thesis, then, begs the question – what power dynamics emerge in the dialogue of people who consider themselves to be gamers? How are concepts of social identity expressed or constructed in communication, and what reinforces and legitimizes these relationships? This project will review a foundation of literature structuring the framework of this project, propose methodology for data collection and analysis, and explore themes discovered within the data analysis, which support or negate existing research and give insight to the proposed research questions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Communication Studies 2020

When designing assessment measures to capture psychological symptoms it is essential to ensure the individual completing the measure understands what is being asked of them. In the most basic sense, readability relates to how easy it is to understand something when you read it. Understanding readability can inform clinicians and researchers about selecting appropriate measures for their clients and participants. One commonly used formula to determine a given text's readability is the Flesch Kincaid Grade Level (FKG). Newer approaches of measuring readability utilize technological programs, such as Coh-Metrix and Question Understanding Aid (QUAID), that analyze text characteristics to determine the impact on comprehension. The current project investigated the readability of seven measures of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Assessments of IGD have been largely adapted from validated measures of other constructs (i.e., gambling disorder, internet addiction) or created based directly on the proposed criteria of IGD. Prior to the current study, researchers had not yet critically examined the readability of measures of IGD. Assessment of readability is of critical importance given IGD is most likely to impact adolescents, a population that has lower levels of literacy because critical reading skills are developing throughout adolescence. It was hypothesized that measures of IGD may be difficult to read for adolescents. Items within seven measures of IGD were examined utilizing FKG, Coh-Metrix, and QUAID formulas for calculating readability and potential problematic question characteristics. Results found that the mean FKG ranged from 5.40 to 12.28 and indicated six of the seven measures contained at least one item written above an 8th-grade reading level. Coh-Metrix analysis found all measures contained at least one and up to eight items that were written at a below average level of syntactic simplicity (z =

The aim of this thesis has been to explore how messages in Twitch chats are affected by the gender of the streamer and the type of game that they are playing. Using a quantitative method, messages from twelve different streamers, male and female were downloaded and categorised depending on their content. The analysis used theories on game categorisation in order to understand the complexity of the games that the broadcasters were playing, and in combination with this knowledge and the results of the data collection conclusions could be drawn between the complexity of a game and the amount of comments regarding gameplay or appearance in female streams.The analysis used feminist theories in order to understand the underlying reasons for the observed exclusion of women in both the gaming world in general, and in the Twitch streams. This analysis showed tendencies in the Twitch audience to adapt a male gaze as they were more prone to comment on passive aspects of the female streamers. The thesis concluded that the "true gamer" culture seems to be affecting female streamer son Twitch in several ways, and that the exclusion of female streamers takes different forms depending on the game they are playing.