Title of thesis: Coaching activity in the volleyball training process for the young players category Aim of thesis: The aim of thesis is to find out, describe and evaluate volleyball coaching activity in the training process and during the match at young players category Method: To fulfill the research objectives, I used the method of interrogation using non-standardized questionnaire with closed, semi-opened and opened questions. The obtained data from the questionnaire were analyzed by the sum of the number of probands and their answers. The results were processed by conventional statistical methods, expressed in words, tables and graphs. Results: The results of the thesis showed both the opinions of the coaches, but above all their coaching practices or methods, which they apply during training process. In some cases it is difficult to determine whether the procerures are correct or not, but there are cases whet i tis obvious. We partially touched the problem of early specialization in young players category. Keywords: Volleyball Training of children and youth in volleyball Specialization of player's functions Coach's activities and character Player's character

Dans ce travail de thèse, nous réalisons des outils de mesure pour caractériser l’avatar et évaluer l’engagement du joueur. Ces deux axes sont des points critiques dans la conception de jeux vidéo et de serious games. L’engagement est une sensation très étudiée dans différents domaines de recherches et encore mal définie. Elle peut être caractérisée par la sensation de présence et le désir de poursuivre la partie. Théoriquement, le sentiment de responsabilité est une composante de l’engagement du joueur. L’engagement est central à l’expérience du joueur. Le joueur et jeu constituent un système dynamique. L’environnement graphique est une part de ce système. Les aspects sémantiques ou la cohérence du jeu participe à maintenir le joueur engagé. D’autre part, l’avatar est un objet dynamique de l’environnement virtuel du jeu. Son character design a un impact sur les comportements des individus dans les environnements virtuels et dans le jeu vidéo. Des outils et méthodes existent pour mesurer l’engagement du joueur, caractériser l’avatar ou un comportement de jeu. Mais ces outils et classifications ont des limites dans la recherche pour les jeux vidéo et pour les designers. Nous avons choisi de mener trois expérimentations pour éprouver l’efficacité de nos méthodes et outils. Après avoir défini le sentiment de responsabilité dans le jeu vidéo, nous montrons qu’il est une composante de l’engagement du joueur et qu’il peut être mesuré. Nous proposons une méthode et éprouvons notre classification des images du jeu vidéo. Elle peut être employée par des designers. Son utilisation complète des analyses théoriques de l’image. Pour finir, nous avons conçu un jeu vidéo, Sympathy, dédié à la recherche sur l’avatar et l’engagement. Nous avons établi que les avatars conçus selon notre classification ont eu une influence sur les comportements de jeu. / In this thesis, we produce measurement tools to characterize the design of an avatar and evaluate the player’s engagement. These are two critical points for the design of video games and serious games. Engagement is widely studied in different research fields and it is not defined yet. The feeling of presence and the desire to pursue the game are two elements of the player’s engagement. Theoretically, the feeling of responsibility is also a part of it. This sensation can be similar to the player experience. The player and the game form a dynamic system. The graphical environment is part of this system. Its semantic aspects or its consistency keeps the player engaged. On the other hand, the avatar is a dynamic object from this virtual environment of the game. Its character design has an impact on one's behaviors in virtual environments and in the video game. Some tools and methods seem effective to measure the player’s engagement, describe the player’s behaviors or characterize an avatar. But these tools and classifications are unsuitable for research studies in video games and for designers. We conducted three experiments to test the effectiveness of our methods and tools. First, we define the feeling of responsibility in video games. The results show that this feeling is a component of the player's engagement and it can be measured. We propose a method and we test our classification of video games' images. This classification can be used by designers. Its use can occur interesting theoretical analysis of images. Finally, we design a video game, Sympathy, dedicated to studies on the avatar and the player’s engagement. We conclude that avatars' design according to our classification have influenced the behavior of play.

This thesis studies massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) and their business models. Purpose of this work is to analyze current MMORPG market and business models which are currently used. The main goal and asset of this thesis is concept of new business and payment models that could be used in MMORPGs in order to increase number of customers and to raise profits. Part of the concept is the analysis of possibilities of player's history to create a profile suitable for personalized advertising. The last goal is analysis of ways that developers of MMORPGs use to motivate players to to play long-term, so they use the service and generate profit.

This study examines the level design of the game Dying Light through the lens of player movement. It aims to answer the question: How does the player movement capabilities inform the level design in the game Dying Light? The study analyses the correlation between the player’s movement capabilities and level layout. The research is relevant to game designers wanting to make games centered around movement as a core mechanic, and researchers wanting to use design patterns to study level design through the lens of a core mechanic. The research was conducted through a formal analysis of the actions, components, and goals found in the level, which together form a multitude of level design patterns that support the player’s movement capabilities. These patterns were split into categories based on their goals, followed by these categories being noted down on a designated area of the map. The study indicates that the patterns made with these primitives are a useful tool to tie a specific mechanic like player movement to level- and game design decisions, which is shown in how the level design of Dying Light was built around its movement system to allow for almost unlimited freedom of movement.

Ce mémoire propose une réflexion sur des modèles permettant de mieux comprendre et concevoir l’expérience esthétique d’un jeu vidéo. Ces modèles traduisent différents idéaux de la place du joueur. Comme on peut le constater à travers une réflexion sur le modèle du cercle magique, jouer est souvent compris comme un acte unilatéral d’entrée en imagination dans un monde étranger au monde actuel – toute sortie marquant la pénalité ou la fin du jeu. De ce point de vue, le designer aurait donc pour rôle de placer et de maintenir le joueur dans le monde virtuel représenté pour qu’il s’y sente immergé et présent. Cela dit, comme en témoignent les critiques qui s’élèvent contre le modèle du cercle magique, d’autres stratégies de mise en place du joueur sont à distinguer et à définir pour faciliter l’analyse et la conception des jeux vidéo. Devant ce modèle, jugé limitatif, ce que nous proposons ici est de recourir à quelques outils méthodologiques et typologiques de l’esthétique de la réception en histoire de l’art pour bâtir un modèle plus englobant, celui de la place du joueur, dont nous testons la validité par l’analyse du jeu vidéo God of War III (2010). / This thesis proposes a consideration of models that allow one to better understand and develop the aesthetic experience of a video game. Such models reflect different ideals of the player’s position. Since we approach it through a reflection on the model of the “magic circle”, play is often understood to be a unilateral act of entering, via the imagination a world foreign to the real world - where any penalty or exit marks the end of the game. Looked at this way, the designer’s role is therefore to place and maintain the player in the virtual world, making him feel immersed and present therein. However, as evidenced by those critics who speak out against the model of the magic circle, other strategies to put the player in place need to be distinguished and defined in order to facilitate the analysis and design of video games. Given this model, deemed to be restrictive, what we propose is to use some typological and methodological tools of reception aesthetics in art history in order to build a more inclusive model of the "player's place", the validity of which is tested by analysing the video game God of War III (2010).

La pratique intensive du sport au cours du XXe siècle conduisit à son internationalisation et à sa professionnalisation. Les transferts de joueurs, devenus la base de l’équilibre du sport collectif professionnel, favorisèrent son développement mais aussi le principal financement des clubs, bien qu’ils ne fassent l’objet d’aucune définition légale. Un transfert de joueur peut toutefois se définir comme une opération par laquelle un club accepte de mettre fin au contrat de travail à durée déterminée qui le lie à un de ses joueurs avant son terme, afin de lui permettre de s’engager auprès d’un nouvel employeur en contrepartie du versement par ce dernier d’une indemnité financière appelée indemnité de transfert. Cette opération conciliant une logique sportive et marchande devint vite indispensable. Pourtant il ne fut pas facile de l’encadrer juridiquement. Cela se produisit néanmoins après un face-à-face d’une vingtaine d’années : il opposa principalement institutions sportives qui désiraient conserver leurs privilèges, et puissances publiques nationale et européenne attachées principalement à ce que le sport professionnel respecte les lois nationales et les grands principes de liberté de circulation des travailleurs. Ces deux partenaires, qui contribuèrent à la création d’un Tribunal arbitral du sport à vocation universelle, échouèrent à juguler une inflation inquiétante des salaires des joueurs et des indemnités qui leur sont versés à l’occasion des transferts. / The intensive practice of sports in the course of the 20th century led to to its the internationalization and professionalization. Player’s transfers, became the base of the balance of collective’s professional sport, promoted its development but also the main funding of clubs, even though they may the object of no legal defenition. Player’s transfer can however be defined as an operation by which a club agrees to end the fixed-term contract which binds him to one of his players before the term, to allow him to make a commitment with a new employer in return of the payment by the latter of a financial compensation called transfer fee. This operation reconciles a sport and commercial’s logic quickly became essential. However it was not easy to supervise it legally. It occure nevertheless after a wrestling match of about twenty years : it brought into a conflict mainly sports institutions which whished to preserve their privileges, and national and European public authorities attached mainly to fact that the professional sport respects the national the nationals law and the major principles of freedom of movement of the workers. These two partners, which contributed to the creation of the Court of Arbitration for Sport with universal vocation, failed to stop an alarming inflation of players incomes and the compensations which are paid to the transfers occasion.

Cette thèse présente les résultats d'expérimentations visant à mettre en évidence des mécaniques de jeu utiles pour aider le joueur à développer une posture plus réflexive sur la manière dont il prend une décision. Notre approche consiste à mettre le joueur en défaut en exploitant ses biais de raisonnement, permettant dans un second temps de l’amener à mieux cerner ses processus décisionnels. A ce titre, nous cherchons à placer le joueur en excès de confiance dans le cadre spécifique d'un jeu vidéo. Pour mesurer le comportement, le joueur doit utiliser un outil intégré au déroulement de la partie : un système de mise au travers duquel il renseigne sa confiance en ses chances de succès. Deux jeux spécifiques ont été développés en vue de mesurer l’influence des biais sur la confiance du joueur : un se focalise sur l’influence des biais d’ancrage et de confirmation, l’autre sur l’influence du biais de l'effet difficile / facile d’autre part. / This thesis introduces the results of experiments testing specific game mechanics to help the players to develop reflective decision making. Our approach is, firstly, to bias the players’ judgment. Then, through the bias awareness, we want to help them to have a better understanding about their judgment processes. To do this, we try to place the player in an overconfident state while playing video games. To measure their behavior, the players must use an integrated tool to the game progression: a bet system through which they assess on their confidence in their chances of success. Two games were developed to measure the influence of the biases on the confidence of the player: one focusing on the effect of anchoring and confirmation biases, another one on the hard / easy effect.

Earcons are commonly used by sound designers in order to support visual cues in a game andto make a gaming experience more enjoyable. This study covers two earcons’ attributes: rhythm and timbre. Rhythm and timbre attributes were chosen according to the earcon sounddesign guidelines from the previous studies. An experiment in a form of a video game was conducted in order to research whether one of the conditions can increase a players’performance. A subject had to choose the correct key to the door in order to go to the next location. There were 3 different locations and there were totally 5 different own-designed earcons: 1 incorrect earcon in the both conditions and 2 different correct earcons in each condition. 20 subjects with various gaming experience from the Luleå University of Technology participated in the experiment. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups with different conditions: rhythm and timbre. The amount of wrong trials and completion time were analyzed for each condition and the results were given with the help of Mann-Whitney U-test and t-test calculations. The results of U-test showed that there was a significant difference between two groups in terms of the wrong trials amount. Group with rhythm condition showed better performance in terms of the wrong trials amount. The t-test showed a significant difference between the two groups in terms of completion time. Group with timbre condition showed better timing performance, although considering the analysis it did not increase their performance in terms of making correct choices. Further research might be recommended on comparing various earcon attributes in different ecologically valid scenarios.