Dans cette thèse nous présentons une approche générale et robuste pour la décomposition des jeux décrits en Game Description Language (GDL). Dans le domaine du General Game Playing (GGP), les joueurs peuvent significativement diminuer le coût de l'exploration d'un jeu s'ils disposent d'une version décomposée de celui-ci. Les travaux existants sur la décomposition des jeux s'appuient sur la structure syntaxique des règles, sur des habitudes d'écriture du GDL ou sur le coûteux calcul de la forme normale disjonctive des règles. Nous proposons une méthode plus générale pour décomposer les jeux solitaires ou multijoueurs. Dans un premier temps nous envisageons une approche fondée sur l'analyse logique des règles. Celle-ci nécessite l'utilisation d'heuristiques, qui en limitent la robustesse, et le coûteux calcul de la forme normale disjonctive des règles. Une seconde approche plus efficace est fondée sur la collecte d'informations durant des simulations (playouts). Cette dernière permet la détection des liens de causalité entre les actions et les fluents d'un jeu. Elle est capable de traiter les différents types de jeux composés et de prendre en charge certains cas difficiles comme les jeux à actions composées et les jeux en série. Nous avons testé notre approche sur un panel de 597 jeux GGP. Pour 70% des jeux, la décomposition nécessite moins d'une minute en faisant 5k playouts. Nous montrons de 87% d'entre eux peuvent être correctement décomposés après seulement 1k playouts. Nous ébauchons également une approche originale pour jouer avec ces jeux décomposés. Les tests préliminaires sur quelques jeux solitaires sont prometteurs. / This PhD thesis presents a robust and general approach for the decomposition of games described in Game Description Language (GDL). In the General Game Playing framework (GGP), players can drastically decrease game search cost if they hold a decomposed version of the game. Previous works on decomposition rely on syntactical structures and writing habits of the GDL, or on the disjunctive normal form of the rules, which is very costly to compute. We offer an approach to decompose single or multi-player games. First, we consider an approach based on logical rule analysis. This requires the use of heuristics, which limit its robustness, and the costly calculation of the disjunctive normal form of the rules. A second more efficient approach is based on information gathering during simulations of the game (playouts). The latter allows the detection of causal links between actions. It can handle the different classes of compound games and can process some difficult cases like synchrounous parallel games with compound moves and serial games. We tested our program on 597 games. Given 5k playouts, 70% of the games are decomposed in less than one minute. We demonstrate that for 87% of the games, 1k playouts are sufficient to obtain a correct decomposition. We also sketch an original approach to play with these decomposed games. Preliminary tests on some one-player games are promising. Another contribution of this thesis is the evaluation of the MPPA architecture for the parallelization of a GGP player (LeJoueur of Jean-Noël Vittaut).

abstract: Two different techniques utilizing vocalization in clarinet performance were examined through a research study in which one subject (the author) played several tasks utilizing each technique with different played pitches, vocalized pitches, and dynamic levels for each task. The first technique was singing while playing, which is also sometimes referred to as growling. This technique is produced by engaging the vocal folds during regular clarinet performance to create a second vocalized pitch that resonates in the oral cavity and exits through the mouthpiece as part of the same air stream as that used by the vibrating reed. The second technique studied was a much more recently pioneered technique that the author has labelled humming while playing due to its similarity to traditional humming in vocal pedagogy. This technique is produced by filling the oral cavity with air, sealing it off from the rest of the vocal tract using the tongue and soft palate, and humming through the nasal cavity. The cheeks are simultaneously used to squeeze air into the mouthpiece to maintain the clarinet pitch, much like in the technique of circular breathing. For the study, audio, nasalance, and intraoral pressure data were collected and analyzed. Audio was analyzed using spectrograms and root mean square measurements of sound pressure for intensity (IRMS). Analysis of the nasalance data confirmed the description of the physiological mechanisms used to generate the humming while playing technique, with nasalance values for this technique far exceeding those for both singing while playing and regular playing. Intraoral pressure data showed significant spikes in pressure during the transitions from the regular air stream to air stored in the oral cavity when humming while playing. Audio analysis showed that the dynamic range of each technique is similar to that of regular playing, and that each technique produces very different and distinct aural effects. This information was then used to help create a method to assist performers in learning how to produce both singing and humming while playing and a resource to help educate composers about the possibilities and limitations of each technique. / Dissertation/Thesis / Example of Singing While Playing / Example of Humming While Playing / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2019

EverQuest is a multiplayer online role playing game that serves as a practical incarnation of life as a cyborg in a posthuman community. Using cultural materialsim, this thesis demonstrates how the words of EverQuest interactants - from message boards, interviews, and player in-game communications - construct the world of EverQuest and the roles of the interactants as its citizens. More specifically, this thesis will argue that the EverQuest world serves to reify the ideas of consumer capitalism that informs the "real" world, even as EverQuest itself promises an escape from that world.

Dataspelsproblematik är ett eskalerande problem som har visat sig påverka många unga människors utveckling och välbefinnande. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka ungas dataspelsproblematik, vilka konsekvenser ett överdrivet dataspelande medför samt vilken behandling som ges till unga med dataspelsproblematik. Empirin erhölls genom kvalitativa intervjuer med professionella som arbetar med denna typ av problematik vid verksamheterna Game Over och Theory in Action. Resultatet visade att dataspelsproblematik idag inte har en bestämd definition och att det är ett problem som inte är tillräckligt uppmärksammat. Synen på orsaker till dataspelsproblematik hos unga är komplext då det kan tänkas bero på många olika faktorer. Konsekvenserna av ett problematiskt dataspelande är många och allvarliga och kan påverka den unges hela livssituation. Behandling av unga med dataspelsproblematik har visats sig ske på varierande sätt med olika utgångspunkter beroende på vad man anser är orsaken till problematiken. / Computer game related problems are an escalating problem that has been shown to affect many young people's development and well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate young people's computer game problems, the consequences of excessive computer game playing and the treatment that is given to young people with computer game related problems. The empirical data were obtained through interviews with professionals who work with this type of problem in the institutions Game Over and Theory in Action. The results showed that computer game related problems do not today have a specific definition, as well as it is a problem that is not sufficiently recognized. The view of the causes of young people’s computer game related problems is complex as it may be caused by many different factors. The consequences of a problematic computer game playing are many and serious, which can affect a young person's entire life situation. Treatment of young people with computer game related problems have been shown to occur in various ways with different starting points depending on what you believe is the cause of the problem.

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) present fantastic, persistent worlds and narratives for a community of players to experience through pre-defined rules, roles, and environments. To be able to offer the opportunity for every player to try the same experiences, many game developers have opted to create elaborate virtual theme parks: scripted experiences within static worlds that cannot be affected or changed through player actions. Within these games, some players have turned to role-playing to establish meaningful connections to these worlds by expanding upon and subverting the game's expectations to assume a limited sense of agency within the world. The interaction between role-players and the locations they occupy within these worlds is a notable marker of this narrative layering; specific locations inform social codes of conduct, designed by developers, and then repurposed by players for their characters and stories. Through a qualitative case study in World of Warcraft on public role-playing events, this thesis considers how the design of in-game locations inform their use for role-playing, and how locations are altered through storytelling as a result.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo caracterizar modos de produção de subjetividade que perpassam o discurso dos jogos de interpretação de papéis, conhecidos pela sigla RPG (Role playing game), constituídos principalmente na polêmica do embate entre diferentes vozes, tendo como foco de análise textos da revista Dragão Brasil, publicação nacional especializada no jogo. Para tal, buscamos identificar, no âmbito desse debate, possíveis vozes que atacam ou defendem o RPG, e sua associação a determinadas formações discursivas (MAINGUENEAU, 1997), instauradas pela polêmica do embate. Seguimos o referencial teórico da Análise do Discurso de base enunciativa e tomamos como preceitos norteadores a noção de polifonia instituída por Bakhtin (2000) e os estudos de Ducrot (1987), em seu esboço de uma teoria polifônica da enunciação, e o primado do interdiscurso (MAINGUENEAU, 2005). A captação dessas vozes se dá por intermédio da operacionalização do conceito de negação polêmica (DUCROT, 1987), entendido como forma marcada de heterogeneidade enunciativa mostrada (AUTHIER-REVUZ, 1998). A negação polêmica nos permite, em nível discursivo, a possibilidade de identificação de duas vozes distintas que encenam um embate antagônico de posicionamentos em relação a um dado tema, no caso desta pesquisa, o RPG. Recorremos ainda aos conceitos de gêneros de discurso (BAKHTIN, 2000), cenografia discursiva e ethos (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). Nosso corpus é composto das matérias intituladas Guerra ao terror! e O que é RPG, publicadas na revista Dragão Brasil, número 78, 79 e 109, respectivamente. A seleção da revista como fonte para o corpus considerou três critérios: a) trata-se da publicação especializada mais antiga sobre RPG e de maior tempo no mercado editorial brasileiro; b) sua circulação é de âmbito nacional; e c) as matérias escolhidas abordam diretamente o tema do jogo, na tentativa de explicá-lo ao leitor. Observando o texto da matéria, percebemos uma grande recorrência de enunciados que apresentam a negação de caráter polêmico. A partir da análise desses enunciados marcados lingüisticamente pelo não, identificamos pontos de vista afirmativos subjacentes. O agrupamento desses enunciados tem-nos possibilitado chegar a blocos de crenças sobre o RPG, sustentados por enunciadores que falam em nome de discursos da ordem da religião e da moral. Identificamos vozes que relacionam o RPG a práticas de seitas, procurando estabelecer uma estreita ligação entre o jogo e a religião; outras que incluem o jogo em um grupo de práticas determinadas que influenciariam o praticante do jogo a ter atitudes e comportamentos fora dos padrões preconizados pela sociedade, como a violência / The object of this work is to characterize modes of subjectivity production that go through the speech present in role playing games, known as RPG, constituted mainly in the controversy of the opposition between different voices, focusing the analysis on texts from Dragão Brasil magazine, a national publication specialized in the game. In order to do that, we try to identify, in the extent of this debate, possible voices which attack or defend the RPG, and their association to certain discursive formation (MAINGUENEAU, 1997), set up by the controversy of the opposition. Our theory is based on Discourse Analysis of enunciating basis and we followed the concept of polyphony invented by Bakhtin (2000) and the studies of Ducrot (1987), on his sketch of a polyphonic theory, and the primacy of interdiscourse (MAINGUENEAU, 2005). The understanding of these voices is possible through the awareness of the concept of polemic negation (DUCROT, 1987), seen as a marked form of shown heterogeneity (AUTHIER-REVUZ, 1998). In a discursive level, polemic negation allows us to identify two different voices that stage an antagonistic opposition of positioning related to a certain theme, in our research, the RPG. We still consider the concepts of speech genre (BAKHTIN, 2000), discursive scenography and ethos (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). Our corpus is formed by articles entitled Guerra ao terror! (War against terror) and O que é RPG (What is RPG), published on Dragão Brasil Magazine numbers 78, 79 and 109. The choice of this magazine to be part of our corpus was based on three criteria: a) that is the oldest and most specialized publication about RPG in the Brazilian editorial market; b) it circulates in national territory; and c) the chosen articles talk directly about the game, in an attempt to explain it to the readers. When we observe the article text, we notice a great number of utterance that show negation with polemic traces. From the analysis of these utterance linguistically marked with no, we identify underlying affirmative points of view. Gathering these utterances has allowed us to get to groups of beliefs about RPG, supported by enunciators who speak in the name of religious and moral discourses. We identify voices which relate RPG to sect practices, trying to establish a narrow connection between the game and religion; others include the game into a group of practices which could influence the players leading them to present behavior out of social standards such as violent behavior

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo caracterizar modos de produção de subjetividade que perpassam o discurso dos jogos de interpretação de papéis, conhecidos pela sigla RPG (Role playing game), constituídos principalmente na polêmica do embate entre diferentes vozes, tendo como foco de análise textos da revista Dragão Brasil, publicação nacional especializada no jogo. Para tal, buscamos identificar, no âmbito desse debate, possíveis vozes que atacam ou defendem o RPG, e sua associação a determinadas formações discursivas (MAINGUENEAU, 1997), instauradas pela polêmica do embate. Seguimos o referencial teórico da Análise do Discurso de base enunciativa e tomamos como preceitos norteadores a noção de polifonia instituída por Bakhtin (2000) e os estudos de Ducrot (1987), em seu esboço de uma teoria polifônica da enunciação, e o primado do interdiscurso (MAINGUENEAU, 2005). A captação dessas vozes se dá por intermédio da operacionalização do conceito de negação polêmica (DUCROT, 1987), entendido como forma marcada de heterogeneidade enunciativa mostrada (AUTHIER-REVUZ, 1998). A negação polêmica nos permite, em nível discursivo, a possibilidade de identificação de duas vozes distintas que encenam um embate antagônico de posicionamentos em relação a um dado tema, no caso desta pesquisa, o RPG. Recorremos ainda aos conceitos de gêneros de discurso (BAKHTIN, 2000), cenografia discursiva e ethos (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). Nosso corpus é composto das matérias intituladas Guerra ao terror! e O que é RPG, publicadas na revista Dragão Brasil, número 78, 79 e 109, respectivamente. A seleção da revista como fonte para o corpus considerou três critérios: a) trata-se da publicação especializada mais antiga sobre RPG e de maior tempo no mercado editorial brasileiro; b) sua circulação é de âmbito nacional; e c) as matérias escolhidas abordam diretamente o tema do jogo, na tentativa de explicá-lo ao leitor. Observando o texto da matéria, percebemos uma grande recorrência de enunciados que apresentam a negação de caráter polêmico. A partir da análise desses enunciados marcados lingüisticamente pelo não, identificamos pontos de vista afirmativos subjacentes. O agrupamento desses enunciados tem-nos possibilitado chegar a blocos de crenças sobre o RPG, sustentados por enunciadores que falam em nome de discursos da ordem da religião e da moral. Identificamos vozes que relacionam o RPG a práticas de seitas, procurando estabelecer uma estreita ligação entre o jogo e a religião; outras que incluem o jogo em um grupo de práticas determinadas que influenciariam o praticante do jogo a ter atitudes e comportamentos fora dos padrões preconizados pela sociedade, como a violência / The object of this work is to characterize modes of subjectivity production that go through the speech present in role playing games, known as RPG, constituted mainly in the controversy of the opposition between different voices, focusing the analysis on texts from Dragão Brasil magazine, a national publication specialized in the game. In order to do that, we try to identify, in the extent of this debate, possible voices which attack or defend the RPG, and their association to certain discursive formation (MAINGUENEAU, 1997), set up by the controversy of the opposition. Our theory is based on Discourse Analysis of enunciating basis and we followed the concept of polyphony invented by Bakhtin (2000) and the studies of Ducrot (1987), on his sketch of a polyphonic theory, and the primacy of interdiscourse (MAINGUENEAU, 2005). The understanding of these voices is possible through the awareness of the concept of polemic negation (DUCROT, 1987), seen as a marked form of shown heterogeneity (AUTHIER-REVUZ, 1998). In a discursive level, polemic negation allows us to identify two different voices that stage an antagonistic opposition of positioning related to a certain theme, in our research, the RPG. We still consider the concepts of speech genre (BAKHTIN, 2000), discursive scenography and ethos (MAINGUENEAU, 2002). Our corpus is formed by articles entitled Guerra ao terror! (War against terror) and O que é RPG (What is RPG), published on Dragão Brasil Magazine numbers 78, 79 and 109. The choice of this magazine to be part of our corpus was based on three criteria: a) that is the oldest and most specialized publication about RPG in the Brazilian editorial market; b) it circulates in national territory; and c) the chosen articles talk directly about the game, in an attempt to explain it to the readers. When we observe the article text, we notice a great number of utterance that show negation with polemic traces. From the analysis of these utterance linguistically marked with no, we identify underlying affirmative points of view. Gathering these utterances has allowed us to get to groups of beliefs about RPG, supported by enunciators who speak in the name of religious and moral discourses. We identify voices which relate RPG to sect practices, trying to establish a narrow connection between the game and religion; others include the game into a group of practices which could influence the players leading them to present behavior out of social standards such as violent behavior

The topic of this work is "Playing in Heterogeneous Classes - Comparative Study on Kindergartens of Common versus Waldorf Type". The theoretical part deals with the definition of the pre-school aged children's need of playing, the development of playing, the need of a playing partner and the function of toys. Then it focuses on playing in the General Educational Plan for Pre-School Education, playing integration into the daily routine of a kindergarten and benefit of playing for a child and a teacher. It describes the specific features of a heterogeneous group of children and their relationship to playing. It also discusses the characteristics of a Waldorf kindergarten. In the end of the part the School Educational Plan of the studied schools is shown. The practical part of this work is based on monitoring children during their free playing time in the chosen kindergartens. The time daily devoted to free playing, the ways the teachers react to free playing and which types of playing are most common were the objectives of the research. The work then names toys recommended for a heterogeneous class by the teachers, toys chosen by children, how younger children are integrated into the older children's playing and vice versa. Then, by using a questionnaire, following data will be obtained from parents...

Tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs), also known as Pen-and-Paper role-playing games(PnP-RPGs), are games that can be described as a mix between board games and improvisationaltheatre. Each player takes on the role of a single character, while the game’s leader(GM or DM) is in charge of both simulating the game world, acting out all remainingcharacters and facilitating the game rules. The games are often played in campaigns,continual stories told over several gameplay sessions. This thesis investigates whetherplayers’ types/characteristics and preferences affect the enjoyment of play, and in particularwhether being coherent with the rest of the role-play group in these respects affects theenjoyment of TRPG play. The research questions were addressed primarily by a surveyamong TRPG players that received 1,982 completed questionnaires. These were thenanalysed by correlation and factor analyses in order to find connections between responses.The thesis work shows that the length and depth of previous experiences have almost nocorrelation to the level of enjoyment. Some aspects of the game itself contributed to theenjoyment, but a clearer factor was that of group coherence – if the player perceives thegroup to have the same or similar stances as him/herself on game preferences.Keywords: tabletop role-playing game, pen-and-paper role-playing game, groupcoherence, game enjoyment, satisfaction / Bordsrollspel (TRPGs), även känt som penna-och-papper-rollspel (PnP-RPGs), är en typ avspel som kan beskrivas som en blandning mellan brädspel och improvisationsteater. Varjespelare antar rollen av en karaktär, medan spelledaren (GM eller DM) ansvarar för simuleringenav spelvärlden, agerandet av resterande karaktärer samt ansvar för regelhållningen.Denna uppsats undersöker om spelartyper (egenskaper) och deras preferenser påverkarspelglädjen, och i synnerhet huruvida det är viktigt att ha samma uppfattning som den övrigagruppen i dessa frågor (gruppkoherens). Forskningsfrågorna besvarades huvudsakligengenom en enkätundersökning bland TRPG-spelare som gav 1982 komplett ifyllda enkätsvar.Dessa analyserades sedan med korrelations- och faktoranalyser för att hitta kopplingarmellan svaren. Uppsatsen visar att längden och djupet av tidigare spelupplevelser nästan intehar något samband med nivån av spelglädje. Några aspekter av själva spelet bidrog däremottill spelglädjen, och den tydligaste faktorn var gruppens koherens – om spelaren uppfattar attgruppen har samma eller liknande ståndpunkter som sig själv när det gäller spelpreferenser.Nyckelord: bordsrollspel, penna- och papper-rollspel, gruppkoherens, spelglädje, nöjdhet

Der vorliegende Beitrag hat das Ziel, an bestehende Beiträge aus der Erholungsforschung anzuknüpfen und mittels einer qualitativen Interviewstudie zu eruieren, welchen Beitrag das Genre der MMORPGs für die Erholungsforschung liefern kann.