Introducing the epic in serious gaming: how to increase a player’s postdictability and
provoke reflection reliably
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE
Steven Nijman
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ASTER
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NFORMATION
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TUDIES
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ACULTY OF
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NIVERSITY OF
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MSTERDAM
August 28, 2015
1st Supervisor 2nd Supervisor
Dr. Frank Nack Dr. ing. Sander Bakkes
Introducing the epic in serious gaming: how to increase a player’s
postdictability and provoke reflection reliably
Steven Nijman
University of Amsterdam, Graduate School of InformaticsScience Park 904, Amsterdam
steven.nijman@student.uva.nl
ABSTRACT
This thesis is an attempt to test whether reflection, which is needed for learning, can be provoked in players, without being detrimental to the engaging value of the game.
Two different epic elements (narrative and a more subconscious element) were tested for their effect on a player’s postdictability and to answer the question whether or not these elements may increase the reflection done by the player.
Consistent with the hypothesis, using a narrative element indeed increased the postdictability: when confronted with a narrative element, the players were able to comprehend and understand the learning goals and underlying message of what was being shown. This was not the case when implementing the second element. It was also found that, the first element (narration) had a negative influence on the engagement value of the game as most subjects found it to be an annoying addition. This was mostly due to (1) it feeling unnecessary and (2) the narrator being unfit in the context of the game. The second element (a white fade) was not perceived as annoying, nor did it have notable effect on postdictability. This study showed the potential that lies in Brechtian epic theatre and gives incentive to study this further, therefore this thesis also presents probable steps for future study to further enhance the use of these epic elements in serious gaming.
Keywords
Postdictability, Brecht, immersion, flow, serious gaming
1. INTRODUCTION
In today’s contemporary world the potential for serious games is surely there, yet the majority of serious games are made ad-hoc, with specific goals in mind and with results that are too limited to apply to other fields of serious gaming [11]. That a player’s reflection on what is happening within the game is needed to learn them something, which is generally the goal with serious gaming, is without question. This is also proven by other research that showed that active reflection of information and experiences is beneficial for learning [15]. Especially for learning by doing, serious gaming, has to be supplemented with opportunities to reflect [15].
Strategies to accomplish this state of reflection reliably are needed for the field of serious gaming, as there is little empirical research on how reflection is reached in gaming generally [11, 13, 15]. One particular study, which was aimed at studying a number of design guidelines, showed that increasing someone’s ‘postdictability’ will improve the players overall mental model construction of the game [11]. These guidelines were based on the workings of the human cognitive system, to see if these facilitate better learning and worked to give a serious game meaning and effectiveness. Postdictability is a term to describe how well the player can explain what has happened before and the mental
model construction how the player would assess the situation and predict the direction in which it may develop [7, 11].Although this study focused heavily on the domain of crisis management the use of the concept of postdictability may also be viable for the use of serious gaming as gaming also invokes in the player a certain state of mind. A state of critical perception that provides the reflection that is needed for learning [15] and thus can still yield interesting findings for other fields of serious games [11], Van der Spek et al. (2011) showed, in yhis study about postdictability, that reflection prompts, like events in the game that encourage the player to think about his or her previous actions, work best to accomplish an optimal player postdictability [11].
Epic elements from Brechtian theatre might fit this description effectively [2]. These epic elements don’t intend to ‘learn’ the player anything, but instead provide ways for them to reach the correct state of mind and perspective to realize what they should have learned or what they have learned [5]. These elements provoke a critical attitude from the subjects, changing their perception of the game to be more critical and giving them a better capability to recognize the learning goals of the game and thus increasing the postdictability of a player and ultimately the effectiveness of the serious game itself as well. The downside of this epic theatre is that in order to gain this state of mind it has to take players out of the game, breaking their immersion. As immersion, and to a certain extent flow, is for some the zenith of video game success [5] it is important to keep this in mind. Thinking about gaming in terms of theatre and other media, where alienation and thus reflection is already comfortably established and part of the norm, not only in theoretical terms but also in the way that people design and experience theatrical works should alleviate the distrust of breaking immersion that is currently so apparent in gaming [8]. Fortunately computer games and theater plays, though at first glance very distinct phenomena, share a number of characteristics that make it valuable to translate a related concept, in this case epic theatre, from one to the other [10].
The purpose of this study was to test two different conditions, two different epic elements, against each other, with regards to their effectiveness in increasing a player’s postdictability and with being detrimental to the engaging value of the serious game. Each element was added to a pre-existing game, tested, analyzed and compared accordingly. The expectation was that these element would provoke reflection and improve the test subject’s ability to recognize what they should have learned. If proven effective, these epic elements might help game developers in improving critical reflection in their games.
2. RELATED WORK
2.1 Serious Gaming
A serious game is a game with more to it than entertainment; games with some other primary goal. There are four goals that most serious games focus on [12]:
1. Cognitive (e.g. learning of facts and procedures) 2. Affective (e.g. attitude changing)
3. Motor skills (e.g. hand-eye coordination)
4. Communicative (e.g. working together to complete a task)
In the 80’s and 90’s ‘edutainment’ became an interest for game developers. Unfortunately this led to many games that were not that useful or fun and most companies where bankrupt within a couple of years [12]. Currently serious games are becoming interesting again, as games can do much more and now we know better why games are fun to play [11, 12], although there are still many issue’s we don’t know, as stated in the introduction. A good example of a serious game is Sharkworld [B], a game where players work as project managers to gain experience with key aspects of project management in an entertaining and motivating setting.
Gaming is very complex in itself and in comparison to the entertainment industry has many factors, such as how to make a player start reflecting, to take into account in order to develop games that are effective for educational goals. In particular for serious games effectiveness is contingent on the ability of designers to facilitate players to deal with this complexity [14] because it is so much more important for the player to understand a serious game as opposed to an entertainment game. Or as Crawford (1982) puts it: ’the game designer simplifies deliberately in order to focus the player's attention on the factors the designer judges to be important’ [3].
Using epic elements to increase a player’s postdictability adds to the complexity of a game. Therefore it is vital that the way epic elements are used is researched properly. Especially since one can’t simply prompt players explicitly to reflect on events in the game (e.g., by using a message in a popup screen). This does not provoke the same attitude and can even create tension and may disturb the flow of the game and consequently undermine the entertaining and engaging nature of gaming [13]. Even though entertainment is not the primary goal of gaming and such an intervention with epic elements can still yield learning, the impact of breaking immersion should not be underestimated.
2.1.1 Immersion and flow
Immersion is a measurable and quantifiable feeling that occurs when playing a video game [5, 6]. It frequently occurs whilst playing a game one enjoys thoroughly or has played often. Immersion is derived from the physical experience of being submerged in water, and refers to that fact that as a player you are involved to such an extent that your senses are entranced by what you see in the game, meaning the player loses track of time, essentially being submerged in the game [9].
Previous research has showed there are two different ways of being immersed. The first is simply gained by being receptive to content, like book or movies, causing the player to be more like an audience than as a participant. The second type of immersion is called active immersion as it results from the actions the player does within the game, his or her interaction with the game
mechanics. These physical and mental interactions become immersive through the process of doing [5].
Flow, although similar on many levels, is slightly different than immersion and relies on the success of an action [5, 6]. It is the concept that when one puts time into something possibly complex he or she can eventually do this without effort of mind and body [6]. When one has found the most effective or optimal way of achieving an action [5, 4] and therefore reached a state where the mind can float freely whilst doing activities that might normally require one’s full attention.
It is substantially more difficult for someone to reach a flow state than simply being entranced in what they see like with immersion. For example going by the definition of Csikszentmihalyi (1977) flow requires a sense of serenity, a high degree of concentration and a sense of personal control [4], which is not needed for feeling immersed. It is especially difficult in gaming to find the optimal way to achieve an action as it requires a complex series of actions [5]. Also the amount of breaks experienced in gaming is far higher than during, for example, reading a book where being receptive to what you read is already the optimal way of achieving its corresponding action (reading). Also as stated before flow relies on success, which is not always possible while gaming. Immersion, and flow for that matter, stand on the opposite side of the spectrum when talking about the use of epic theatre as instead of being pulled out of the game and being able to critically think about it you are drawn in. Developers rely heavily on immersive effects to obscure distancing effects (e.g. loading screens) and generally distrust immersion breaking elements [5]. Yet when trying to get the deeper message of the game across, or give the player the state of mind to understand this message, is much more difficult. Therefore the thesis will aim at trying out different types of epic elements and seeing which of these work most effectively, with regards to postdictability in breaking immersion and causing reflection without threatening the engaging aspect of the game itself.
2.2 Postdictability
Postdictability is a term coined by Walter Kintsch and describes how well a person can explain what has happened previously in the game ‘text’ [7] and recognize the learning goals of what he or she has seen. When Kintsch came up with the term, back in 1980, it was solely focused on text and reading. Postdictability was a part of three factors that determined ‘why someone would read a story anyways’. The first factor refers to how much the reader knows about the subject matter of the text he or she is reading. The second factor is focused on how much uncertainty a certain part of text generates (as it can’t be too predictable) and the last is the postdictability of the text, which gives the means to hang the text together and have it make sense [7].
Even though postdictability was initially meant for text it can also be applied in gaming effectively as these two media have a number of characteristics in common that make it possible to link the two together. In gaming postdictability denotes what gives a player the ability to make sense of the world. It is what links everything together and makes it possible for the player to create a structure where each story element has its place and is meaningfully related to the other story elements [7, 11].
Being able to make sense of the game world is crucial especially when playing a serious game, as uncertainty or not understanding the game will be detrimental for the effectiveness of the game. A different state of mind, one of critical perception, is although not inherently meant to be part of the concept of postdictability but is
still observed as a result of it [11]. The reflection prompts, used to positively influence one’s postdictability, are made to provoke this different perception of the game. Shaping and influencing how the player decides what to do in the game. Even though the potential of postdictability is tangible it is not yet used that much in the gaming industry and especially serious gaming.
2.3 Bertolt Brecht and Brechtian theatre
The link to Bertolt Brecht was found as his epic theatre had many similarities with postdictability, namely the part where reflection prompts are used to accomplish what is desired. Although the idea of epic elements is that they are used to simply remind a player that it is just a game, they still seem to accomplish what is required for an increase in postdictability. They frequently interrupt the player who is engaged in an action, the game, obtaining many gestures, in which gestures are used to indicate inner feelings, which indicates reflection [2].Brecht is a famous German theatre director from the 20th century, influencing theatre with his Epic theatre. A form of theatre where the spectator does not identify emotionally with the characters, yet instead provokes self-reflection and a critical view of what they see [2]. Brecht posited that catharsis is not complete until the audience members take what they have assimilated from the representation and put it to work in their lives [8]. Epic elements, used to remind the spectator that the play is simply a representation of real life and not real life itself, are crucial to make this happen. Brecht essentially uses these elements to introduce reflection prompts similar to what is used to increase postdictability.
The most important and best known epic element is the alienation effect, this ‘distancing effect’ is used to strip all familiarity of an event and create a feeling of curiosity about the subject [10]. The conventions that achieved defamiliarization or the distancing effect reliably in theatre and were used by Brecht [2, 10] and that where considered for use in this study are:
1
Narration (storyteller) / direct address
A narrator tells the story that unfolds before the audience’s, or players, eyes or directly addresses the audience/player in the play
2
Open white light
Due to its emotional impact, colored light on stage is eliminated – instead, the stage is flooded with white light. In gaming this could be achieved by making the environment black and white
3
Spoiling of dramatic tension
Giving context and what is going to happen before each scene, disrupting the illusion and therefore spoiling the dramatic tension in advance of the episodes (scenes)
Signs, or placards, are often used to accomplish this and
placed to tell what is going to happen before each scene, giving context on which to base the audiences observation. It is also used to simply give context to what is seen
4
Flashbacks / flash forwards/ large spans of time
Disjointed time sequences to enhance the story and jar someone’s notion of time
5
Projection
Actively engaging the audience with simple projections (e.g. ’4-1=3’ in “Man Equals Man”) to spark their curiosity
to ascertain a more comprehensive understanding of its meaning.
The conventions that were not considered for this study but do achieve defamiliarization, in theatre, are:
Song
Fragmentary costume Fragmentary set
Visible lighting equipment
Demonstration of role at arm’s length Actor playing more than one role Half curtain or no curtain Limited emotion Use of mask Historification
These were not considered as they either were unable to be done in the allotted time, unable to be done in the structural setting of a game or conceived specifically for theatre and unable to apply to games. All abovementioned conventions have the goal of reminding the audience that it is only a theatre play, or in this case a game, they are watching/playing and not real life.
Ultimately the elements narration (as it was doable in the allotted time and easily added to the game) and an adapted and abstract use of white light (as it was one of the more subtle effects and could also be added easily) have been chosen. The emphasize was especially on narration as it was expected to have the most effect on the player. The abstract visual element, which essentially was a white fade in a transition instead of a black one, was expected to have little or no effect, but was included to see if it already had enough effect and distance the player enough to provoke reflection on what was shown in the game. A subtle change in the gaming environment can potentially be very interesting when one looks at whether or not it carries the same effect, or a different one, as the more drastic approach. Hence why it was added to the different conditions to be tested.
Even though epic theatre originally has been developed solely for theatre, one can see similar elements in games and even film and literature. Where they break the 4th wall (gaming), use complex camera work (film), or try to break from normality by using different languages and writing styles (literature) to remind the audience, player or reader that what he sees is not real. A good example for gaming is found in Metal Gear Solid [D] where after reaching a certain point in the game the ‘Big Boss’ will call and order the player to abort the mission and turn off the game console, causing the player to realize he is part of the game world. A more intricate example is when the character Snake from Metal
Gear Solid fights a boss that he cannot defeat as it is reading his
mind. During this fight Snake realizes he essentially has an ‘alter-ego’, someone that likes videos. The game refers to the player and lets Snake confront and question them directly, consequently breaking the 4th wall effectively, causing a player to realize he is not playing as Snake and emotionally distancing them from the character.
Similar elements are found in the game Postal 2 [C], an engaging first person shooter in which plenty of epic elements (signs, narrative and self reference) are to be found. An example is that when the player walks through the entrance of RWS he or she passes a group of demonstrators rallying against violence in computer games. The genre first-person shooter has received many negative remarks in the media and certainly from politicians as well With signs as ‘Games are bad, they make you bad’ and
‘kill violent video games’ they refer to this heated discussion whether or not shooters cause aggressive behavior. This causes players to distance themselves from the game world and makes them think about that what they are doing at that moment [10]. Brecht’s epic theatre is seen to have potential in gaming to a certain degree already. Yet, for game developers, the element that made gaming big is immersion and flow and thus influencing this can undermine the interesting possibilities of epic elements as players may be annoyed to such an extent that they stop playing.
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Based on previous research the hypothesis is that the correct use of epic elements in a game can have a positive influence on a player in terms of his or her postdictability and thus ultimately provide game developers with a potential tool to use and increase effectiveness of serious games.
The second hypothesis is that adding epic elements that take the player out of the game has a negative influence on the engagement and entertaining value of a game as it creates unwanted tension and takes away the immersive experience, yet can still prove viable and interesting for use in serious gaming. With that in mind the following research questions have been created:
Does the injection of epic elements from Brechtian theatre improve the postdictability of a player?
Does the injection of epic elements make the player start reflecting?
What is the influence, on someone’s postdictability, of being taken out of the game explicitly instead of by something inherent to gaming (e.g. a loading screen) Is the addition of epic elements detrimental to the
engagement value of the game?
4. METHOD
An experiment is conducted, in which the effect of epic elements on a player’s postdictability is measured. The subjects will be divided in three groups. Each group will watch a different video of the game and at three points will experience the added element, or not for the control group. After each video fragment, or element, each group answers a different questionnaire regarding the storyline and the element that is included, or not included for the control group. These questionnaires should provide an interpretation elaborate enough to show how the effect of the elements develops over time and if in the given context of the game it makes sense to use these kinds of epic elements.
The decision to make a video in which one sees a player’s point of view has been made because of the recent development and growth in the amount of people who, instead of playing games, watch games for longer periods of time (e.g. Twitch.tv). Also the fact that the author does not have the ability to program and thus put the elements in the game have caused the choice for video.
4.1 The game
The game used in the study is ‘Spec Ops: The Line’ [A]. The game is a provocative third-person shooter that challenges a player’s morality by putting them in the middle of difficult situations where harsh choices affecting human life must be made. Set in Dubai, ruined by sandstorms, a delta squad is sent in after a mysterious radio message was picked up. Their mission is simple: locate survivors and radio for evacuation. What they find is a city in the grip of war.
The reason Spec Ops is chosen as the test-game is because it has a deeper message than the average war game and has other primary goals than strictly entertainment (depicting the horrors of war and the shifting of right and wrong in a war scenario). The game is in many ways complex and shows a fundamental change in the player’s character in a way that would normally be called shell shock or PTSD.
The three fragments moments in the game have been chosen specifically as they showed an important change in the game (1st fragment) - which should be noticed when paying attention or offered moments of great suspense (2nd and 3rd fragment). These moments of great suspense where chosen as in these situations a slow-down (which is what the element might cause) may work like a magnifying glass [1], further enhancing the chance of positively influencing one’s postdictability.
Image 1: the first fragment
The first fragment introduced the characters, the setting and some of the different parties involved in the game. It was chosen as it questions heavily how independent soldiers are. It focuses on whether or not soldiers can change their mission based on found evidence, even when they cannot reach their higher command and have received clear instructions up front.
Image 2: the second fragment
The second fragment showed a particularly heavy moment of suspense where the player had to make a choice to either save civilians, and thus innocent lives, or choose for ‘the mission’ by saving a, until now unknown, CIA operative that can perhaps help their mission. It is not made clear whether or not this really will be the case. This questions how obedient soldiers have to be to their given mission and whether they can decide what orders to follow and which to change or ignore. Essentially can they decide to throw away innocent lives for the greater good, without knowing for certain this will eventually help their cause.
Image 3: the third fragment
The third, and arguably heaviest, fragment shows the death of one of the squad members by the civilian public. The player can decide at that point whether he or she wants to shoot these
civilians as a retaliation and revenge for the death of the squad member or have mercy. This questions the judgment of soldiers on decision making, in moments of great despair, with regards to choices about life and death. It also shows the change in the squad members towards their captain and the change of the captain himself.
The 4th and last fragment shows the ending of the game where a shell shocked Captain Walker is being taken back to America with the help of fellow American soldiers. It questions whether or not he would deserve to go home after everything he has been through in Dubai. There is no specific questionnaire (for group 1 and 2) that concern this situation, but it is added to make sure the same state of mind is apparent when answering the concluding questionnaires.
4.2 Participants
47 participants (40 males, 7 females), aged 17-65 (M = 26.4) where recruited through convenience sampling. The majority said to play games daily (30/47). Others said weekly (12/47), monthly (4/47) or never (1/47). Most of the subjects in the sample played RPG games (32/47), others stated to play shooters (24/47), strategy (16/47), MMO (13/47), simulation based games (12/47), mobile games (8/47), MOBA (7/47), puzzle (7/47), non-digital games (7/47) or indie games (6/47).
4.3 Procedure
Each condition had the same procedure. The survey started with a short demographic questionnaire asking gender, age, play frequency and what game types they preferred. This was done to get a simple view on what type of subjects, with regards to gaming, were used when they participated in the experiment. Afterwards three fragments of video where shown in succession. As stated before each fragment contained a moment of suspense for the player in the video. Each fragment ended with a short questionnaire regarding the element in the video (group 1 and 2). A mix of closed (18) and open (9) questions where used to gain insights in the thought process of the subjects. Asking whether or not they realized something, the element, was supposed to change their thinking, what their first thoughts where about this element and if they thought the element was obtrusive to them. Each fragment also had a questions regarding what they should have learned (all groups) and if they would have played the same way as the player in the video. Each epic element, and thus each fragment, had its own questionnaire to make sure results could be linked to the corresponding epic element and fragment.
Image 4: procedure
Finally the 4th and last fragment was played, showing the ending of the game. A concluding questionnaire with more specific questions about the element was given (group 1 and 2’. Asking if the element broke the subjects concentration, if it influenced their understanding of the story, if they noticed a change in their
emotional state each time an element was shown, if it influenced their decision making in the game, if they thought it would be a positive addition to a game, if it influenced what they thought the developer wanted them to learn from the game and what element of the three they thought would fit best. Also three questions about the deeper message of the game (all groups) where added, asking to what extend the subject thought the story was understandable, what the game was about and what the developers wanted them to learn from this game.
4.4 Set up
An experiment was conducted in which three different setups were used. In condition 1, the participants were confronted with an epic element in the form of a narrative, in condition 2, the participants were confronted with an epic element in the form of a visual element. These groups were compared to a control group.
4.4.1 Group 1 (N = 15): The narrative element
For this group narration was the chosen epic element. An example of this element can be found in Brecht’s “Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis” or the Caucasian Chalk Circle. A play that tells of a a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its wealthy natural parents. The moment she picks up the baby is accompanied by music and narrative that directly addresses the audience, explaining her actions and reasoning. For gaming this is a drastic and fundamental addition, making it difficult to miss that something was added to the game. At three points in the video for group 1 a narrative voice was added, disclosing information about what happened at that moment in time and what might happen in the future or because of the decisions that are made. The narration provided a framework as to what the subject should think about, the choices that lie ahead and the lessons provided within the game.
Of the two epic elements chosen this was the most direct one and the expectation is that this will influence the subject, making them think about what the player in the video is doing. The voice added should have gravitas, an air of seriousness and solemnity, and help the subject make sense of it all. In one way this is the ‘hammer-approach’.
4.4.2 Group 2 (N = 15): The visual element
This group had a very abstract and less obtrusive element than the narration. This element, the white fade, would replace the transition fades, which would normally be black. Brecht is known to have used the environment of his theatre plays to distance his audience from what he is showing to them. Examples of this are harsh lights that do not only illuminate the stage but also the audience itself or the elimination of color on stage by using white light. Clear examples of it in his plays are difficult to discern, but it is an element that works on a subconscious level [2].
As stated before changing the game with something as subtle as different color fade may already give the player the distance he needs from the game in order to gain the reflective attitude that is so sought after. In this video at three points the game would fade to white instead of black. In case a participant hadn’t noticed the element the survey would provide them with the information on what they should’ve seen. This was done in order for them to be able to continue the experiment and give meaningful elaborations with regards to the element.
4.4.3 Group 3 (N = 17): The control group
The last group was the control group and had no element attached to it at all. This was obviously to see if the game itself already provoked a reflective attitude from the subject to the storyline and
the choices made by the player in the video. The same situations as in the previous videos where shown, yet the epic elements where taken out. The subjects were not explained what the research was about, except that it was about perception in gaming.
5. RESULTS
The results of each condition were analyzed and color coded along the most important themes found in the subjects elaborations and answers. Each element was first analyzed with the following leading questions:
1. Is the element to some extend useful in that it achieves reflection and hence at the end improve postdictability?
a. If yes, what are the attributes that worked well, which did not?
b. If no, why not and what can be done to improve it? (recommendations for future research)
2. Was there a development seen between the different fragments? If so, what caused this development? After the individual analysis the different conditions were compared to each other in order to find significant differences between them.
5.1 Does the injection of epic elements work?
The first element (the narrative epic element) seems to achieve reflection for most subjects (1st fragment: 47.7%, 2nd fragment: 40%, 3rd fragment: 60%). This is especially shown when asked what they should have learned (which is the question used to measure someone’s postdictability by seeing how well the subjects had reflected on the game). What the subjects should learn from each fragment was first identified in the game and written down beforehand. These identified learning goals where then used to establish whether a subject was right, wrong or close to being right by comparing their answers to what was written down.For each narrative element in the first group the amount of subjects being right was larger or at least similar to the amount of subjects being wrong. This is in sharp contrast with the other two groups in which this is not the case (in both groups for all three fragments the amount of people being wrong is far higher than the number of subjects being right).
Table 1: On what subjects should have learned (with narrative element, group 1)
Table 2: On what subjects should have learned (with abstract element, group 2)
Table 3: On what subjects should have learned (without element, group 3)
A clear increase in postdictability was shown when asked to explain what the subjects thought the developers wanted them to learn from playing the game overall and not on a per fragment basis. These answers were again identified by comparing their answers to what had been written down beforehand on what the whole game was about
It shows a clear difference between the first group and the other two groups in that the amount of subjects being right or close to being right is far higher than the amount of subjects being wrong. This is in contrast with the other group were in both cases the amount of subjects being wrong outweighs the number of subjects being right or close to being right.
Table 4: On what subjects thought they should have learned by playing the game (each group)
0 2 4 6 8 10 1st fragment 2nd fragment 3rd fragment Close Wrong Right 0 5 10 15 1st fragment 2nd fragment 3rd fragment Close Wrong Right 0 5 10 15 1st fragment 2nd fragment 3rd fragment Close Wrong Right 0 2 4 6 8 10
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Close Wrong Right
The expectation that the second element (the white fade) would be too abstract shows to be correct with regards to postdictability. The white fade was too limited in the communicational sense, and barely made subjects realize that it was what was supposed to change their thinking. The ones that did recognize it stated that they were not influenced in the slightest by the recurring white fade and it did not invoke a critical perception of the game, which was the case for group 1.
This was also shown in the key differences, with regards to questions on epic elements, between the first and second group. The first group showed to consistently score higher on key points:
Table 5: key differences groups 1 & 2 (percentage answered positive)
1: Did the added element influence the subjects decision making within the game?
2: Did the added element influence the subjects understanding of the story?
3: Did the added element influence what the subjects thought the developer wanted them to learn in the game?
4: Did the subjects think the epic element could have a positive influence on serious gaming?
Even though the 2nd element does not seem to work still 7 out of 15 (46.7%) subjects of the second group thought the white fade could positively influence gaming when timed correctly. However this was because of the realization a moment of suspense is upcoming rather than the element provoking reflection and increasing one’s postdictability. Subjects from the 2nd
group stated it gave the game more depth and made it linger longer. The 1st group stated the epic element questioned their thoughts, adding a philosophical aspect, gave a more educational and realistic touch to the game, enhanced the story and ultimately heightened reflection. Which is the crucial concept looked for in this thesis. Interestingly enough 7 out of 16 subjects from the control group saw the dilemma’s in the game and understood where they were coming from. They realized war was not a game, not glorious and for soldiers traumatic. Yet they did not, as the first and second group did, talk about Captain Walker, his choices and the heavy influence of those on him personally. They did not see the struggle, the changing of the mission and the shifting of right to wrong. This ‘deeper’ message the game was trying to convey went completely over the heads of the one’s that did not experience an epic element. As far as the dilemma’s in the game and simply seeing what the game was about showed similarities between the groups.
Table 6: On what the game is about
5.2 Was it detrimental to the engagement of
the game?
5.2.1 Group 1
Annoyance with the element was a major theme found in the data of the first element. This was, as previously stated, to be expected as presenting sudden reflection prompts can increase tension, disturb the flow of the game and undermine the entertaining and engaging nature of gaming [13]. In total throughout the questionnaire there were 53 mentions of annoyance with the element (take into account the same subject can have multiple mentions of annoyance throughout the questionnaire and different reasons of being annoyed when saying he or she is).
Table 7: Measure of annoyance (in percentage)
1. The element felt unnecessary and redundant. Asked the obvious questions (11)
2. Narrator was unfit (mostly due to accent (5), but also for being preachy (1) and discordant (2)) (9)
3. Broke immersion in a negative way (9)
4. Generally annoying or irritating to the subject (no further elaboration) (7)
5. Consumed time whilst subject did not care for the narration or just wanted to play (5)
6. Placement of element was poor (5) 7. Subject disagreed with narrator (3)
8. Element did not belong in the game generally (3) 9. Quality of element was poor (1)
Most notably the redundancy of the element was noted, that it asked the obvious questions from the player and therefore was unnecessary. Taken into account that the dilemma’s shown where identified easily (also for the other two groups) and therefore the epic element could be experienced as unnecessary. Yet still the 0,00% 20,00% 40,00% 60,00% 80,00% 1 2 3 4 Group 1 Group 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Close Wrong Right 0,00% 5,00% 10,00% 15,00% 20,00% 25,00% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Annoyance (P)
element did provide the subjects with a new perspective which influenced their understanding of the dilemma’s (see table 1). The second most annoying issue about the first epic element was the fact that the narrator seemed to be unfit and did not belong in the game (most notably due to accent, being discordant or preachy). Showing the narrator himself or herself should fit the context of the game, which was, for this research, difficult to do. The amount of subjects annoyed (when asked about their first thoughts) per fragment was similar for each fragment (A: 7, B: 5, C: 6), but the specific subjects differed. The majority of subjects was annoyed at least once (40%, 6), 20% (3) of subjects was annoyed twice and only 13.3% (2) of subjects was annoyed with all the fragments. 4 out of 15 subjects (26.7%) where never annoyed with any fragment. This means the element seems to work with regards to postdictability, but may have a negative influence on the engagement of the game. However for serious gaming this may still be viable and further research may certainly yield interesting results.
One other reason that might influence the effectiveness of this element in gaming is that 6 out of 15 subjects of the first group said to have felt more connected to the soldiers, feeling responsible and sympathy, remorse and pressure. Epic elements not only managed get the user out of the story to facilitate critical thinking, they also seem to intensify the bonding with characters within the game, which in the end might be counterproductive with what the element is supposed to do as they should not identify emotionally to the characters in the game.
This also accounts for the fact that the majority of the first group (60%) didn’t think the element took them out of the game or broke their concentration. Some of those (33.3%) said it even made them focused more/get more immersed. In one way it is positive as they stated it was interesting enough to keep their concentration and it provided a deeper understanding of what was present. Still it is not what the element is supposed to accomplish, but might yield interesting findings in future research.
5.2.2 Group 2
Subjects of the 2nd group were not in any way annoyed by the use of the white fade. Of the subjects 20% wondered what the use of the element was, but there were no mentions of being annoyed by it.. The same goes for obtrusiveness of the element and almost every other question asked specifically about the epic element itself.
The only real comments about it being obtrusive where about the editing of the video itself and not the white fade in the slightest. Only 2 out of 15 subjects thought the white fade broke their concentration. 5 out of 15 subjects thought the white fade influenced their understanding of the story, saying it helped them understand the underlying dilemma’s and prepared them for when something ‘big’ was going to happen. 5 out of 15 subjects stated they noticed a change in their emotional state whenever a white fade was shown, this again seemed to be because of the imminent moment of suspense. 4 out of 15 said the white fade influenced their decision making and also 4 out of 15 thought the white fade influenced what they thought the developers wanted them to learn.
5.3 Was there a noticeable development
between the fragments?
Between the fragments, of both groups, there was a slight development noticeable with regards to whether or not they would play differently. Certainly after the first element when people got used to it and realized what exactly was supposed to change their
thinking (only 46.7% did so after the first fragment, this was upped to 86.7% after the second and to 100% after the third fragment), which was not the case for group 2.
Table 8: Who realized what was supposed to change their thinking (in percentage)
Also there was a noticeable growth in the amount of subjects that realized, or where at least close to completely realizing, what they should have learned from the fragment shown to them (as shown in table 1). This is also noticeable in the second group, where the amount of people being right or close to being right increases for the 2nd and 3rd fragment in comparison to the 1st fragment. This gives reason to believe conditioning to notice the element can be observed. Taken into account subjects where explained what they should have seen when they did not see it.
Another interesting development was that group 2 seemed to play mostly the same (A: 93.3%, B: 73.3%, C: 80%). This is noteworthy as it is not that different from the first group and very different from the control group as can be seen in table 7 down below. This makes it seem like both elements shift the focus of the subject, influencing their decision making. Also interesting is the fact that all three groups seem to be similar in terms of playing differently or the same for the last fragment, yet differ greatly for the other two. This could be the case as the dilemma presented in the 3rd fragment was either shooting ‘innocent’ civilians or sparing them and only a small amount thought it was a good idea to shoot them (group 1: 13.3%%, group 2: 20%, group 3: 25%).
Table 9: Who would have played the same (in percentages)
6. Limitations
The research had certain limitations that are important to take note of to make sure the conclusion is read with these in mind. The most prominent one is the fact that subjects did not play the actual game and instead watched someone else play. The interactivity and the ability to make your own choices is sure to influence the
0,00% 20,00% 40,00% 60,00% 80,00% 100,00% 120,00% Group 1 Group 2 1st fragment 2nd fragment 3rd fragment 0,00% 20,00% 40,00% 60,00% 80,00% 100,00% 1st fragment 2nd fragment 3rd fragment Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
player in how to decide during play. It is uncertain as to how much the subjects where influenced in this matter and if the conclusions drawn are viable. Also there is research that shows that players, whilst playing the game, because of the interactivity already think heavily about what they are doing and their decisions, thus making the added elements potentially unnecessary.
Other limitations include the quality of the elements themselves. In the hands of professional developers the elements would have a quality far higher than the ones made by the author. This also includes the editing done on the video as this was not done by a professional either.
The third limitation is that the sample sizes were slightly below what normally would be required to get a viable and thus significant result. Also the questionnaire for the control group was relatively small compared to the other two groups as there were no questions regarding any elements in the video. This had as an effect that subjects seemed to be more thorough in the explanations of their answers.
The game itself may have been questionable and in some ways limiting as well. Obviously the limitation is already in the fact that only one game, and thus one genre, was researched, but also Spec Ops: The Line itself was perhaps the wrong game to test the hypothesis on. The dilemma’s were not that difficult to identify as shown in table 7. Shooters in general are not the most loved games as shown in the first introductory questions., as only slightly more than half (51.1%) plays shooters. The adventure type game (played by 68.1%) may perhaps work better as the type of game to use and test these kinds of elements on.
The last limitation was that the questions regarding the influence of the epic elements and the question whether or not the subject had seen the element were sensitive to self report and influence the subject in ways that an epic element might also have done. By taking away the immersion and reminding the subject that it is a game, or a study [2].
7. CONCLUSION
The notable differences in responses between groups suggests that the correct use, with regards to context and placement, of epic elements does have a positive effect on the subjects in that it increases their critical perception of the game and therefore the amount of reflection they do, as is shown in table 1-3. Also, with regards to the first element, the postdictability increases as can be seen in table 4. The second element (the white fade) did show key differences with the first group which explains why this element did not work as intended with regards to its postdictability. Both conditions and the control group showed similarities in what they thought the game was about as seen in table 6, however the second and third group missed the deeper message. Seeing this increase is further justified by research done by Daniel Dunne (2014) who suggests that if alienation of Brecht would be more prevalent in games, obtrusive and difficult themes could be made more present, as was done by the first element, and offer to the audience different and more critical ways of thinking [5].
For the first epic element the results suggest that narrative epic, as introduced in this study, may have a negative influence on the engaging and entertaining value of the game as it was experienced as annoying by the majority of the subjects. The narration was experienced as unnecessary, it broke the subjects immersive experience and the narration itself was seen as unfit as it did not fit the context (accent mostly). Still the majority of subjects believed that the element, if used correctly with regards to the
abovementioned negative connotations, can have a positive influence on gaming, showing that it can still be viable for serious gaming and may not be detrimental to the engagement of the game when used properly. This is also suggested by Pieter Wouters et al. (2011), who states that explicitly asking a player to reflect on events in the game creates tension, but that a focus on reflection prompts may still yield learning, even though such an intervention may disturb the flow of the game and consequently undermine the entertaining nature of the game [13].
This study gives more evidence that serious games can educate people, giving them the right attitude to engage in learning effectively through the engaging ways of gaming. It adds to the small amount of empirical research and presents the potential for a new strategy to provoke reflection in players, although the findings with regards to annoyance will have. A strategy consisting of using epic elements effectively in a serious game context, increasing a player’s postdictability and ultimately the effectiveness of the serious game.
7.1 Future research
Future research is definitely needed to secure and prove that the use of tools like epic elements for game developers can be effective. This thesis showed many different findings that can assure relevant future research. The elements definitely had some sort of effect on the player, or in this case the subject on watching a player.
The next step should be to further research these kinds of elements for the different learning goals serious games might have, hereby also expanding the types of games in which this is tested, as the research currently is not exhaustive (one game, one genre).
Also the study showed that the second element (the white fade), whilst having no notable effect on postdictability and despite its unobtrusive nature, did have an effect on its subjects. They seemed to be conditioned to the element in that they felt something (the feeling of imminence) whenever the element happened which might explain the influence on how they would have played. It was abstract enough to not make the subject think they were being influenced, yet according to several subjects (1st fragment: 20%, 2nd fragment: 33.3%, 3rd fragment: 33.3%) was subtle and consistent enough to make it seem like it was a simple way of announcing an imminent moment of suspense. This might yield interesting results for the development of serious gaming if researched more extensively.
Also future study could be conducted in collaboration with game developers to make sure the epic element is a part of the game and the subjects will be able to play the game by themselves and not simply see someone else play
If research was to be continued with the narrative element the following, which was found in this study, should be taken into account:
How the epic element is presented in the structure of the game is crucial and needs to fit the context in which it is placed (e.g. accent). Otherwise, as shown in the results of the survey, players will often see it as obtrusive or annoying
The amount of use, which element can be used and in which combination is important. Certainly as it was mentioned in the findings that the more the element was used the more annoying it became. Research regarding percentages, game length, story parts and the use of epic elements throughout is required to prevent annoyance
becoming a threat to the effect of the epic element and to provide the most efficient use of epic theatre
Music was named to have an influence on the player by the subjects in the study and can potentially be used as an epic element in itself. Further research in exactly how to use music properly is required
If research was to be continued with the more abstract element, for either sits unexpected effect or otherwise, the following findings from the study should be taken into account:
As found in the study subjects, or players, can subconsciously and consciously notice a small, subtle and abstract element (like the white fade) and feel something (a foreshadow of the choice that lies ahead). Future research in the exact use for this can yield interesting findings in how this could be used to influence players positively
Future study with regards to epic elements in general should take, as was found in the research, the following into account:
Make sure the quality and context of the element fit the game and the genre of the game it is included in Provide an epic element in different kinds of genres and
different games in order for the research to be exhaustive
Make sure the questions asked in the questionnaire are less sensitive to self report and therefore influence the subject in how he perceives the game
8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Frank Nack for his indispensable feedback and tutoring during the months of working on the master thesis. Also thanks to family and friends, especially Reinoud, for their support.
9. REFERENCES
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9.1 Game references
A. Spec Ops: The Line (2K Games, 2012) B. Sharkworld (Ranj, 2009)
C. Postal 2 (Whiptail Interactive, 2003) D. Metal Gear Solid (Konami, 1998)
