GENRE
1. For convenience, Kücklich (1998) classified video games in the five genres of action games, adventure games, role playing games, simulation games, and strategy games. Using a Likert scale, quantify how much the video game fits or is like a specific genre by marking the scale appropriately. Apply all the genre types to each video game:
Specific GameType Least Like Most Like
A. Action Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
B. Adventure Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C. Role Playing Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
D. Simulation Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E. Strategy Game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLOT
2. How does the game start?
3. How does the game invite the player to join in, or what is the hook?
4. Is the plot obvious, hidden, subverted, or is there no plot at all?
5. Describe the plot in a few short sentences.
6. Is the plot audio, textual, revealed as a pathway, or any other device?
7. Does the plot have any references to classic or popular literature or media?
8. How does the plot relate or how might the plot relate to the real life events of the player?
9. Does the plot change or seem to change as the player moves through the game?
If so how does the plot change?
10. Can the player change the plot in any way or can the player choose variances or different plots? How does this affect the player or how might it affect various players.
11. What variances of life might a player bring to a game that would affect the way that player would experience the plot of this game?
RULES
12. What is the physical user interface for this game?
13. How will player variances affect how the player experiences the physical interface for this game?
14. What is the video interface for the game?
15. What are the video interface objects that the player will manipulate?
16. What are the feedbacks that will let the player know the object is being manipulated as desired?
17. What are the literary, cultural, and emotional aspects of the video interface objects that the player will manipulate?
18. How will player variances affect the way the player experiences the physical and video interfaces?
AVATAR
19. How will the player’s avatar be controlled by the physical interface?
20. How will the player know the avatar is moving or interacting as the player directs? What is the feedback?
21. Does the player have an avatar that is visible or partially visible on the video interface?
22. Where does the avatar fit on a representative scale between total abstraction and photo realism?
23. Does the player have personal input on the avatar creation or naming?
24. Which avatar actions are controllable and which avatar actions are controlled by the game?
25. What human qualities does the avatar have?
26. Can the avatar or its actions be characterized on a humanistic moral/ethical scale?
27. Does the avatar have any other human characterizations?
28. Does the avatar have any cultural, historical, or historical meanings?
29. Can the player impose personal meaning to the avatar? And if so, what are some of the meanings the avatar might have?
30. For the purposes of this discussion, we will assign three game stages, i.e., beginning game, middle game, and end game. Does the meaning of the avatar change for the player in the different game stages?
31. Transference isthe redirection of feelings and desires and especially of those unconsciously retained from childhood toward a new object. Is it possible for the player to use the avatar or other player avatars for transference? If so, how might this affect the meaning of the game for the player?
32. Is it possible for the player to export avatar qualities from the game to real life experience? If so, how might this affect the meaning of the game for the player.
33. To what extent might a player experience the avatar as an reflection of himself, or parts of expressed personality, in the same way that humans see their shadows and mirror reflections as “self images?’
34. What are the ways that players regard their avatars?
35: To what extent do players project their own personality traits on their avatar?
New number: To what extent do players experiment with other personality traits or styles with their avatar?
36. What are the ways that players regard other player avatars?
37. Do players use their avatar as a puppet to act out an unfolding script?
LEARNING THE RULES – Beginning game – Novice player
38. What game rules are explicit text?
39. Where and how are rules displayed?
40. How is player rule acknowledgement obtained?
41. Are game rules accessible during game play?
42. Are some rules subjective?
43. Are some rules subject to arbitration?
44. Are rules congruent with each other?
45. Are rules consistent with other game meanings?
46. Are rules democratic?
47. Are rules fair?
48. How might some players perceive rules to be unfair?
49. What other rules might players add to make the game more meaningful?
50. How might rules be misunderstood?
51. What are loopholes to the rules? Are these intentional?
52. What rule infractions are most likely?
53. How does the game experience change when there are rule infractions and/or penalties?
54. What rules are assumed by convention or culture?
55. Will rule sets change as the game progresses or will they stay the same?
56. Is it possible for the player to choose their own set of rules?
57r: If a player adopts their own additional set of rules, how does this change the game experience for themselves and for other players?
58. What cultural, historical, sociological, or any other influences provide antecedents for the rules?
59. How do these influences shape the players expectations, game experience, and meaning?
60. How might a player extrapolate rules or meaning of rules to real life?
61. How can players protest unfair rules or rulings?
62. Is misinformation given within the game as part of the “puzzle to be solved?”
63. How might players deal with misinformation as part of the game?
CODE
64. Can the player modify code to alter game play? How does this or would this affect the player’s game experience?
65. Is the code transparent in the game?
66. Is there an illusion that there is no game code?
67. Is the code relatively bug free, consistent, and stable? If not, how do to problems affect the game experience?
68. How are new versions, updates, fixes, etc. incorporated and how are players notified of these events?
TEXT
69. Is language grammatically correct?
70. Are dialects correct for the character?
71. If not, are deviations consistent with the rest of the game?
72. Is audio language loud enough or too loud?
73. Can player control audio language?
74. Do players have the opportunity to contribute to the game text?
75. If players contribute to the game text, how does this affect their game experience?
76. What cultural, historical, sociological, or other influences are antecedents to verbal or written text?
77. Are there various levels of meaning for players to unravel?
78. Can the player synthesize textual elements to find other meanings?
79. What other literary devices are evident in the verbal or written text of the game?
NARRATIVE
80. Does the video game have an obvious narrated story?
81. If so, describe the story briefly.
82. Do certain elements of the narrative loop or is there a clear progression?
83. Is the narrative relevant to the game play or an imposition of meaning to the ludic elements? How does this affect the player’s experience?
84. Is there a clear narrator in the game?
85. How does the control of the story shift between the clear, controlled story to the story about the individual player?
ILLUSION/IMMERSION
86. How is the player complicit in the illusion, what beliefs must he suspend to enter into the illusion?
87. What aspects of the game contribute to the suspension of disbelief?
88. When disbelief is suspended, what other meanings become more evident for the player?
89r: Does the video game give a sense of being transported to another reality?
90: If so, what elements lead to that sense of another reality?
91. What does the player manipulate to contribute to the suspension of disbelief?
92. How does the player’s complicity with the illusion affect his sense of personal power and self determination?
93: How does a player agency in game contribute and/or detract from game immersion?
94. At what part in the game is the player most invested in the co-illusion?
95: As the player completes more and more tasks, does he become more engaged or less engaged in the illusion/immersion?
96: When cognitive dissonance occurs such as un matching literary elements, or rules that don’t fit, etc., can or will players create the mental links to make the connections fit, thus creating more meaning and becoming coauthor of the illusion and the narrative?
97r: What are the player benefits and costs of game immersion?
98: What are the benefits and costs of game immersion to the players surrounding humans in real life?
PROGRESSION – MIDDLE GAME
99. Is the player able to enter in the game at the same place each time they starts or must they start at the beginning level?
101. What does the player need to do to get out of the game?
102. How does the player leave the game in a way that supports the transition from the illusion to reality?
103. Does the game have a clear ending, if so what is the ending? What does that meaning end for the avatar and what does it mean for the player?
104. Describe the goals and tasks for each stage of the game.
105.What ceremonies mark the transition from novice play to middle play?
For the purposes of this survey, a middle game player will be called a traveler, and an end game player will be called a sage.
106. How will a player experience the transition to traveler as opposed to novice player?
107. What is the relationship of a traveler player to a novice player in the game and how might this status affect the experience of the traveler player as the game is played
108. What changes happen in the game as the player moves into the end game?
109. How might the player change his game style as he moves into the end game?
110. What new problems may arise for the player in the end game?
111. What is the relationship of a sage to other players?
112. If there are other stages in the game, please delineate them with major tasks briefly and give a rationale for their inclusion.
113. How is the player’s progress in the game tracked and/or compared?
114. Can the player’s progress be posted to any or all of the three social spheres (see question 120 below for definition)
115. How do players use the progression information?
116. How does scoring affect a player’s game experience?
117. How does a player or how might a player experience the movement through the levels of the game?
CULTURE
118. What symbols, customs, or practices does the video game incorporate from real life?
119. What symbols, customs, or practices does the video game contribute to real life?
120. If this video game was said to have 3 spheres of social influence, i.e. primary, players who play the game, secondary, people who know the game by creation, marketing, etc., or know a player who plays the game, and tertiary, someone who knows only people in the secondary sphere, how do discussions about the video game vary in each of the social spheres?
121. How does each sphere view the relevant costs and benefits of the video game?
122. What are the stereotypes and biases of each social sphere that are relevant to the video game?
END GAME
123. Does the video game actually end? Or does it have an end stage?
124. What elements signify the end of the video game?
125. What must the player master to reach the end or the end stage?
126. Can reaching the game end be compared to an initiation to an elite group?
127. Does the game lose its immersive ability to any degree when the player reaches the end game or the game end?
128. Does reaching the end game confer any level of status to the player, in game or in real life?
129. Will players reenter the immersion/illusion at any point?
130. How do end players differ from novice players in how they experience the game?
131. How does having this common game experience provide a common bond for players in the real world?
132. What are some signals that players might use in communication (like shibboleths) that will screen for common game experience?
133. When players reach end game status, how might they describe what they are experiencing?
References:
Bourriaud, Nicolas. 1998. Relational Aesthetics: France: Les Presse Du Reel.
Kücklich, Julian. (1998) “Literary Theory and Computer Games”. Paper presented at the Cosign Conference, Amsterdam, 2001. http://www.cosignconference.org/downloads/papers/kucklich_cosign_2001.pdf
“World of Warcraft.” 2009. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
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