Game metrical data are increasingly being used to enhance game testing and to inform game design. There are different approaches and techniques to gather the metrics data; however there seems to be a lack of frameworks to read and make sense of it. In this paper, the concept of play-persona is applied to game metrics, in the specific case of character-based computer games, where the player controls a single protagonist, around whom the gameplay and -story evolves. A case is presented for Hitman: Blood Money (IO Interactive, 2007). Player-controlled game characters can be deconstructed into a range of components and these expressed as monitored game metrics. These metrics can subsequently be utilized to discover patterns of play by building play-personas: Modeled representations of how players interact with the game. This process can also be useful to assist game design, by informing whether the game facilitates the specific play patterns implied by theoretical play-personas.

The Heteractis magnifica assemblage at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula was examined. The actinian size, location, and number of resident anemonefishes were recorded. The anemones were found at depths down to approximately 40 m and the sizes of clustering H. magnifica and clusters were positively correlated with depth. The shallow waters of the anemone assemblage contained few mainly small, solitary actinians. There seemed to be a tendency for solitary actinians to cluster once they reached a certain size-range. The resident anemonefishes Amphiprion bicinctus and Dascyllus trimaculatus were present in very large numbers (approximately 250 and 1800 respectively) and the A. bicinctus home range size was positively correlated with depth.

In this paper the motivations for play in the context of single-and multi-player digital Role-Playing Games (RPGs) are examined. Survey data were drawn from respondents online and participants in a related experimental study. The results indicate that motivations for play are not simple constructs, but rather composed of multiple motivational drivers that are heavily interrelated and act in concert. Character uniqueness and Discovery & Immersion were the highest ranked motivational categories. Different levels of detail in motivations for playing single-/multiPlayer RPGs were located, with mechanistic/tactical play and character-based/social play being the two overall motivational factors.

In this paper, we consider the role of narrative management in a character-based emergent narrative framework. The paper defines the problem and considers related work. It evaluates the role of the Game Master in non computer-based role-playing games and presents two initial implementations of a story facilitator within a character-based system using the FAtiMA agent architecture.Finally it considers what further work is required.

Game time is a core feature of game design and study, and forms part of the gaming experience on a variety of levels. It can be viewed from multiple perspectives, for example, the time of the playing of the game or the flow of time in a game world. In this article, a comprehensive game time model based on empirical research as well as recent theory is presented. It proposes various perspectives on game time and integrates them to allow coherent representation of the same events in the different perspectives. The model has been tested across tabletop and digital formats, and its applicability across game formats is demonstrated. Emphasis is placed on multiplayer and massively multiplayer role-playing games because these feature complex game time behavior not previously evaluated. The model considers game time as an interactively created and nonlinear feature of games and game play.

No abstract

No abstract

__________________________________________________________________________________________Role-playing games (RPGs) are a well-known game form, existing in a number of formats, including tabletop, live action, and various digital forms. Despite their popularity, empirical studies of these games are relatively rare. In particular there have been few examinations of the effects of the various formats used by RPGs on the gaming experience. This article presents the results of an empirical study, examining how multi-player tabletop RPGs are affected as they are ported to the digital medium. Issues examined include the use of disposition assessments to predict play experience, the effect of group dynamics, the influence of the fictional game characters and the comparative play experience between the two formats. The results indicate that group dynamics and the relationship between the players and their digital characters, are integral to the quality of the gaming experience in multiplayer RPGs, with the first being of greater importance to digital games and the latter to the tabletop version. ACM File Format: Tychsen, A., Hitchens, M., Brolund, T., McIlwain, D., and Kavakli, M. (2008) Group play -Determining factors on the gaming experience in multiplayer role-playing games. ACM Comput.