A model of non-player character believability

Abstract

In this study we aim to describe in what ways the behaviour of non-player characters (NPCs) affects to what extent the player finds the game experience to be believable. To this end, we have conducted an online survey, where respondents were asked to classify and describe NPCs. Furthermore, we also examined recordings of NPCs in games. These data sources were analysed using a model for NPC social believability in order to describe the effects of NPC behaviour in relation to how different types of NPCs are perceived as being believable. Based on this we were able to construct a model of NPC believability, which describes the NPC’s level of complexity and ability to handle a mutable social context. As described by the model, NPCs are currently less capable of handling changing social contexts. They do, however, show promise, and given current emerging technologies it is feasible that new types of more socially capable NPCs will arise within the near future.

Empathy with Non-Player Characters? An Empirical approach to the Foundations of Human/Non-Human Relationships

“…With the aforementioned theoretical frameworks, the research design finds a meta-theoretical coherence which is appropriate for answering the question for possible foundations of relationships between human players and non-human players. Therefore, the following chapters focus on the question how the emergence of empathy may transform a narrative "characterhood" (Warpefelt & Verhagen, 2017) of NPCs into some degree of social "personhood" (Lindemann, 2005).…”

After agency: The queer posthumanism of video games that cannot be played

“…The deer at the heart of Watanabe’s piece is, in effect, a non-player character gone ‘wild’: a pre-programmed artificial intelligence agent who has become the protagonist of its own video game. To date, discussions of NPCs have largely--though certainly not exclusively--focused on technical questions about how to make NPCs ‘believably’ human (see, for example: Brusk et al, 2007; Afonso and Prada, 2008; Mahmoud et al, 2014; Warpefelt and Verhagen, 2017; Simonov et al, 2019). San Andreas Deer Cam is radically uninterested in believability, and its relationship to the human is messy at best.…”

The Moral Service of Trans NPCs: Examining the Roles of Transgender Non-Player Characters in Role-Playing Video Games

“…The term “non-player character,” or NPC, describes a range of actors who serve in a variety of game roles. The role originated in tabletop (non-digital) role-playing games, in which each human player acts as a single player character (PC), and all other characters in the game world are controlled and performed by the human Dungeon Master or Game Master (Warpefelt, 2016). In digital games, human players control PCs via input devices like controllers or keyboards, and the game system and AIs control the NPCs.…”

“…Much existing work on NPCs in digital games concerns their contribution to the goals of player immersion, identification, or engagement (Bartle, 2004; Geraci & Kapadia, 2015; Mallon & Lynch, 2014; Warpefelt, 2016). In the narrative-heavy genre of role-playing games (RPGs), NPCs can be crucial to players’ investment in the game’s story and desire to continue playing (Mallon & Lynch, 2014).…”

“…Others have developed gaming-specific typologies that account for both ludic and narrative functions of NPCs. Warpefelt (2016) outlined four metatypes of NPCs, each broken down into types: Functions (Vendor, Services, Questgiver); Adversaries (Enemy, Opponent); Friends (Sidekick, Ally, Companion, Pet, Minion); and Providers (Storyteller, Loot provider). Warpefelt’s typology is well-suited to analyzing NPC roles in the narrative-heavy RPG genre.…”