Customization for games

Abstract

System designers who build customization into games ought to consider how players think about adjustments. The distinctiveness of gaming contexts suggests that closer inspection of customization in games is warranted and will inform the design of customizable game systems. Presented here is an analysis of 82 collected reports about variations to the rules of the poker game Texas Hold'em. A theory of "necessity" in rule adoption is developed and the systematic perspective of rule-changing in games is discussed.

What is eSports and why do people watch it?

“…In the results drama does not seem to be significantly associated with spectators’ eSports watching frequency. This finding seems to be contrary to previous qualitative observations where the importance of drama and information asymmetry has been highlighted (Cheung and Huang, 2011). Additionally, within the realm of video game streaming, dramatic turn of events have been argued to increase viewership (Karhulahti, 2016).…”

“…Many popular eSports games employ an amount of information asymmetry to create strategic tension between players, and also dramatic tension for players. For example, Starcraft 2 has an element called fog of war, which obscures parts of the map for players (Cheung and Huang, 2011). The actions showed to spectators are free of this fog of war, but the director of the broadcast has the ability to choose what to show and what to hide.…”

“…Previous qualitative and anecdotal observations are canonical on the importance of social interaction in watching streams and eSports (Cheung and Huang, 2011; Hamilton et al , 2014; Scholz, 2012; Seo, 2013; Sherry et al , 2006; Sjöblom and Hamari, 2017; Trepte et al , 2012; Woerman and Kirschener, 2015). It is easy to subscribe to these conceptions as social interaction and functionalities are clearly present in services that are used for spectating.…”

“…As previously mentioned, literature on eSports is still rare and dispersed, and most of this body of literature has focused on the qualitative documentation of visible phenomenon in tournaments (e.g. Carter and Gibbs, 2013; Cheung and Huang, 2011; Hutchins, 2008; Seo and Jung, 2014; Seo, 2016; Taylor, 2012a, ,b; Wagner, 2006; Witkowski, 2009, 2012). Published quantitative research on the questions of why people watch eSports or why players wish to attend eSports events is, as of yet, non-existent.…”

“…Other qualitative literature suggests that the reasons for eSports consumption should in principle correspond to those of traditional sports. For example, based on an interview study, Cheung and Huang (2011) remarked that eSports consumption motivations fairly well correspond to those of traditional sports (using the motivation scale for sports consumption (MSSC) scale of Trail and James, 2001). However, given that their study was qualitative in approach, there was no way to infer how salient the different motivations were, or how associated they might be with frequency in eSports consumption.…”