1. Effects of Character Voice-over on Players’ Engagement
in a Digital Role-Playing Game Environment
JaeHwan Byun
Virtual Environment Laboratory
Southern Illinois University Carbondale

2. Background of the Study
Really?
Intellectual
Then,
Indignation
How?

3. Background of the Study
Gap in
literature
89
8
256
Ke, F. (2009).

4. Background of the Study
Gap in Gaming Device (Computer)
literature role-playing, narrative arcs,
challenges, fantasy, interactive
choices, characters in games,
curiosity, clear goals, appropriate
feedback, playfulness,
implementing elements of mystery

5. Background of the Study
Gap in
literature
BGM

6. Purpose of the study
To determine whether or not the voice-over of
Non-Playing Characters in digital games has any
effect on players’ engagement

7. Research Question
What is the effect of non-player characters’
voice-over on player engagement during digital
game play?

8. Experimental Design
Randomized control-group posttest only design
Before treatment Treatment After treatment
VO group DS Voice-over GEQ
NVO Group DS Non Voice-over GEQ
Independent Variable: NPCs’ voice-over
Dependent Variable: Participants’ level of engagement

9. Research Subjects
• Between 18 and 25 years old
• Undergraduate students who spoke English as
their first language
• No prior gaming experience with “Neverwinter
Nights 2”
• No hearing and reading difficulties

10. Material (Research Game Mod)
• Modified game from NWN 2 tutorial module
• About 12 minutes long
• Cinematic style conversation with NPCs

11. Material (Adjusting Voice-over)

12. Material (Research Game Mod)

13. Experimental Environment
• Two technically identical laptops in a room
– One for VO group, One for NVO group
• Headphones

14. Instruments
• Demographic Questionnaire
– To collect background information about the
participants
• Game Engagement Questionnaire
– To measure participants’ engagement level
– Modified from Brockmyer, Fox, Curtiss, McBroom,
Burkhart & Pidruzny (2009)
– Total 11 items

15. Data Colleting Process

16. Results
• 74 / 81 (Analyzed Data / Total Participants)
• 37 participants per each group
• Analyzed by using PASW 18.0
• Instrument Reliability: Cronbach α = .80
(with 10 items)
• Independent Sample t-test

17. Results (Demographic Info.)

18. Results (Descriptive Statistics)

19. Results (Distribution of GEQ score)
VO
NVO
Frequency
GEQ score
NVO VO

20. Results (Hypothesis Testing)
t-test for Equality of Means
t df Sig. Mean difference Std. Error difference
2.45 72 .02 3.08 1.26
• Null hypothesis was rejected at the alpha level of .05
• Effect size, Cohen's (1998) d, was .58.

21. Results (Finding)
Players are significantly more engaged in a
digital RPG environment when playing RPG with
NPCs’ voice-over than when playing RPG
without NPCs’ voice-over.

22. Conclusion (Discussion)
• Aural components of digital games can be
important factors affecting player engagement.
• Audio stimuli should be included as a design factor
engaging game players.

23. Conclusion (Implications)
• For educational (and serious) game developers and
game modders
• For educational practitioners who are involved
in educational multimedia development
• Teachers (Trainers) who are selecting digital games
for educational purpose

24. Conclusion (Recommendations)
• Testing the validity of the GEQ for RPG
• Replicating this study with different groups of
participants
• Improving the fidelity of the experimental
conditions
• Investigating the people who read dialog faster than
they listen to voice-over