"Narrative Design and the Psychology of Emotions and Immersion in Games" by Sherry Jones (Nov. 23, 2015)

#Metagame Book Club
“Narrative Design and the Psychology of Emotions
and Immersion in Games”
Sherry Jones | Games & Psychology Instructor | Fall 2015 | Twitter @autnes |
http://bit.ly/gamepsych2
Jodie Holmes in Beyond Two Souls Markiplier reacts to Train

1. Salen, Katie and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play: Game Design
Fundamentals. MIT Press. Google Books. 2004.
2. Lemarchand, Richard. “Attention, Not Immersion: Making Your Game
Better with Psychology and Playtesting, the Uncharted Way.” Game
Developers Conference. 7 March 2012.
3. Ermi, Laura and Frans Mäyrä. “Fundamental Components of the
Gameplay Experience: Analyzing Immersion.” Digra. 2005.
Texts in Focus 1

4. Nacke, Lennart and Craig A. Lindley. “Affective Ludology, Flow and
Immersion in a First-Person Shooter: Measurement of Player
Experience. Loading. 2009.
5. Madigan, Jamie. “The Psychology of Immersion in Video Games.”
Psychology of Games. 27 July 2010.
6. Sheffield, Brandon. “Game Design Psychology: The Full Hirokazu
Yasuhara Interview.” Gamasutra. 25 August 2008.
Texts in Focus 2

7. Ward, Natalie M. “Mass(ively) Effect(ive): Emotional Connections,
Choice, and Humanity.” Eludamos. 2008.
8. Madigan, Jamie. “The Psychology of Horror Games.” Psychology of
Games. October 2015.
9. Evers, E. R. K. , N. van de Ven, D. Weeda. “The Hidden Costs of
Microtransactions: Buying In-Game Advantages in Online Games
Decreases a Player’s Status.” International Journal of Internet
Science. 2015.
Texts in Focus 3

The Immersion Controversy
in Game Design

“The immersive fallacy is the idea that the pleasure of a media experience
lies in its ability to sensually transport the participant into an illusory,
simulated reality … this reality is so complete that ideally the frame falls
away so that the player truly believes that he or she is part of an
imaginary world” (450).
-- Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (2004)
The Immersive Fallacy - A Definition

“The danger with the immersive fallacy is that it misrepresents how play
functions -- and game design can suffer as a result. If game designers fail
to recognize the way games create meaning for players--as something
separate from, but not connected to the real world--they will have
difficulty creating truly meaningful play” (453).
The Immersive Fallacy - Game Reality vs.
Physical World Reality

“The immersive fallacy would assert that a player has an ‘immersive’
relationship with the character, that to play the character is to become the
character. In the immersive fallacy’s ideal game, the game’s frame would
drop away, and the player would lose him or herself totally within the
game character” (453).
The Immersive Fallacy - Relationship
between Player and Character

“A player’s relationship with a
game character he or she directly
controls is not a simple matter of
direct identification. Instead, a
player relates to a game character
through the double-consciousness
of play” (453).
Rules of Play: Game Design
Fundamentals (2004)
The Immersive Fallacy - Not Recognizing
Double-Consciousness
Adam and Joel playing Outlast

“A protagonist character is a persona through which a player exerts him
or herself into an imaginary world; this relationship can be intense and
emotionally ‘immersive.’ However, at the very same time, the character is
a tool, a puppet, an object for the player to manipulate according to the
rules of the game. In this sense, the player is fully aware of the character
as an artificial construct” (453).
The Immersive Fallacy - Double
Consciousness of Character

“Here they are: poor old ‘immersion’ and ‘immersive’.”
“Their relatives ‘engaging’ and ‘engagement’ are a bit better, but not
much. We use these words all the time when we’re talking about what
makes games great, but do we really understand what they mean?”
“Their literal sense seems confusing: When we’re immersed in a game,
what are we under the surface of? Are we inside the gameplay, or the
graphics, like James Woods making out with this creepy TV in David
Cronenberg’s film, Videodrome?”
-- Richard Lemarchand
(Lead Game Designer of Naughty Dog) (2012)
Problem with the Meaning of “Immersion”

Lemarchand argues that game designers should shift focus to the
psychology of attention (rather than on immersion).
“Videogames entrance us by getting our attention, and then they give us
what we’d call a compelling experience, by holding our attention. Loosely
defined as the cognitive process of paying attention to one aspect of the
environment while ignoring others, attention is one of the most widely
studied and discussed subject in the whole of psychology.”
Psychology of Attention Over Immersion

“We now know that that’s not quite true,
that we can only attend to one thing at
once: our unconscious minds are always
monitoring the world for the arrival of
important information. We call this
‘vigilance,’ and it has been studied a lot
since the 1940s, because it’s central to
some very important jobs. . . . like air
traffic control, military surveillance and
even lifeguarding.”
(Lead Game Designer of Naughty Dog)
(2012)
The Psychology of Vigilance (Concentration)

“This big change in your visual field has almost certainly succeeded in
attracting your attention to the screen, and it does so in a way that you
don’t have any real control over. Sudden loud sounds and motion have
the same effect, as do the mention of your name, anything that threatens
your survival, and just plain novelty - anything new and different. This is
called ‘reflexive attention’ and, broadly speaking, it happens at the back
and at the sides of the brain.”
Two Types of Attention - Reflexive Attention

“[Voluntary attention] is the attention that we’re in charge of, which we
choose to direct - which we have what’s known as ‘executive control’
over. Executive attention is one of a group of executive functions, which
also include problem solving and the way we monitor our own actions,
and it takes place primarily in the front of the brain. The whole spectrum
of executive functioning, where we make choices, and take actions, is
right at the heart of our craft as videogame developers. This is what we’re
talking about whenever we talk about ‘agency,’ but it seems that we
rarely talk about what the player is choosing to pay attention to.”
Two Types of Attention - Voluntary Attention

The Immersion Controversy
in Academia

“Brown and Cairns have presented a classification that categorises
immersion into gameplay in three levels of involvement. Ranging from
‘engagement,’ via ‘engrossment’ to ’total immersion’ . . . . But this
approach nevertheless fails to adequately respond to the qualitative
differences between different modes of involvement. . . . They agree that
immersion seems to have many common features with flow experiences.
However, in the context of digital games flow like phenomena seem only
to be fleeting experiences, which in turn suggests that they are something
different from flow as traditionally conceived. Thus, the flow-like
experiences related to gameplay could be called ‘micro-flow’ or
‘gameflow.’” (5).
-- Laura Ermi and Franz Mäyrä
“Analysing Immersion” (2005)
Psychophysiology & 3 Levels of Immersion

“The first dimension of gameplay experience that we distinguish is the
sensory immersion related to audiovisual execution of games. . . . Another
form of immersion that is particularly central for games, as they are
fundamentally based on interaction, is challenge-based immersion. This is
the feeling of immersion that is at its most powerful when one is able to
achieve a satisfying balance of challenges and abilities. Challenges can be
related to motor skills or mental skills such as strategic thinking or logical
problem solving, but they usually involve both to some degree. . . . We call
this dimension of gameplay experience in which one becomes absorbed
with the stories and the world, or begins to feel for or identify with a game
character, imaginative immersion” (7).
-- Laura Ermi and Franz Mäyrä
“Analysing Immersion” (2005)
SCI Model of 3 Levels of Immersion

“The dimension of challenge-based immersion is
very close to what Csíkszentmihályi (1975, 1990)
describes as the flow experience. Challenge-based
immersion describes the emergent gameplay
experience of a player balancing his abilities
against the challenges of the game in so far as
gameplay is related to motor and mental skills.
Challenges in this definition can include different
mixtures of physical and mental performance
requirements” (3).
-- Lennart Nacke and Craig A. Lindley
“Affective Ludology” (2009)
Response to SCI Model

“The concept of presence can be discussed briefly in relation to immersion
(Slater & Wilbur, 1997), but it is often defined as a state of mind (of being
transferred to an often virtual location) rather than a gradual timely
experience (Lombard & Ditton, 1997). . . . However, spatial presence is a
better defined, two-dimensional construct in which the core dimension is
the sensation of a physical location in a virtual spatial environment and
the second dimension depicts perceived action possibilities (i.e., users only
perceive possible actions that are relevant to the virtual mediated space)
(Wirth, et al., 2007)” (5).
-- Lennart Nacke and Craig A. Lindley
“Affective Ludology” (2009)
Immersion and the Psychology of Presence

“Wirth et al.’s theory says that spatial
presence happens in three steps:
1. Players form a representation in their
minds of the space or world with which
the game is presenting them.
2. Players begin to favor the media-based
space (I.e., the game world) as their
point of reference for where they “are”
(or to put it in psychological gobblety-
gook, their “primary ego reference
frame”)
3. Profit!”
-- Jamie Madigan
“The Psychology of Immersion” (2010)
Process of Immersion? 1

“So, basically, the process starts with players forming a mental model of
the game’s make-believe space by looking at various cues (images,
movement, sounds, and so forth) as well as assumptions about the world
that they may bring to the table. Once that mental model of the game
world is created, the player must decide, either consciously or
unconsciously, whether she feels like she’s in that imagined world or in
the real one. Of course, it’s worth noting that this isn’t necessary a
conscious decision with the prefrontal cortex’s stamp of approval on it. It
can be a subconscious, on the sly, slipped into sideways and entered and
exited constantly.”
-- Jamie Madigan
“The Psychology of Immersion in Video Games” (2010)
Process of Immersion? 2

Psychology of Emotions & Game Design

Feeling of Fear and Game Design
“This is something that I think is vital for any interactive experience -- that
sort of proactive desire in motion. This manifests itself in a lot of ways; the
player can satisfy this desire a lot of ways in a lot of different games. But
there's something else involved here: creation. Some people get what
they want via destruction, but others do it via creation instead. For
example, if I am feeling vulnerable, then I get more friends or party
members, if you will, and make myself more protected -- or I go to town
and interact with people to get that same feeling. By the same token,
some people think in the opposite way -- if I kill every enemy in the area,
then that logically means I'll be more secure. "Fear" at play. It's different
ways of arriving at the same emotion.”
-- Hirokazu Yasuhara, Chief Level Designer of Sonic the Hedgehog (2008)

Feeling of Freedom and Game Design
“Really, ‘freedom’ is not what you get in a game. In Second Life, they say
you can do anything you want, but really, there's nothing to do there!
That's not a game. In a game, the designer is a "game master", and he
has to be thinking about you.”
“There's a difference between making a game and making a virtual world
and putting it in a package. It's the job of the game master to take that
world and give you the motivation to move through it. If you don't, then
that won't leave the player satisfied.”
-- Hirokazu Yasuhara, Chief Level Designer of Sonic the Hedgehog (2008)

Psychology of Emotions & Character Design
Ellie and Joel in The Last of Us

“Speech is the most important manner in which the player interacts with
the non-player characters and here too facial expression plays an
important part of listener activity (Schmidt and Cohn 2001 p.15). Most
characters do look like they are paying attention when you are speaking
to them. Some of this is attributable to the game design showing
characters up close to the screen, from the shoulders up so when you are
conversing, so you can watch the reaction of your audience in a more
realistic fashion. Here again the conversation wheel allows a more
authentic feel to the conversation, encouraging the proper interjections
and prompts for continued conversing.” (289).
-- Natalie M. Ward
“Mass(ively) Effect(ive)” (2008)
Emotions and Character Design 1

“Six basic [facial] expression categories have been shown to be
recognisable across cultures, and while debate is ongoing regarding the
range of facial expressions shared cross-culturally, experts tend to agree
on: ‘disgust’, ‘fear’, ‘joy’, ‘surprise’, ‘sadness’, and ‘anger’ (Schmidt and
Cohn 2001 p.5). . . . In addition to these six expressions, there are also
other nonverbal displays including the eyebrow flash, yawning, startle, coy
display, and embarrassment/shame (Schmidt and Cohn 2001 p.5).
Knowing the role of emotional expression, it is interesting to note that in
Mass Effect regardless of the fact that it is an entirely new galaxy with a
number of different species, almost all characters are capable of human-
like facial expressions” (289).
-- Natalie M. Ward
“Mass(ively) Effect(ive)” (2008)
Emotions and Character Design 2

Psychology of Horror & Games
Warning in
Silent Hill

Scare Seekers and Horror Games
“Researchers say some people just have the right kind of personality for
appreciating scares because they’re sensation seekers attracted to any
emotional high, be it from sky diving, shark punching, or horror films.
Other personalities are drawn to situations showing social norms being
broken in ways that will probably never happen in real life.
But perhaps a more encompassing explanation of horror’s inherent
appeal is how it helps us master our fears. This seems to be particularly
important for youngsters, who flock to scary media as an ultimately safe
way to exercise their emotional chops and deal with real-life scary stuff.
“Watching a horror film gives us back some control,” says Andrew
Weaver. “We can experience an adverse event through film and we know
that it will end, we’ll survive it, we’ll go on with our lives.”
-- Jamie Madigan
“The Psychology of Horror Games” (2015)

Excitation Transfer Theory & Horror Games 1
“Research on ‘excitation transfer’ has shown that vague feelings of
excitement or anticipation can transfer their emotional wallop when
monsters or killers eventually barge onto the scene. This is why ambient
noises and spooky soundtracks are so effective, though custom
soundtracks do present challenges to game designers according to John
Williamson, Designer on the Saw II: Flesh and Blood video game. ‘We are
required by Microsoft and Sony to allow the player to turn the music
tracks off or replace it with the Backstreet Boys or other music of their
choice,’ Williamson says. ‘Spielberg doesn’t have to contend with that.
Would Jaws be as scary if you were listening to ‘I want it that way’
instead of John Williams’s haunting shark theme?’”
-- Jamie Madigan

“Excitation transfer theory . . . has also been
hypothesized to give us a kind of ‘Thank
God that’s over’ high. Glen Sparks says that
“People become physiologically aroused
due to the fear they experience during the
media event–and then when the media
event ends, that arousal transfers to the
experience of relief and intensifies it. They
don’t so much enjoy the experience of being
afraid –rather, they enjoy the intense
positive emotion that may directly follow.”
-- Jamie Madigan

“Finally, a third class of explanations deals with the social benefits of
enduring terror. ‘For males in particular, sitting through these films is sort
of a test,’ says Andrew Weaver. “It proves (to oneself and, more
importantly, to peers) that one is man enough to handle it.” One twist on
this concept even goes so far as to say that media steeped in horror gives
people a way to demonstrate their adherence to societal norms about
males being ‘protectors’ and females being ‘protectees.’ Your mileage
may vary.”
-- Jamie Madigan

“This so-called ‘snuggle theory of horror’ might sound like so much sexist
nonsense, except that one famous study supported it by showing that
men who were paired for the viewing of Friday the 13th, Part III with
women who pretended to be afraid were more likely to say they enjoyed
the movie and were attracted to their viewing partner than were men who
watched the horror film with women displaying mastery of their fear.
Likewise, women said they liked it better when their male viewing
partners acted tough rather than afraid. Of course, individual results may
vary depending on how much the person in question is disposed to
conform to such norms.”
-- Jamie Madigan

Psychology of Envy &
Microtransactions in Games

“Microtransactions are usually low-cost expansions for existing games.
These expansions can range from either buying new content for a game
(for example extra game-areas can be bought in Fallout 3), or buying in-
game extras (like buying better shells that can penetrate armor in World
of Tanks). It has been estimated that in 2007 alone, a profit of $2.1 billion
was made purely on the sales of in-game items for real money
(Lehdonvirta, 2009). Thus, gamers can use real money to change their
gaming experience, and for some games they can even spend money to
improve their strength in the game by buying upgrades” (1).
-- E. R. K. Evers , N. van de Ven, and D. Weeda
“The Hidden Costs of Microtransactions” (2015)
Microtransactions and Feeling of Envy 1

“Festinger (1954) argued that people are motivated to form accurate
impressions of themselves and do so by comparing themselves to others.
In other words, to evaluate one’s performance, people look to others and
evaluate how they rank compared to them. If people do better than others
they feel good about themselves (Wills, 1981). However, if others are
better off (in something they find important) they can feel more negative
about themselves and feel frustrated (Tesser, 1988)” (2).

“When a player of an online computer game uses microtransactions to
buy an in-game advantage, this can effectively make the player better off
than others. In these situations, other players become relatively worse off
and thus make upward social comparisons that can make them feel
frustrated.” (2).

Lecture By:
Sherry Jones
Philosophy | Rhetoric | Game Studies | Game Design & Psychology
@autnes
Writings & Webcasts
Link to Slides: http://bit.ly/gamepsych2

"Narrative Design and the Psychology of Emotions and Immersion in Games" by Sherry Jones (Nov. 23, 2015)

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"Narrative Design and the Psychology of Emotions and Immersion in Games" by Sherry Jones (Nov. 23, 2015)