"Naked and on fire": Examining Player Agency Experiences in Narrative-Focused Gameplay

Document Title

"Naked and on Fire": Examining Player Agency Experiences in Narrative-Focused Gameplay

Document Information

• Subject Area: Game Design and Player Engagement
• Keywords: Player agency, user experience, interactive narrative, player experience, video games, storytelling

Research Background and Issues

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?

  • Player agency is a core issue in interactive narrative and game design, but existing research primarily explores this concept from a theoretical perspective, lacking systematic studies on players' actual perceptions and attributions.
  • There is a lack of empirical research on how players evaluate their own agency and the design elements that influence agency experiences.
  • Individual differences in players' perceptions of agency experiences make it difficult for designers to optimize this experience during game development.

• Why is this issue important?

  • Agency is key to enhancing user engagement and design effectiveness; for example, in educational games, player agency may impact learning outcomes.
  • Understanding players' perceptions of low-agency experiences can also inspire experimental designs or applications in specific fields.

• Research Motivation and Related Work

  • Existing studies on agency often focus on theoretical frameworks or single design practices, such as the impact of player choices on narrative progression, without delving into the multidimensional nature of agency experiences.
  • Typical related research has explored the relationship between choices, narrative structure, and player agency but has not examined the comprehensive factors influencing players' perceptions of agency experiences.

Solutions

• What methods or solutions did the authors propose?

  • This study conducted semi-structured interviews to analyze players' agency experiences in narrative-driven games.
  • Thematic analysis and iterative coding were used to process interview data, summarizing factors that influence players' agency experiences.

• What is innovative about this solution?

  • This is the first study to use a phenomenological approach to explore players' perceptions and attributions of agency in a multidimensional way.
  • It moves beyond theoretical or singular definitions, constructing a comprehensive classification model of agency influences based on player descriptions.

• What were the implementation steps and key techniques used?

  1. Participant Recruitment: 28 participants were recruited from North American university student groups and researcher social networks.
  2. Interview Design: Players were asked to rate the agency (low, medium, high) of a recently played narrative-driven game and explain their reasoning.
  3. Data Processing and Analysis:
     • Data was segmented by lines and organized in conjunction with players' ratings and descriptions.
     • An iterative thematic coding method was used to develop the final code set, involving four rounds of coding, with inter-rater reliability calculated in the third and fourth rounds.
     • The codes were summarized to identify 17 factors influencing agency and their relationships.

Research Findings

• What specific findings were obtained?

  • The study identified 17 factors influencing players' agency experiences, encompassing structural design (e.g., options, endings, narrative impact), player knowledge (e.g., expectations, comparisons), story content (e.g., twists, quality), mechanical experiences (e.g., character customization), and player narration.
  • Agency was found to be a highly dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon, with individual preferences playing a significant role in players' perceptions.

• How does it compare to existing solutions?

  • The study provides a more comprehensive classification model of agency, surpassing traditional theoretical frameworks by examining agency across multiple dimensions.
  • It offers specific practices and evaluation tools that designers and researchers can reference.

• What were the experimental or evaluation results?

  • Players' evaluations of agency experiences depend on multiple factors, such as structural design and customization features, but their perceptions are also influenced by their knowledge base and expectations; these factors often interact with each other.
  • Players described their narrative experiences using navigational metaphors, employing comparisons and expectations to assess agency.

• Limitations and Future Directions

  • Limitations:

    • The data primarily comes from North American players, potentially overlooking cultural differences in agency perceptions.
    • The recall-based interview method may affect the accuracy of players' descriptions of agency experiences.
    • The wide variety of sample games makes it challenging to gain in-depth insights into a specific genre or gaming environment.

  • Future Directions:

    • Further research on the dynamic process of players' agency perceptions over time or across gaming experiences.
    • Exploring the impact of cultural or linguistic differences on players' agency evaluation processes.
    • Deepening the analysis of the relationship between "structure and mechanical experiences," such as how mechanical interactions enhance narrative perception.

Summary and Contributions

• This study represents the first phenomenological exploration of players' perceptions of agency in interactive narrative and game design, identifying multiple factors influencing this experience and revealing their complex interrelations.
• The research emphasizes that designers should consider players' cognitive differences and the coordination of game design elements to optimize designs that better meet diverse agency needs.
• It provides new perspectives and methods for measuring player agency in game design and research.