Explorations in Player Motivations: Virtual Agents

Abstract

Abstract. Creating believable agents with personality is a popular research area in game studies but academic research in this area usually focuses on one facet of personality -for example, only on moods or character traits. The present study proposes a motivational framework to predict goal-directed behaviour of virtual agents in a computer game and explores the opportunities of using personality inventories based on the same motivational framework to design virtual agents with personality. This article claims that motivation to reach a goal is influenced by psychological needs which are represented with an equation that determines the strength of a character's motivational force. The framework represented by this study takes into account psychological needs and their interrelations for analyzing choices of virtual agents in a computer game.

Towards a sustainable gamification impact

“…In fact, some research shows that it has a great impact on motivation [17]. This is especially because different gaming situations could satisfy different psychological needs, including power, achievement, information and relationship [18]. This means that elements of fun, enjoyment, control, autonomy and flow experiences should be relevant to the construction of intrinsic motivation.…”

Entertainment Computing - ICEC 2010

“…An iceberg can serve as a useful metaphor to understand the unconscious mind [27][28]. As an iceberg floats in the water, the huge mass of it remains below the surface.…”

“…Dienes and Scott conclude that the structural knowledge is really divided between the unconscious and the conscious [43]. On the basis of recent insights into the characteristics of conscious and unconscious thought, Dijksterhuis et al [27] tested the hypothesis that simple choices produce better results after conscious information processing, but that choices in complex situations should be left to unconscious information processing. Most of the brain's energy consumption is not used for processing responses to external stimuli; but what is this brain energy then for?…”

“…Variables defined by major motivational studies in literature [24,25,26] are also matched by this study to corresponding psychological needs and/or components of goal-directed behaviour. In an attempt to take this study one step further and to identify the common interaction patterns between these individual needs, Bostan and Kaplancali [27] applied the same motivational framework to another computer game, analyzed psychological needs by defining the driving game mechanics behind them and identified common fusions of needs in the selected computer game (nAgg & nHarm, nRet & n Acq, nAcq & nDom, nCog & nDom). The same authors also analyzed user-created content (mods) of a popular computer game within the same motivational framework in terms of the needs they satisfy [28].…”

“…Robotic toys have been shown to engage children with autism at various age levels [3,16,25,27] because of their predictable and controlled behavior, their physical embodiment and because of the appeal that computerized games have to people with autism. Tangibles, in particular, have been shown to support collaboration by typical children [8,17].…”