Playing with Persiflage: The Impact of Free-Form Dialogue on the Play of Computer Role Playing Games

Abstract

Digital games struggle to blend compelling narrative with interactivity. For example, computer role-playing games (CRPGs) allow players the freedom to explore an open world, yet limit their interaction with the world's inhabitants to selecting from pre-determined dialogue choices. In this paper, we explore how players behave when truly freeform dialogue with non-player characters (NPCs) is supported. In the novel Persiflage game, players converse with NPCs using speech. NPCs are in turn voiced by a human, allowing truly free-form conversation. Through a study of five groups playing the game, we show how players converse, interact, and play using natural language.