Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
changed and the in-game objects relevant to quest completion are marked. Not only
does the rollover text display the name and/or description of the object, it also dis-
plays the name of the quest it pertains to and the number of tasks remaining until
quest completion. Changing the meaning of the objects to include this new detailed
information altered the problem-solving process, thus changing game play and how
the player interacts with these objects. The player is no longer required to read the
content of the quest log in order to figure out his or her next actions; he or she
can rollover objects to determine whether they are necessary for the next course of
action. Although the reason for making these changes is unique to the game play
experience of WoW, it is an example of the many decisions that are significant to
learning; the degree of difficulty is impacted by how the content is represented and
the manner in which the player engages with the content.
Content that is inconsistently represented prevents the player from learning
appropriate use of the skill and from developing for more complex challenges.
Similarly, content that is under-represented prevents player progression as well.
For example, in an RPG, a character skill such as healing is represented in many
different ways: an icon or button to trigger the action, text to describe or identify
the action, other actions to which this one is compared and contrasted, and finally,
circumstances in which the action is used. If the content pertaining to healing is
inconsistently represented or not explained within the context of the game, then it
becomes too difficult to determine how to use this skill, increasingly so as the game
develops into more complex scenarios.
Creating consistency also includes the mode by which the content is repre-
sented. In the previous example, if the rollover text for some quest objects did
not indicate their connection to a quest, the mode of providing information to
the player is unreliable and would require the player to rely on the previous pro-
cess of problem-solving. From the player's perspective, this inconsistency detracts
from immersiveness of game play because the player is focused on reconciling a
discrepancy between game function and content.
How the representations of in-game content work together produces the con-
text for game play. During game play the player discovers the meaning of each
object through its relationship with other objects—in context. Sustaining this con-
text during game play explains the relevance of the objects as experience, not just
as a sequence of information. And though the logical organization of content for
the game designer may look a lot like e-learning it is the relationship between
the content, the interconnectedness of meaning that contributes to the immersive
results. In any moment of game play there is a balance of indicators to help the
player understand the context; music, audio narration, on-screen text, animations,
and graphics. For example, in an First Person Shooter (FPS) if a player approaches a
dangerous challenge, the design decision involves selecting the best representations
or combination of representations to strike a balance between providing too much
information or not enough information. Decisions include whether to create indica-
tors such as ominous music, NPCs shouting a warning, a warning light in the HUD
(head-up display), or a pulsating red glow around the periphery of the player's van-
tage point. The method of determining how danger is communicated to the player
