Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Motivation
Player motivation in video games can be said to be successful because of a combi-
nation of qualities, not because of a single characteristic. A single game can provide
different motivating qualities and still create a cohesive game experience, which
engages a range of players who may be motivated by different qualities of play.
User interactions, feedback mechanisms, and goals are three motivating elements
that are found in games and e-learning but for which design practices differ. The
method of how these three elements are designed in games may be transferable to
e-learning and improve learner engagement.
How the player interacts with the game, game play, is a key component to creat-
ing and sustaining motivation. Games with clumsy or difficult UI inhibit continuous
game play. Similarly, repetitive or insufficiently challenging tasks cause the player
to lose interest just as rewards that are not meaningful or require too much work
from the player may decrease player motivation. Designing interactions in game
play encompasses how the player plays the game, the meaningfulness of the content,
and how the player interacts with game content.
Mechanically, interactions are restricted by the parameters of the machine, con-
sole, handheld, or computer; for example, clicking buttons or moving a mouse.
In a game, however, these mechanical actions mean something more, represented
by the meaning and consequences of the players' choices. This player interaction
consists of two things simultaneously: the mechanical, such as clicking the mouse
button; the representational, the in-game result of selecting an object. The focus
of the designer is how to make the later engaging, and to do so, requires making
interactions meaningful.
Making meaningful interactions is the distinction between interacting with the
machine and interacting with the virtual environment of the game, or diegetic and
nondiegetic acts. To give interactions meaning, the objects, the context, and the con-
sequences must tie back to the game objectives and present a challenge for the player
in which his or her decision has an impact on the virtual environment. Increasing
the number of these expressive player interactions increases the player's involve-
ment in game play. For example, in the design of a real-time strategy (RTS) game,
the factors that can be influenced by the player are determined by the objective of the
game. In one RTS, food, natural resources, and military are three categories of con-
tent, each of which requires specific user interactions to manage the development.
In another RTS, the food could be broken down to subcategories of different crops;
natural resources could consist of subcategories of different types of resources, and
the military could consist of subcategories of personnel. As a result specific player
interactions are designed to manage the development of each subcategory within
each category. The level of detail in content is transferred to the level of detail in
player interaction and their consequences. Each interaction has a result, reward, or
consequence relative to the meaning and context of the game. For example, if the
purpose of the game was to build several societies, the single layer of categories
is sufficient whereas too many subcategories would result in unmanageable and
