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unnecessary level of detail. The result of player interaction is another motivating
aspect of game play as it represents adaptive feedback. Interactions allow the player
to be tested on his or her ability and understanding of not only game mechanics, but
the overall game purpose, and specific game objects.
Feedback is the reinforcing component of player interactions and provides infor-
mation to help the player make decisions and strategize game play. Successful
feedback mechanisms convey information at the right degree of difficulty and within
the context of game play. Inadequate or inappropriate feedback can be disruptive for
game play and detract from the immersive qualities by making the game too difficult
or cause confusion. Feedback takes many forms as a reward or deterrent, it can be
in any mode or form of media, and it can occur in a quick moment or persist over
time; and may have any form of technology assigned to it. An important charac-
teristic of feedback, however, is that it is embedded in game play which does not
interfere with game play but enhances and sustains it by creating informed choices
for the player. Embedded feedback in game play can provide information unique to
the choices and decisions the player has made, up to that point, or through a specific
sequence, adapting to player interactions. Feedback can be embedded in the narra-
tive and portrayed as communication between characters, it can appear in the form
of an objective within a quest, or it can be the response of NPCs after interacting
with the player. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are examples of one method of embed-
ding feedback into game play. The player receives a continuous stream of graphical
feedback based on her or his performance. When the performance is exceptionally
good or bad, audio of the crowd cheering or jeering is added as additional indicators.
This type of feedback also enables the experience that the player is interacting with
the content and not just the machine, which contributes to creating an immersive
and engaging environment.
How feedback is embedded into game play is one design method that demon-
strates evidence of learning in video games. Feedback provides information to the
player that prompts the player to make decisions and take action. What creates and
sustains the immersive and engaging quality of player feedback in games is that it
is embedded seamlessly into the content and game play for a fully integrated game
experience. When designing feedback, the purpose is to provide information to the
player that guides him or her to continued and sustainable game while allowing the
opportunity to adjust strategy. In WoW, when players form groups to attack mon-
sters, typically the group tries to keep the monster focused on the one player who
can sustain the highest amount of damage (the tank). The monster stays focused
on the tank through a few different tactics depending on group configuration, but
sometimes during this interaction the monster loses focus on the tank and focuses
the attack on another player; when this happens, the player who is now the focus
of the monster's attack hears a specific sound that indicates the change. This sound
was added to allow the player enough time to respond appropriately (perhaps to
cease previous action to lose monster focus), because the visual cues did not provide
enough information to the player in a timely manner. This type of feedback mech-
anism, without explicit explanation to the player of its function, clearly indicates a
complex piece of content; indicating to the player there is a change in environment
