Facts about Players - Learn to Play: Designing Tutorials for Video Games - page 88

derived from a theory called the ive-factor model, * which maps per-
sonality traits. I am not going to suggest that these traits map directly
to game design objectives, as this isn't really a topic on game design.
Rather, I am just going to suggest that you know what these five fac-
tors are, know that it is important to control for them in your testing,
and know that there are established metrics for measuring them. he
five factors are generally considered to be openness to experience, con-
scientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Openness to experience is exactly as it sounds. Individuals who pos-
sess this trait are given to experiential hedonism. New things are their
motivation. When they can explore, discover, or otherwise pave new
roads, they are at their happiest. Next on the list is conscientiousness,
which indicates those individuals who are driven by a motivation to
succeed. A conscientious game player might be eager to show off his or
her achievements, whether literal or figurative, in a game. This player
will also benefit from games that allow him or her to excel. Next is
extraversion, which is also exactly as it sounds. Extroverted individ-
uals prefer situations through which they can garner social contacts
and connections, as we have discussed. These individuals are more
likely to draw motivation from social sources. Agreeableness maps a
need for cooperation and team building. Highly agreeable individu-
als will prefer activities in which everyone can get along and there
is little sense of competition or conquest. Finally, neuroticism maps
how likely individuals are to perceive negative consequences. A highly
neurotic individual will make a “mountain out of a molehill” and react
very negatively to seemingly benign punishments. While these do have
implications for game design, I would rather point you to the tests in
the footnote, the NEO-FFI instrument used to measure these big five
factors. This should be standard in the recruitment of your testers.
Summary
With any luck, this chapter has demonstrated to you that it is hard
to make any major generalizations about players. However, there are
* Costa, P. & McCrae, R. (1992). Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R) and
NEO ive-factor inventory (NEO-FFI) manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment
Resources.