Rules for role play in Virtual Game Worlds - Case study: The Pataphysic Institute

Rules for role play in virtual game worlds

Case study:The Pataphysic Institute

DAC 2009

Mirjam Palosaari EladhariGotland University, Sweden

Michael MateasUniversity of California Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Tuesday, 15 December 2009

Outline

1. Background: Role-play and self-play in MMOs

2. Agent Architecture: The Mind Module

3. Prototype: The Pataphysic Institute

University of California Santa CruzMirjam P Eladhari, Michael Mateas


Role-playing against all odds in VGWs

• Role-play (RP) in commercial MMORPGs is seldom supported by the game mechanics.

• The game play is based on rule-sets following design paradigms set back in the seventies (D&D, MUD) which, as Copier (2007) shows, encourages instrumental game play.

• RP in MMORPGs mostly rely on meta-game rules since RP is hard to capture in a system.

• Copier describes a specific MMORPG play-style as characterised by negotiation of principles of these meta-game rules.



Self-play

• The majority of players in MMOs don’t role-play – they self-play!

• Role-players adopt fictional roles that they author continuously by ’staying in character’ – they behave via their avatars as their fictional characters would behave.

• Self-players play as themselves, as they would behave as if they were f. ex. dwarfs in a tolkienesque LOTR world.



Research questions• How can game rules for MMOs be designed to

support RP?• How can self-play be done more interesting?


Tuesday, 15 December 2009//tension between game-narrative: I never believed it in. Rulesets just not good enough, not accomodating. Im trying. Michael and andrew overcame it fascade.




Potential Answers• By improving the characterising action potential

(CAP) of avatars to:• Cater for complex, interesting avatars

• support players in expressing the character of their avatars in a consistent way (i.e. “stay in character”)

• To make sure that the rule-system of an MMO incorporates CAP in the game mechanics. (i.e. that avatars’ actions are characterising for particular avatars)

Tuesday, 15 December 2009//tension between game-narrative: I never believed it in. Rulesets just not good enough, not accomodating. Im trying. Michael and andrew overcame it fascade.

support Role-Play in VGWs?

• Cater for complex, interesting avatars

• support players in expressing consistent, interesting player characters in VGWs?• body-language etc.

• Support by rule system in order to make the actions performed characterising for particular avatars.

University of California Santa Cruz

Mirjam P Eladhari, Michael Mateas


Characterising Action Potential (CAP)

CAP is what characters can do at a given moment that characterise them,

both in terms of observable behaviour and in expression of true character - a character's essential nature, expressed by the choices a character makes.

The observable characteristics include visual appearance, what body language characters use, what sounds they make, what they say, and most important, what they do and how they behave.



Experimental set-up• Agent architecture: The Mind Module (used

by both avatars and autonomous entities)

• Prototype Game World: The Pataphysic Institute

• Play-tests and interviews which are video taped and transcribed verbatim. Allows assessment of:

• Interaction

• Players’ attitudes

• Players’ mental models of system.



Mind Modulefor semiautonomous

agents - avatars.


The Mind Module• Spreading Activation Network of Affect nodes• Semiautonomous agent architecture.

• Semiautonomous agents are partly controlled by their players, and partly controlled by context-sensitive action potential and expression possibilities, as well as by varying degrees of autonomous reactions to in-game situations specific to the VGW the agents inhabits.

• Gives avatars virtual minds in addition to virtual bodies.



Affect Nodes of MM



Personality Trait Nodes

Define avatar personality

Traits: Five Factor Model


Tuesday, 15 December 2009personality, 'the name we give to those reaction tendencies that are consistent over situations and time' //in Moffat's \cite{Moffat97} words(p. 133).

Emotion Nodes

Active emotion nodes define how an avatars feels ‘right now’

16


Tuesday, 15 December 2009ontology, all references to latour, emotion nodes are not binary. Joy is not opposite to sorrow or anguish. It is either there or not, but in different intensities.

Mood

Define how an avatar feel today


Tuesday, 15 December 2009deconstruction and reconstruction of mind. Breaking into small pieces to understand (5 major branches of personality psychology - which branch, which theory in branch?. Which emotions? Subjective pick. Ease of use. Mood - compound state - depends on both current and prior contexts. not so much written about it.

Sentiment

Define how particular avatars generally feel about specific things

An emotional disposition towards a specific object or class of objects.



Pataphysic InstituteEmotional combat system!

Personality trait based characters!

Player-created bosses!

Manifestations of own traumas and epiphanies!


Pataphysic Institute

• Prototype virtual game world where the personalities of the inhabitants are the base for the game mechanics.

• When interacting with other characters, the action potential depends upon the player character's current mood and personality



Production PI is built in the company Pixeltamer's framework for web

based multiplayer games and is played in a web browser through a Java applet.

PI is an application developed for conducting experimental game design research using iterative design and guided play tests. The MM is used as a library.

• Programming of Client and Server by Christoph Pech.

• IPIP NEO - scoring system and report routines provided by John A. Johnson, rewritten to C++ by Christoph Pech

• Graphics: 3DS Max models by Ola Persson

• Level-design by Musse Dolk

• Scripting by Johan Sköld


Experimental research

prototype - Aim is to

get answers to research

questions, not ship to

market


Design of PI informed by prior play-tests

Further information in:

Emotional Attachments for Story Construction in Virtual Game Worlds, Eladhari M.P, DIGRA09 September 2009

Semi-Autonomous Avatars in World of Minds - A Case Study of AI-based Game Design, by Eladhari M.P., Mateas M. ACE2008, December 3 – 5 2008, Yokohama, Japan

Good Moods – Outlook, Affect and Mood in Dynemotion and the Mind Module , by Eladhari M.P., Sellers M, FuturePlay 2008, November 2 – 5, 2008, Toronto, Canada

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Sentiments, personality, mood. But here concentrating on the game mechanics as a whole and it’s CAP.

• Play-tests and interviews which are video taped and transcribed verbatim. Allows assessment of:

• Interaction

• Players’ attitudes

• Players’ mental models of system.

Back-story

• In PI, reality has been replaced by the inhabitants interpretation of reality, and their mental states are manifested physically in the environment.

• The head of human resources at PI has taken upon himself the task of understanding the new and unknown world by applying personality theories. He forces everyone in PI to take personality tests, and studies what types of abilities these persons get: Mind Magic Spells.

• Teresa focuses on the finding that social interactions between people suddenly in acutely concrete emotional reactions. She calls these Affective Actions (AAs), and tries to understand her changed environment by studying the patterns of these.

pataphysics: "the science of imaginary solutions, which symbolically attributes the

properties of objects, described by their virtuality, to their lineaments” (Jarry)

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Katherine: In that moment, when the collected staff was confronted with the brutal evidence of the suicide, the membrane between reality as we know it and the projections of mind was ripped apart. Creatures looking as if taken from some old surreal paintings spawned in the room. I got the feeling they somehow came from the staff, that they were manifestations of things in their minds.

emergency response group: As we entered the facilities of PI we encountered several unexpected phenomena. The man known as Karl Sundgren had gone through a most peculiar transformation and acted as some kind of gate keeper. He only let us in if he got to run his personality tests on us. He used to be head of the Human Resource Department and claimed ‘it was for our own good.

Karl claims there is a system for how to use the mind that needs to be investigated further […] We recommend that colleagues venturing into the facilities take the utmost caution. Depending on what you bring in as emotional baggage and how you act the PI can be either your personal purgatory or your personal paradise.We also recommend colleagues to be prepared to help each other – the expression ‘No man is an island’ has never been more true.

Basic Game Play

• Players need to defeat physical manifestations of negative mental states by using

• Spells • Affective actions

• The spells available to characters depends on their personality and current mood.

• The affective actions available to a character depend on the current mood.


Tuesday, 15 December 2009The AAs mimic the way humans affect each other emotionally through interactions such as encouragements or insults. The mind magic spells are more traditional from a game history perspective where the target of a spell not necessarily needs to have chosen this interaction. From a social interaction perspective a simile could be to use a love potion bought from a witch-doctor, in the belief that emotions can be forced. In PI they can be.

The gate keeper


Character Creation Big Five (OCEAN, FFM)

assessed using IPIP NEO


(Video Clip)


Mind Module InfoSarah’s first personality spell is Dull Pain, which diminishes the emotion Anguish in the target

Tuesday, 15 December 2009personality, emotions, mood. What is visible to player about her avatar

Mood status display


Tuesday, 15 December 2009what is visible about the state of self to others.

In PI, PCs can see what mood other PCs are in by the colour of the mood aura, which is a transparent half-bubble displayed on the head of PCs as shown in them middle picture of Figure.The colour and shade of the colour reflects the current position in the mood co-ordinate system. In the picture to the left the white dot in the middle in the mood co-ordinate system is the position of the PC Emil's mood, which was neutral at the time when the screen dump was taken. In the figure to the right the white dot shows the PC Neurotica's mood, which was in the jubilant space of the mood co-ordinate system.

Dialog with Karl


Tuesday, 15 December 2009The Gate Keeper has looked at the files and seen that the dominant facet is agreeableness and the neuro trait with the highest value is vulnerability - > gives the spell Dull pain.

Karl: “what I can do and can’t do is tied to my mood! The mood seems to be connected to my personality and my emotions. I think its like that for all of us. But we seem to be able to gain more resistance and energy as we learn to act in this world.”

Node Weights Karl: what I can do and can’t do is tied to my mood! The mood seems to be connected to my

personality and my emotions. I think its like that for all of us. But we seem to be able to gain more resistance and energy as we learn to act in this world.

Personality Trait -> Emotion Emotion -> Mood

Personality traits affect how strongly characters feel emotions. Emotions affect characters’ mood.Tuesday, 15 December 2009

Personality traits affect how strongly characters feel emotions. Emotions affect characters’ mood.

Mind energy and resistance

Karl: what I can do and can’t do is tied to my mood! The mood seems to be connected to my personality and my emotions. I think its like that for all of us. But we seem to be able to gain more resistance and energy as we learn to act in this world.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009A character has a pool of Mind Energy (ME) and Mind Resistance (MR). The maximum amount of possible MR and ME increases with the level of the character. Levels are gained for a PC as it gains experience points (XP). Mind Energy is used when the character performs action, as a cost. Mind Resistance is lost if the character is attacked by another entity.

MR and ME is regenerated over time. The rate of the regeneration depends on the mood of the character. Inner Mood is tied to the generation of mind resistance while Outer Mood is tied to the regeneration of Mind Energy

TeresaTeresa: Affective actions are quite remarkable. They force an emotional reaction! If you are in a receptive mood that is.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Second character a player meets is Teresa.Affective actions are quite remarkable. They force an emotional reaction! If you are in a receptive mood that is. asks player to try on her

Mood Area restrictions for affective actions

Teresa: Affective actions are quite remarkable. They force an emotional reaction! If you are in a receptive mood that is.

Players can perform affective actions towards other characters in order to change their mental state in both positive and negative ways. By affecting others mood's the selection of their available spells and AAs is changed.

Example: The AA Comfort can be used successfully on targets that have an active emotion node of Sadness, but only if the player's own avatar is not in the area of Furious on the mood co-ordinate system



Affective actions

(Video Clip)

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Sarah opens the AA window. She performs a joke on kyle. She opens her mind window. Kyle laughs at her joke. Sarah’s mood changes.

ManifestationsSingle Sentiment Manifestations (SSMs) Compound Manifestations (CMs)

- unique, that is, there is only one

- CMs are stronger than SSMs in terms of larger maximum amounts of MR and ME

- more versatile in their behaviour, they can cast both spells and AAs.

- In order to vanquish a CM generally several players need to co-operate.

Instantiation: CMs are scripted or authored by players.

- origin in a single emotion

- limited amount of mental resistance and energy.

- The spells an SSM can cast increase the value of 'their' emotion in targeted entity.

Instantiation: scripted or created automatically when avatars experience strong emotions. For example, if a PC 'feels' a Joy intensely the SSM Joy Jumbo is instantiated in proximity to the PC.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009As such, they are manifestations of the state of mind of the inhabitants of the world. Have full MMs.

SSM Example



Colossuses of Confusion spawning when confusion in avatar becomes intense

Tuesday, 15 December 2009An avatar - mirjame - trying to battle the Customs, who keeps trumpeting irrelevant questions and draining energy.Confusion is in maximum value - small colossuses spawned. (emotions going out of bounds)

Curses and Blessings

• Avatars can be affected by the spells Sentiment Curse and Sentiment Blessing.

• Sentiment Curse gives an avatar a strong negative sentiment that has a zero decay rate.

• Example: curse of Guilt.

The way to get rid of this sentiment is to create a manifestation of guilt. (Externalise it)


Tuesday, 15 December 2009Sentiment Blessings are different from curses in the way that the emotion attached to the sentiment is positive, it could for example be Joy. The player might want to keep the blessing or curse instead of 'externalising' it as a CM if it affects the mood of the avatar in a way that the player finds desirable. However, if a CM is instantiated it can cast beneficial spells on other players, or can help vanquish other CMs. Which spells CMs of the curse/blessing type can cast on entities in proximity depends on which emotion they represent. CMs cast the emotion spell that increase the emotion they represent.

Player created CM

(Video Clip)

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Create Compound Manifestation. Kyle is cursed. Guilt. He is depressed. He does not want this. Externalise. Make compound manifestation.(click)Opens window for making a CM.Kexplain window. - self-play role-play authoring. K. Grandmother is spawned. System message to all players.

Player created CM

(Video Clip)

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Create Compound Manifestation. Kyle is cursed. Guilt. He is depressed. He does not want this. Externalise. Make compound manifestation.(click)Opens window for making a CM.Kexplain window. - self-play role-play authoring. K. Grandmother is spawned. System message to all players.

The manifestation of guilt is loose in the institute.

Time to use spells.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009Mind Magic spells (MMSs) can help or damage (in terms of MR and ME) characters that the spells are used on. There is a standard set of spells. Benevolent spells can be used on Self, on other characters, and on Manifestations. Harming spells can be used on Manifestations. The spells characters can learn depend on their personality traits.

The types of spells that affect the pools of MR and ME which can be used differ with the mood of the spell-caster. The action potential regarding these spells reflect the mood of the casting character, as illustrated in Figure \ref{fig-spells-mood}. For example, a character in a furious mood can cast aggressive spells, while a character in a harmonic mood can cast benevolent spells helping her friends.

Mood Area restrictions for spells

MR-ME Spells

Aggression

Resistance Aid

Energy Rush

Resistance DrainEnergy Drain


Mood Area restrictions for MR-ME

spells

The more extreme the mood is the, the more powerful spell is available.

Increasing specialisation. Neutral: full range of weak spells.


Tuesday, 15 December 2009The more extreme the mood is the, the more powerful spell. Increasing specialisation. Neutral: full range of weak spells.

MR-ME Spells

Tuesday, 15 December 2009regeneration of energyregeneration of resistancerole depending on mood.personality define trend of mood fluctuation

regeneration rates.

The well-known notions of role taking from MMORPGs where avatars normally have functions such as 'tank', 'healer' or 'damage dealer' are comparable to possible avatar-roles in PI. However, where in MMORPGs the role normally is given by character class, it is in PI given by an avatar's personality. The role of tank \index{tank} in a group of avatars engaging in combat in a MMORPG means that the avatar tanking takes the damage dealt by opponents. The tank protects the other members of the group by making sure that the opponent's aggression is directed to her. The damage dealer \index{damage dealer} normally lacks health and resistance to be able to be in direct contact with the opponent, but may be located a bit further away from the tank and the opponent while using powerful ranged attacks. The role of the healer\index{healer} is to heal the tank, and if needed also the damage dealer or herself. For an extensive explanation of the game-play strategies involved in these roles, please refer to Musse Dolk's MMORPG Gamer's handbook \shortcite{dolk08}. In PI, a neurotic introvert avatar would be an eminent damage dealer since the avatar's current mood would easily move towards the depressed mood spaces which are required to be in, in order to casts spell decreasing the mind energy of opponents. Another type of effective damage dealer would be an avatar with a neurotic extravert personality, who quickly could generate both energy and resistance if in a mood of fury while damaging the pool of resistance of the opponent. An avatar prone to extraversion in general might function especially well as a healer if in a jubilant mood, being able to give mind energy to group members. Avatars who naturally deviate towards inner harmony might be able to function especially well as tanks given that they would regenerate mental resistance quicker than others.

Defeating a manifestation of guilt

(Video Clip)

Tuesday, 15 December 20091 grandmother says “i don't want to be a burden” and cast spell “forgives when you don't deserve it”2. Kyle tries to forgive grandmother, to diminish her guilt. (that is what she spreads around her). Choosing spell “forgive” which diminishes guilt. If he did not have that spell he could use brute force of his depressed mood. (put her to rest)2. Sarah perspective, casting Energy rush on Kyle. In neutral state, so she has the whole range. If to cast stronger energy rushes she needs to become more jubilant (extrovert energy)3. Axenus perspective, casting Resistance aid. To cast stronger, need to become more blissful (private harmony)

In order to vanquish Grandmother avatars would either need to get her mental resistance or the value of her emotion node guilt to zero. If Adam chose the strategy to reduce Grandmothers guilt value he would need to cast the emotion spell 'Forgive' on her, which reduces guilt. If he is unable to cast Forgive he would need to find an avatar who can. Suppose that the avatar Christine has a personality allowing her to cast Forgive, and that she comes to help. Christine, being the caster, would be targeted by Grandmother. Grandmother would cast the spells and AAs specified by Adam on Christine, as well as energy drain and resistance drain spells. Adam and other avatars coming to assist would want to make sure to give Christine both mental energy and resistance to ensure her ability to cast and for her to not suffer a mental break-down. In order to give Christine mental energy and resistance the other avatars would need to be in positive mood spaces on the mood co-ordinate system allowing them to cast spells of energy rush and resistance aid. In order to balance their minds to be in the positive mood spaces allowing them to do this they could perform positive AAs toward each other.

If Adam instead chose to vanquish Grandmother by reducing her mental resistance to zero he would need to make sure to either himself be or, have a group of assisting avatars who could be, in a depressed or furious space of the mood co-ordinate system. An avatar in a furious state can cast Grand Focussed Aggression while regenerating mental energy quickly. An avatar in the furious mood space might need assistance from entities that can aid in giving mental resistance in the case the conflict takes long time. An avatar in the depressed mood space can cast Grand Focussed Resistance Drain as well as Grand Focussed Energy Drain. Since an avatar in the depressed mood state do not generate mental energy and resistance over time the avatar would need to steal the mental energy and resistance from the opponent. In assembling a group of avatars for reducing Grandmother's mental resistance Adam might want to make sure to include members who because of their personalities deviate toward depressed states of mind, that is, avatars who have dominant neurotic facets. If the CM Grandmother ceases to exist in PI, Adams curse of guilt also disappears.

Aggression

Resistance Aid

Energy Rush

Resistance DrainEnergy Drain

MR-ME Spells

Tuesday, 15 December 2009personality define to where in the mood system players generally are.

- neurotic introvert avatar would be an eminent damage dealer since the avatar's current mood would easily move towards the depressed mood (energy drain, resistance drain) - 2nd type of effective damage dealer would be an avatar with a neurotic extravert personality, who quickly could generate both energy and resistance if in a mood of fury while (aggression)- extraversion in general might function especially well as a healer if in a jubilant mood, being able to give mind energy- inner harmony might be able to function especially well as tanks given that they would regenerate mental resistance quicker than others.

(also spawn blessing-CMs to help)

The well-known notions of role taking from MMORPGs where avatars normally have functions such as 'tank', 'healer' or 'damage dealer' are comparable to possible avatar-roles in PI. However, where in MMORPGs the role normally is given by character class, it is in PI given by an avatar's personality. The role of tank \index{tank} in a group of avatars engaging in combat in a MMORPG means that the avatar tanking takes the damage dealt by opponents. The tank protects the other members of the group by making sure that the opponent's aggression is directed to her. The damage dealer \index{damage dealer} normally lacks health and resistance to be able to be in direct contact with the opponent, but may be located a bit further away from the tank and the opponent while using powerful ranged attacks. The role of the healer\index{healer} is to heal the tank, and if needed also the damage dealer or herself. For an extensive explanation of the game-play strategies involved in these roles, please refer to Musse Dolk's MMORPG Gamer's handbook \shortcite{dolk08}.




Potential Answers• By improving the characterising action potential

(CAP) of avatars to:• Cater for complex, interesting avatars

• support players in expressing the character of their avatars in a consistent way (i.e. “stay in character”)

• To make sure that the rule-system of an MMO incorporates CAP in the game mechanics. (i.e. that avatars’ actions are characterising for particular avatars)

Tuesday, 15 December 2009going back to the questions.

• CAP: The action potential of avatars characterise them by:

• Personality

• Affects what mood characters fluctuate towards

• Defines what spells characters can cast (affecting the target’s emotions, which in turn affect mood)


Summary: CAP intertwined with game mechanics

Tuesday, 15 December 2009- role players like it according to test. early. 2 focus groups.Self-players found personality to be IPIP-NEO personality trait evaluation were close to their own self-images of their personalities.

The participants of the WoM play test, who all played as themselves rather than role-played, expressed that the results of their IPIP-NEO personality trait evaluation were close to their own self-images of their personalities. In MMO- RPGs play-styles where players play 'as themselves' are more common than that of role-playing. Perhaps personalities of avatars that resembles players' own views of themselves can make it more interesting to play since the self-playing might, via CAP and role-taking, display characterising behaviour and choices of action for particular players no matter whether they self-play or role-play. In play situations not only the own behaviour, but also other avatars' behaviour is an important part of the experience.


• Personality



• Current Mood define how fast energy and resistance is regenerated. It also defines what a character can do at a given moment:

• Affective actions (affecting the target’s emotions, which in turn affect mood)

• Restorative and destructive spells (affecting target’s energy and resistance)



Tuesday, 15 December 2009Mood.trends in fluctuation, but highest effect from own actions and interactions with others. AA constriction helping to stay in character (characters mood - dep on personal reaction). Spell casting also dep on mood. Agression - only if character is furious.




• Personality



• Current Mood define how fast energy and resistance is regenerated. It also defines what a character can do at a given moment:

• Affective actions (affecting the target’s emotions, which in turn affect mood)

• Restorative and destructive spells (affecting target’s energy and resistance)

• By spawning and creating manifestations players leave their mark in the world and provide other players with manifestations to interact with.


Tuesday, 15 December 2009expression to others of self. (auto for SSMs) authoring. RP is much about story. RP can make fictional. But a self player can add RL inspired manifestations, and playfully deal with them with others - creating meaningful content. (story construction.//tension between game-narrative: False argument.. Rule-sets not good enough, not accommodating. My contribution, for what it’s worth. Michael and Andrew overcame it facade in that setting. (digra 05 vancouver)CAP - characterise to whom. Here purely what AP there is. experienced by others.Mind music (own symphony as representation of state).


Future work

Play test of PI prototype focussing on:• Players’ attitudes towards CAP in PI for self-

play and for role-play• Story construction by use of sentiments• Semi-autonomy – is there a sweet-spot? • Autonomous behaviour of NPCs and

manifestations equipped with MMs


Tuesday, 15 December 2009biofeedback input

- role players like it according to test. early. 2 focus groups.Self-players found personality to be IPIP-NEO personality trait evaluation were close to their own self-images of their personalities.

Thank youfor listening

Mirjam EladhariMichael Mateas

contact: [email protected], 15 December 2009

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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Rules for role play in Virtual Game Worlds - Case study: The Pataphysic Institute