Paper Abstract - Gareth Schott

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ABSTRACT

Moving between the Spectral and Material Plane:
Interactivity in Social Play with Computer Games

Gareth Schott

As new-media, computer games are commonly characterised by interactivity and the levels of immersion they afford its players. In contrast with player-to-player games in which both players can take action in real-time without fixed turns, the closed ecosystems of console-based role-play games (RPGs) tend to articulate player-to-game interactivity.

Our longitudinal study on the relationship between player and the game world has shown a contradiction between design-intent and player-use with RPGs (Orr Vered, 1997); and instances in which participants transformed one-player games into an effective and highly structured social hybrid of game-play. A single case study is provided of a natural-occurrence of parallel-play with the console version of the role-play game Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

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