Pivoting the Player: A framework for player character research in offline computer role-playing games
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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In: Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2014, p. 215-234.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Pivoting the Player
T2 - A framework for player character research in offline computer role-playing games
AU - Fizek, Sonia
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - This article introduces a theoretical framework for the analysis of the player character (PC) in offline computer role-playing games (cRPGs). It derives from the assumption that the character constitutes the focal point of the game, around which all the other elements revolve. This underlying observation became the foundation of the Player Character Grid and its constituent Pivot Player Character (PPC) Model, a conceptual framework illustrating the experience of gameplay as perceived through the PC’s eyes. Although video game characters have been scrutinized from many different perspectives, a systematic framework has not yet been introduced. This study aims to fill that void by proposing a model replicable across the cRPG genre. It has been largely inspired by Anne Ubersfeld’s semiological dramatic character research implemented in Reading Theatre I (1999) and is demonstrated with reference to The Witcher (2007).
AB - This article introduces a theoretical framework for the analysis of the player character (PC) in offline computer role-playing games (cRPGs). It derives from the assumption that the character constitutes the focal point of the game, around which all the other elements revolve. This underlying observation became the foundation of the Player Character Grid and its constituent Pivot Player Character (PPC) Model, a conceptual framework illustrating the experience of gameplay as perceived through the PC’s eyes. Although video game characters have been scrutinized from many different perspectives, a systematic framework has not yet been introduced. This study aims to fill that void by proposing a model replicable across the cRPG genre. It has been largely inspired by Anne Ubersfeld’s semiological dramatic character research implemented in Reading Theatre I (1999) and is demonstrated with reference to The Witcher (2007).
KW - Digital media
KW - Structural methodology
KW - Actant
KW - Actor
KW - Dramatic character
KW - Offline cRPGs
KW - Player character
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84926205260&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1386/jgvw.6.3.215_1
DO - 10.1386/jgvw.6.3.215_1
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 6
SP - 215
EP - 234
JO - Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds
JF - Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds
SN - 1757-191X
IS - 3
ER -