Affordances in Avatar Customization and Creative Player Expression: A Case Study of Nexon's MapleStory 2
Vaculíková, Juliana (2020)
2020
Informaatiotutkimuksen ja interaktiivisen median tutkinto-ohjelma
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2020-02-10
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201912317158
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201912317158
Tiivistelmä
Videogames have developed from arcade experiences spanning a mere few minutes to immersive experiences that are of comparable social and cultural significance to film or literature. This thesis explores a crucial element of player user experience of contemporary videogames: the use of avatars. In the vast majority of games players either construct digital identities for themselves or adopt predefined avatars which they can relate to and through which they interact with videogames and other players.
This thesis examiners how the use of avatars in videogames reflects the standards and ideologies of their designers, for example concerning gender identity and expression. This study will explore how these design decisions impact player experience by focusing on the creative and inventive ways that players use avatars to express various elements of their offline identities in the game MapleStory 2.
The game in question is a South Korean massively multiplayer online role playing game that was developed and published for global audiences in 2018 by Nexon. The case study of MapleStory 2 uses qualitative analysis. Data was gathered primarily through approximately 500 hours of gameplay and secondarily through official patch notes released on the Steam digital distribution platform. This thesis reports on the creative use of avatars by players. Avenues of gameplay that did not grant the player any particular strategic advantage, and offered multiple options of completing the same action were selected for analysis. They were then examined in terms of the range of options, implications of real life constructs dictating them, and their effects on observed player behavior.
The results indicate that game design based on norms borrowed from the offline world may unnecessarily hinder creative player expression. For example, avatar and equipment division by (binary) gender both halves customization options for players and reduces the number of digital items that are on sale for potential customers.
This thesis examiners how the use of avatars in videogames reflects the standards and ideologies of their designers, for example concerning gender identity and expression. This study will explore how these design decisions impact player experience by focusing on the creative and inventive ways that players use avatars to express various elements of their offline identities in the game MapleStory 2.
The game in question is a South Korean massively multiplayer online role playing game that was developed and published for global audiences in 2018 by Nexon. The case study of MapleStory 2 uses qualitative analysis. Data was gathered primarily through approximately 500 hours of gameplay and secondarily through official patch notes released on the Steam digital distribution platform. This thesis reports on the creative use of avatars by players. Avenues of gameplay that did not grant the player any particular strategic advantage, and offered multiple options of completing the same action were selected for analysis. They were then examined in terms of the range of options, implications of real life constructs dictating them, and their effects on observed player behavior.
The results indicate that game design based on norms borrowed from the offline world may unnecessarily hinder creative player expression. For example, avatar and equipment division by (binary) gender both halves customization options for players and reduces the number of digital items that are on sale for potential customers.