Effects of Character Voice-over on Players’ Engagement in a Digital Role-Playing Game Environment

JaeHwan ByunVirtual Environment LaboratorySouthern Illinois University Carbondale

Intellectual Indignation

Digital games have a potential

power to engage people (stu

dents)!

Digital games are

effective to engage

learners!

Digita

l gam

e as t

he

effec

tive m

etho

d to

enga

ge le

arne

rs.Digital games =

Engagement

Really?

Background of the Study

Then, How?

Gap in literature

Background of the Study

256898Ke, F. (2009).

role-playing, narrative arcs, challenges, fantasy, interactive choices, characters in games,

curiosity, clear goals, appropriate feedback, playfulness,

implementing elements of mystery

Gap in literature

Background of the Study

Gaming Device (Computer)

Gap in literature

Background of the Study

BGM

Purpose of the study

To determine whether or not the voice-over of

Non-Playing Characters in digital games has any

effect on players’ engagement

Research Question

What is the effect of non-player characters’

voice-over on player engagement during digital

game play?

Experimental Design

Independent Variable: NPCs’ voice-overDependent Variable: Participants’ level of engagement

Randomized control-group posttest only design

Before treatment Treatment After treatment

VO group DS Voice-over GEQ

NVO Group DS Non Voice-over GEQ

Research Subjects

• Between 18 and 25 years old

• Undergraduate students who spoke English as their first language

• No prior gaming experience with “Neverwinter Nights 2”

• No hearing and reading difficulties

Material (Research Game Mod)

• Modified game from NWN 2 tutorial module

• About 12 minutes long

• Cinematic style conversation with NPCs

Material (Adjusting Voice-over)

Material (Research Game Mod)

• Two technically identical laptops in a room

– One for VO group, One for NVO group

• Headphones

VO

NVO

Experimental Environment

Instruments

• Demographic Questionnaire– To collect background information about the

participants

• Game Engagement Questionnaire– To measure participants’ engagement level– Modified from Brockmyer, Fox, Curtiss, McBroom,

Burkhart & Pidruzny (2009)– Total 11 items

Complete the consent

form and demo-

graphic question-

naire

Play an introduc-tory mod

as “tutorial” (average

10min)

Ran-domly

assigned

Com-plete GEQ

Play the re-search mod

with voice-over (average 10min)

VO Group

Play the re-search mod

without voice-over (average 10min)

NVO Group

OR

Data Colleting Process

Results

• 74 / 81 (Analyzed Data / Total Participants)

• 37 participants per each group

• Analyzed by using PASW 18.0

• Instrument Reliability: Cronbach α = .80

(with 10 items)

• Independent Sample t-test

Results (Demographic Info.)

N

Age(Mean

)

Gender

Female MaleGrou

p VO 37 20.70 12 25

NVO 37 20.59 10 27Total 74 20.65 22 52

Results (Descriptive Statistics)

N Mean SD

GroupVO 37 37.84 5.58

NVO 37 34.76 5.25Total 74 36.30 5.60

Results (Distribution of GEQ score)Fr

eque

ncy

NVOVO

37.8434.76 GEQ scoreNVO VO

t-test for Equality of Means

t df Sig. Mean difference Std. Error difference

2.45 72 .02 3.08 1.26

• Null hypothesis was rejected at the alpha level of .05

• Effect size, Cohen's (1998) d, was .58.

Results (Hypothesis Testing)

Results (Finding)

Players are significantly more engaged in a

digital RPG environment when playing RPG with

NPCs’ voice-over than when playing RPG

without NPCs’ voice-over.

Conclusion (Discussion)

• Aural components of digital games can be

important factors affecting player engagement.

• Audio stimuli should be included as a design factor

engaging game players.

• For educational (and serious) game developers and

game modders

• For educational practitioners who are involved

in educational multimedia development

• Teachers (Trainers) who are selecting digital games

for educational purpose

Conclusion (Implications)

• Testing the validity of the GEQ for RPG• Replicating this study with different groups of

participants• Improving the fidelity of the experimental

conditions • Investigating the people who read dialog faster than

they listen to voice-over

Conclusion (Recommendations)

Q & A