In-game Factors Research Articles

BPCoach: Exploring Hero Drafting in Professional MOBA Tournaments via Visual Analytics

Hero drafting for multiplayer online arena (MOBA) games is crucial because drafting directly affects the outcome of a match. Both sides take turns to "ban"/"pick" a hero from a roster of approximately 100 heroes to assemble their drafting. In professional tournaments, the process becomes more complex as teams are not allowed to pick heroes used in the previous rounds with the "best-of-N" rule. Additionally, human factors including the team's familiarity with drafting and play styles are overlooked by previous studies. Meanwhile, the huge impact of patch iteration on drafting strengths in the professional tournament is of concern. To this end, we propose a visual analytics system, BPCoach, to facilitate hero drafting planning by comparing various drafting through recommendations and predictions and distilling relevant human and in-game factors. Two case studies, expert feedback, and a user study suggest that BPCoach helps determine hero drafting in a rounded and efficient manner.

Predicting and identifying the most important factors on player performance in the National Basketball Association using Machine Learning.

The field of data analytics in basketball has been on a meteoric rise in recent years. Improved optical tracking technology has allowed data collection on a scale that has never been seen before. As a result, a plethora of work related to how player performances get affected by various in-game factors have been published. The rush of incoming data has also allowed for teams to get a better handle on how they can mitigate certain factors to increase a player's performance. However, no one has been able to capture the relationship that extrinsic factors, such as weather, precipitation, or attendance could affect player performance, and rank which factors have the most impact. In this paper, I will describe the process of creating a novel dataset that consists of game attendance, opponent information, weather information, date information, and player form. With these data points, I also identify which group of factors have the most impact on player performance. I will also discuss the process of creating a supervised model, which has the potential to predict how well a player will perform in a game based on the input external factors for a particular game.

Can Referees Assess Head Contact Penalties Correctly in Canadian Youth Ice Hockey? A Video Analysis Study.

To help address the high concussion burden in Canadian youth ice hockey, our primary objective was to examine the concurrent validity of youth ice hockey referees' ability to assess head contacts (HCs) and associated penalties using video analysis methods after implementation of the "zero tolerance for HC" policy by Hockey Canada. Cross-sectional study. Certified Level II-III referees in Alberta, Canada. A secured online survey with 60 videos (10 to 15 seconds) containing a player-to-player physical contact with or without a HC from elite U15 (ages 13 to 14) youth ice hockey games. Survey questions were completed by all referees for each video, including (1). 'Did you see a player-to-player contact?', (2). 'Should a penalty be assessed?', and if yes, (3). 'Which player, penalty type, and penalty intensity?' Referee assessments were compared with a consensus agreement from 2 national and member (top level) gold standard referees for concurrent validity through percent agreement and sensitivity/specificity measures. Complete-case analysis of 100 referees (131 recruited) showed an overall median agreement of 83.5% (sensitivity = 0.74; specificity = 0.69) with the gold standard. Agreement with the gold standard was highest for HC infractions [85.1% (sensitivity = 0.80; specificity = 0.69)], followed by HC penalty type (81.5%) and penalty intensity (53.7%). Concurrent validity through percent agreement was high (>80%) compared with the gold standard for identifying both HC and other infractions; however, it was moderate for penalty intensity. Although knowledge of identifying HCs and penalties in this survey was acceptable, this study suggests in-game factors (eg, game management and positioning) may be a primary limitation for HC enforcement.

The Role of Enjoyment in a Serious Game for Binge Drinking Prevention: Pretest-Posttest Quasi-Experimental Study.

BackgroundAlthough binge drinking peaks at age 21 to 25 years, there is limited research on the effects of serious games in this population, as well as on the process by which playing serious games impacts alcohol-related outcomes. Designed with both health behavioral theory and game theory, One Shot is an online serious game that aims to prevent binge drinking.ObjectiveThis study utilized a conceptual model for serious video game processes. Using One Shot, the model assessed the following process stages: (1) Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise (AUDIT-C); (2) in-game factors of game time and risky alcohol decisions; (3) game enjoyment; and (4) postgame outcomes of intention to drink less and drinking refusal self-efficacy.MethodsIn a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, a sample (N=550) of young adults (age 21-25 years) who reported recent binge drinking played the One Shot game. Intention to drink less and drinking refusal self-efficacy were measured at pregame and postgame, with their effects lagged in statistical analysis. Participants were presented with various scenarios in the game that pertained to risky alcohol decisions, which, along with game time, were unobtrusively recorded by the server. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the conceptual model, with assessments made to determine if enjoyment mediated the effects of game time and risky alcohol decisions on the 2 postgame alcohol-related outcomes.ResultsA well-fitting SEM demonstrated support for the multistep model, with AUDIT-C predicting risky alcohol decisions (β=.30). Risky alcohol decisions (β=−.22) and game time (β=.18) predicted enjoyment, which, in turn, predicted intention to drink less (β=.21) and drinking refusal self-efficacy (β=.16). Enjoyment significantly (P<.001) mediated the effects of game time and risky alcohol decision on intention to drink less and drinking refusal self-efficacy.ConclusionsThe results support a conceptual model in which staggered individual and in-game factors influence alcohol-related outcomes. Enjoyment is important for participants’ intentions to drink less and beliefs that they can refuse alcohol.

Does esports spectating influence game consumption?

ABSTRACT Contemporary digital technologies have facilitated practices related to games whereby users often produce and consume content for free. To date, research into consumer interactions has largely focused on in-game factors, however, the intention to both play the game and to make in-game purchases are influenced by outside factors, including game streams and game-centred communities. In particular, the growth of competitive gaming, known as esports, offers a new channel for consumer engagement. This research explores the potential for esports to be a significant factor in understanding both intentions to play and spend money on games. Our study draws from Motivations Scale of Sports Consumption to empirically investigate the relationship between esports spectating motivations and game consumption: Watching Intention, Gaming Intention, and Purchasing Intention. This survey uses structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse data collected from a sample of video game players (n = 194). This research contributes empirical evidence of the relationship between esports spectating and game consumption, with the relationship between Watching Intention and Gaming Intention found to be particularly strong. Finally, while the MSSC is an adequate measure for esports spectating, additional aspects specific to esports require further investigation, consequently, there may be more optimal measures which can be developed.

Dijital Oyunlarda Reklam: Çocuk ve Ebeveyn Perspektifinden Bir İnceleme

The problem of this study, which is based on understanding the interactions of children with the brands in digital games, is to understand children’s recognition of the brands in digital games with the variables of the type of advertisement, in-game factors and screen time. In this qualitative study, a two-session focus group interview was conducted with the children and their mothers separately. Children are important for this study due to their age, because on the one hand, they go through the consumer socialization process, and on the other hand, since they do not have the ability to separate media content from commercial content, they are exposed to ads. As a result of the study, it is observed that parents were in conflict with their children regarding screen time management and they interfere with their children’s screen time. However, a significant part of the parents is not aware of the ads in digital games and do not consider in-game advertising as a risk factor for their children. Additionally, it is seen that the high prevalence of unhealthy food advertisements in digital games causes children to make unreasonable demands and this is considered as a serious issue in a process they learn to be a consumer.

NFL Time Management: The Role of Timeouts in End-Game Scenarios

Time management is an important part of game strategy in the National Football League (NFL), especially in the second half of a game that could be decided by a field goal. This paper determines the in-game factors that contribute to an NFL offensive team’s total time taken to reach field goal range during the final six minutes of regulation in games that are within three points or less. Using data constructed from 2009-2011 NFL regular season games, we find that neither quarterback rating nor the number of All-Pro players affect the speed at a which a team reaches field goal range. However, counter to conventional wisdom, using an offensive timeout during the final drive of the game extends the time it takes to reach field goal range by 22 seconds. On the other hand, the mere availability of an offensive timeout decreases the time it takes to reach field goal range by 19 seconds. Both of these effects are found in games where the offense is behind by 1, 2, or 3 points, but not in tied games. These findings inform in-game coaching decisions for football head coaches.

Getting humans to do quantum optimization - user acquisition, engagement and early results from the citizen cyberscience game Quantum Moves

The game Quantum Moves was designed to pit human players against computer algorithms, combining their solutions into hybrid optimization, to control a scalable quantum computer. In this midstream report, we open our design process and present the constitutive building stages. We present our approach starting with designing a core gameplay around quantum simulations, to putting extra game elements in place to frame, structure and motivate players’ difficult path from internet flâneur to competent science contributors. Among statistical predictors for retention and in-game high scores, the data from our first year suggest that people recruited based on real-world physics interest and via real-world events, but only with an intermediate science education, are more likely to become engaged and skilled contributors. We discuss this relationship between in-world and in-game factors on intrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and its implications for using real live humans to do hybrid optimization via initially simple, but very cognitively complex games.

Empirical Study on the Decline of Lineage 2 in Korea

The purpose of this article is to take empirical tests for presumed causes of Lineage 2's declining trend in Korea. Using time usage data of Lineage 2(L2), Kart Riders(Kart) and World of Worldcraft(WoW) collected from PC-bangs in Korea, we take statistical tests on the rivalry hypothesis among games. Results show that there is no consistent evidence that L2's falling down is caused by the success of Kart or WoW. Instead, it is clearly identified that the trend of RMT had a respectable impacts on L2 in comparison to L1. All the test result implies that in-game factors such as RMT played a more decisive role in L2's decline than external factors like tougher competition.