Difference between revisions of "Avatars"

Revision as of 06:56, 7 April 2010

Game elements that diegetically represent players, providing their main means of interacting with the world and whose fate is connected to the players' success and failure in the game.

Many games lets players be represented in them by one of the agents in the game, often as a human or an anthropomorphic persona (but in some cases less human-like entities as vehicles, blobs). Echoing the idea from religion that some gods can incarnate into beings on Earth to be able to interact there, these forms are called Avatars^[1]. The use of Avatars can be for several reasons: to let players take a specific role in the events that unfold during gameplay, limit their perception of the game world, localize the area where they can affect the game world, or create game elements the player must keep safe. Through doing this, the players' attention can be focused on specific parts of the game and provide an anchor for the players' emotional investment in the games.

Examples

Avatars can be found in most games having a game world since players needs some focal point within the world to affect it. The pattern was already present in early arcade and video games, e.g. Space Wars, the Pac-Man series, and the Bomberman Series make use of this pattern, and this tradition is continued in many modern games following the aesthetics from the games (e.g. Continuity, Icy Tower, and Zombiepox). The case could even be made that it is present in Chess even if players can move other pieces, since losing one's king is equal to losing the game. Likewise, one could argue that in most traditional, sports such as Wrestling and Soccer, the players themselves are Avatars, noting that their actions are restricted and that it shouldn't matter for the games' definitions who participates as long as they match certain criteria.

Although not strictly necessary in single-player FPS games such as the Doom and Quake series since the players don't need to be able to see themselves (other than in mirrors for believability issues), Avatars are needed in the multiplayer modes of these games and FPS games specifically designed for team-based gameplay such as [Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory] and the [Left 4 Dead Series]. Likewise, players are represented as Avatars in Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games such as World of Warcraft, but here players often have a greater possibility to personalize their appearance through physical characteristics and equipment. Games using third person perspectives, e.g. the Assassin's Creed series and the Lego Star Wars Series, let players see their own Avatars in relation to the game world, making it easier to understand scales and simulate an awareness of ones surroundings not purely based on what is in line of sight. The use of vehicles, e.g. cars in the Need for Speed Series and anti-aircraft artillery pieces World War II Online, or blobs, as in Gish or Mercury Meltdown, show that not only anthropomorphic representations can be used as Avatars.

The computer game Paradroid used an extended variant of the Avatar pattern. The player controlled a defenseless robot, which could control one other robot, and the gameplay consisted of switching between these second-order Avatars to defeat all robots on a spaceship.

The creatures in the Black & White series are not Avatars since they are only indirectly controlled by players and they affect the game world through an intangible hand.

Using the pattern

While the Avatar present players with a tangible presence in a Game World, the Character is the abstract representation containing game information about aspects such as Attributes and Skills. However, since these in many cases affect each other it is often necessary to consider these two patterns together.

Two main requirements are needed for players to perceive themselves as having Avatars in the game. First, that a single entity in the Game World is their primary ability to affect the game, i.e. that person is their Focus Loci (since controlling several game elements give rise to the Units patterns). Second, that the game (or other players) can affect the players' success or failure regarding gameplay through the entity. This does not mean that players only can have one specific Avatar during a complete game session, simply that one only has one at any given time (since playing several at once would make them Units). Examples of using more than one Avatar include Fahrenheit, where the player switching between several different protagonists in the game story, and Cursor*10 where players cooperate with previous instances of their Avatars. Games such as Sleepwalker and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time blur the distinction between Avatars and Units by having several deigetic persons that they have to take care of (they can be said to instantiate a weak form of Parallel Lives but they are controlled as one group. A weaker form of this blurring can be found in games where players' have companions more limited than full-fledged NPCs that accompany the Avatars, e.g. the dogs in the Fallout series and the Shadow Dancer and Fable II games. Another variation of Avatars is to use them in a layered fashion where a player's Avatar controls another game element directly. This typically presented to the player by replacing the Avatar with the other game element and providing the actions of the game element to the player. Examples of this are the possessing of other droids in Paradroid and the possibility to enter the driving position in vehicles in Battlefield 1942.

Choosing the abilities Avatars provide naturally depend on the intended gameplay and theme, but some are more likely than others. Movement is very common, both to allow explorations and re-positioning in the Game Worlds and since players are used to thinking about themselves in relation to their locomotion. Besides what actions the avatars can perform, their likelihood to succeed can be linked either to the Character statistics, player skill, or Player/Character Skill Composites and the choices made here typically determine the proportions importance of Dexterity-Based Actions and Tactical Planning in the game.

Many games start with a Limited Set of Actions available through the Avatars and then expanding this through New Abilities as gameplay progresses. By doing this, as is done for example in the Super Mario series and The Legend of Zelda series, the game can provide a Right Level of Difficulty in the beginning and a Smooth Learning Curves as the game commences. These New Abilities provide a way of having Character Development even in games that do not have explicit Characters or the abilities are diegetically facilitated through Tools. Further, the game design can support the Narrative Structures by limiting access to game areas until various Privileged Abilities have been acquired.

The possibility to improve Avatars' abilities through Character Development can thereby be used to merge the development of the Narrative Structure with goals the player has. This can strengthen the player's empathic link with the Avatar as an effect of the Investments made while developing the Avatar.

New Abilities or Improved Abilities given to players can either be given to Avatars or Characters; the abilities are linked to Avatars when the abilities are only observable through actions in the Game World or there is no abstract representation of a Character behind the Avatar.

Besides these two necessary conditions, the Avatars relation to its surroundings and other deigetic persons are fundamental in how they are perceived. The use of Deadly Traps, Inaccessible Areas, Obstacles, Outstanding Features, and Safe Havens not only help define the Game Worlds but also the Avatars through how they affect them. This becomes especially true if there are many types of playable Avatars or the Avatars are affected differently than Enemies and other Agents. Avatar Reflexes, actions initiated by the Avatars themselves without player interference, are ways to inform players about possible actions (e.g. by the Avatars glancing at them or commenting them) or possible dangers (e.g. how Avatars in Assassin's Creed 2 and Prince of Persia make animations of regaining their balance after nearly falling of ledges when players have moved them to close).

Additional design possibilities exist to let players have closer attachment with their Avatars, with two common approaches being related to what ability or appearance they have. Initial Personalization let players modify the Avatars before gameplay starts so they can suit the players' preferences regarding either gameplay or theme. Character Development, which can either be a continuation of the Initial Personalization or an independent feature, let players fine-tune their Avatars as gameplay progresses. The effort these two patterns require from players is in itself a potential cause for them to feel an attachment to them, the invested effort makes it more compelling to care about the outcome.

The death or destruction of the Avatar typically signifies the end of the game or the loss of one of the Lives available for the Avatar. This makes the Survive goal an integral part of games using Avatars in Player Killing. Other possible options include the loss of Privileged Abilities, Score, or Tools.

Many Avatars are designed to let the players feel a positive empathic link towards the Avatar to achieve Emotional Immersion. This can be achieved either through a design so that the Avatars have a sympathetic personality or appearance, have abilities the players would like to have, or have been mistreated. However, they do not usually have strongly developed personalities, as this can prevent the players from interpreting what they want into the Avatar's actions. Further, if the Avatar can initiate actions on its own, this lessens the players' Freedom of Choice and may destroy an Illusion of Influence as well as Emotional Immersion directed towards other objects or players in the Game World. The use of Avatars in Persistent Game Worlds is common to create stronger Emotional Immersion and a sense of Ownership.

Limited game state overview

Avatars can actually be used in game sessions where their players are not present. Ghosts are the use of Avatars to provide players of racing games with representations of how previous players (including themselves) gamed. The platform game Icy Tower makes use of Avatars as markers for the highest floor reached by other players, making them part of a High Score List presented inside the Game Worlds

Diegetic Aspects

Avatars is a diegetic pattern which is impossible to use without some form of Game Worlds. Although Third-Person Views (or reflections) are necessary for players to be able to perceive their own Avatars, game can use purely First-Person Views in multiplayer games since players can easily create the impression that they are also represented in the world based upon induction. Depending on the diegetic theme, some abilities might be more or less believable as belonging to the Avatars (e.g. being able to kill enemies at a distance in a realistic game without any type of ranged weapons) and having these may weaken the presence of the pattern.

For Multiplayer Games, the differences in Avatars' appearances can be vital to express Asymmetric Abilities and Privileged Abilities to support players both in finding Achilles' Heels in enemies and support Team Play, and Team Combos in particular, with team mates. For games with Selectable Functional Roles these differences can easily be shown as changes in general appearance or clothing, while games with Tools can simply integrate the presentation of the tools with the Avatars. In other cases, e.g. games with Power-Ups, may choose Non-Diegetic Elements instead (as for example done for the Quad Damage Power-Up in the Quake Series).

The difference or similarity of both appearance and abilities between players' Avatars and Enemies can be used to magnify the deigetic difference in power. This is often done for Boss Monsters (e.g. the Super Mario series and the God of War series) but is some cases for all Enemies (e.g. in Shadows of the Colossus). By having a large difference in size and at the same time restricting the movement of the opponent, the game can provide Challenging Gameplay but not overwhelmingly so even the depiction claims this.

Interface Aspects

Narrative Aspects

Consequences

Avatars are the representations of players' Characters or are players' Focus Loci and are therefore an expression of player Ownership. They are what are created by Producers when players are Spawning. They allow Improved Abilities to be presented to other players within a Consistent Reality Logic by changing the Avatar's appearance to reflect the current abilities the player has.

The use of an Avatar gives players a focus for Immersion --- particularly Spatial Immersion when used with First-Person Views --- and a focus for Roleplaying without affecting Consistent Reality Logic negatively; players can pretend that they are the Avatars on a physical level. The Spatial Immersion is further increased by the use of a Camera for Third-Person Views at the expense of Consistent Reality Logic. God Views, on the contrary, are not necessarily suitable for use with Avatars. Being a Focus Loci for players, Avatars can have strong emotional links to the players: what is good for the Avatars is good for the players and what is bad for the avatars is bad for the players. Avatars can provide Enemies for other players, and their abilities usually modulate Combat and can provide the basis for Orthogonal Unit Differentiation.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Agents Spatial Immersion, Immersion, Ownership, Enemies, Third-Person Views, First-Person Views

Can Modulate

Combat, Persistent Game Worlds, Player Killing, Roleplaying, Consistent Reality Logic, Survive

Can Be Instantiated By

Mule Ghosts

Can Be Modulated By

Privileged Abilities, Tools, Character Development, Characters, Improved Abilities, Producers

Potentially Conflicting With

Units God Views, Parallel Lives, Emotional Immersion

History

A rewrite of a pattern that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design^[2].

References

1. ↑ Definition of Avatar at Wikipedia
2. ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.

Acknowledgments

Karl Bergström, Aki Järvinen, Johan Peitz, Karl-Petter Åkesson