TY - JOUR
T1 - Of beard physics and worldness
T2 - The (non-)effect of enhanced anthropomorphism on player-avatar relations.
AU - Banks, Jaime
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2017/10
Y1 - 2017/10
N2 - Advances in realistic graphics and artificial intelligence are hallmarks of evolved video games, as environments and characters are made to seem more real. Little is known, however, about whether or not character model changes may impact players' relationships with familiar avatars, especially since anthropomorphism-the perception of nonhuman objects as being human or humanlike-is understood as central to player-avatar interaction (PAX). This study leveraged a naturally occurring change to massively multiplayer online game avatars to conduct a field quasiexperiment to investigate whether enhanced avatar anthropomorphism influences PAX dimensions: emotional investment, anthropomorphic autonomy, suspension of disbelief, and sense of control. Longitudinal analysis showed that enhanced anthropomorphism had no significant impact on any PAX dimension immediately or over time, when controlling for demographic and gameplay variables. Player comments suggest the change was experienced not as a change in humanness, but as a shift in perceptual realism-believability, lifelikeness, depth-that impacted the experience of the avatar-mediated gameworld more broadly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
AB - Advances in realistic graphics and artificial intelligence are hallmarks of evolved video games, as environments and characters are made to seem more real. Little is known, however, about whether or not character model changes may impact players' relationships with familiar avatars, especially since anthropomorphism-the perception of nonhuman objects as being human or humanlike-is understood as central to player-avatar interaction (PAX). This study leveraged a naturally occurring change to massively multiplayer online game avatars to conduct a field quasiexperiment to investigate whether enhanced avatar anthropomorphism influences PAX dimensions: emotional investment, anthropomorphic autonomy, suspension of disbelief, and sense of control. Longitudinal analysis showed that enhanced anthropomorphism had no significant impact on any PAX dimension immediately or over time, when controlling for demographic and gameplay variables. Player comments suggest the change was experienced not as a change in humanness, but as a shift in perceptual realism-believability, lifelikeness, depth-that impacted the experience of the avatar-mediated gameworld more broadly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
KW - Anthropomorphism
KW - avatar
KW - massively multiplayer online games
KW - perceptual realism
KW - player-avatar relations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85031026787&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/ppm0000104
DO - 10.1037/ppm0000104
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85031026787
VL - 6
SP - 381
EP - 393
JO - Psychology of Popular Media Culture
JF - Psychology of Popular Media Culture
SN - 2160-4134
IS - 4
ER -