I have just stumbled upon an interesting, if not quite brief academic conference article. It is titled: Why We Play Games: Four Keys to More Emotion Without Story. This is written by Nicole Lazzaro, at the time of its establishment Founder and President of XEODesign, Inc. This paper describes a series of 8 forms of emotion that a game can evoke in a gamer. These are as follows:
- Emotion: Common Themes and Triggers
- Fear: Threat of harm, object moving quickly to hit player, sudden fall or loss of support, possibility of pain
- Surprise: Sudden change; briefest of all emotions, does not feel good or bad, after interpreting event this emotion merges into fear, relief, etc.
- Disgust: Rejection as food or outside norms. The strongest triggers are body products such as feces, vomit, urine, mucus, saliva, and blood.
- Naches/ Kvell (Yiddish): Pleasure or pride at the accomplishment of a child or mentee. (Kvell is how it feels to express this pride in one’s child or mentee to others.)
- Fiero (Italian): Personal triumph over adversity. The ultimate Game Emotion. Overcoming difficult obstacles players raise their arms over their heads. They do not need to experience anger prior to success, but it does require effort.
- Schadenfreude (German): Gloat over misfortune of a rival. Competitive players enjoy beating each other especially a long-term rival. Boasts are made about player prowess and ranking.
- Wonder Over whelming improbability. Curious items amaze players at their unusualness, unlikelihood, and improbability without breaking out of realm of possibilities.
It is my intention to introduce this information early on in my report, and refer back to it when discussing these types of emotion. These will be done so when discussing details of the individual video-game examples and situations that I will be using.
Lazzaro / XEO Design - LINK
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