Jaime Banks@amperjay

Nicholas David Bowman@bowmanspartan

West Virginia University, USA@wvucommstudies #ixlab

From toy and tool to partner and person:

Phenomenal convergence/divergence among game avatar metaphors

Avatars• Graphical user representations• Carriers of meaning/agency• Participants in varied

relations with players• Mediators of phenomenal gameplay

Metaphorical characterizationsExamples:• “The uncanny aspect of the relationship between player and

avatar is heightened by the use of them as vehicles through a 3D game space ….” (Carr, 2002).

• “The same is true for users of avatars – the effects of donning their “virtual costumes” are enhanced by deindividuation and the reactions of others (Merola & Peña, 2010).

• “… while in the avatar-supported medium, anonymity can be further increased by ‘wearing a mask’ to confuse or distract the recipient about one’s identity” (Balanxhi & Nah, 2007).

• “Self-differentiation was revealed in … stories of avatars’ existence as whole, independent personalities in the gameworld” (Banks, 2015).

Metaphorical characterizations• Utility

• Addressing nuances in avatar use, perception• Making unfamiliar experiences accessible

• Problems• “Metaphor sprawl” inhibits synthesis of new knowledge within

existing frameworks (cumulative/static developments not progressive/dynamic)

• Often analytical artifacts rather than phenomenologically valid characterizations

Player-Avatar Interaction (PAX)

Object Me Symbiote Other

(Banks, 2015; Banks & Bowman, 2014, 2016)

*

Research questions …• RQ1: Can avatar metaphors be meaningfully situated

within the sociality continuum?• RQ2: Can avatar metaphors be collapsed into a

parsimonious model for metaphorically characterizing player-avatar sociality?

Method …• MMO-related gaming forums and FB groups

(general and game-specific)• Online survey re: self-selected ‘favorite’ MMO avatar• One-item sociality measure:

I connect with that avatar as I connect with other humans.(M = 3.81, SD = 2.89)

• 26 avatar metaphors, 10-point Likert scale, not at all/very accurate ratings:How well do each of the following words describe how you see this avatar?

• Analysis• RQ1: Correlations between sociality and metaphor ratings• RQ2: EFA of metaphor ratings

Participants …

• N = 501• 31.5% female• Age M = ~30,

ranging 18-69

• International sample(33 countries)

• Diverse MMOs(39 games)

Results … (Banks & Bowman, 2015)

Discussion …• Theoretically divergent characterizations are sometimes empirically convergent

• PAR typology may be useful for synthesizing existing scholarship using different characterizations, as function of sociality

• In analysis, pair generalizable ‘meta-metaphors’ with more nuanced metaphors for breadth and depth

@amperjay @bowmanspartan

Means …