GAMES, PEACOCKS, AND THE THEORY OF CONFLICT

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GAMES, PEACOCKS, AND THE THEORY OF CONFLICT

• Jonas Heide Smith (smith_at_itu.dk)
• Center for Computer Games Research
• IT University of Copenhagen
• KUA
• 12-11-2004

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THE PLAN

• Introduction
• What is trust?
• Two perspectives
• Supporting trust through game design

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TRUST

• All multi-player games depend on trust
• Game type determines the games relation to trust
• Some forms of distrust are harmful to the
  gamespace

Age of Kings at zone.com
Star Wars Galaxies
4
THE PLAN

• Introduction
• What is trust?
• Two perspectives
• Supporting trust through game design

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WHAT IS TRUST?

• Sociology Entering into an interaction in the
  face of uncertainty.
• Economy Acting as if you expect future
  cooperation.

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THE PLAN

• Introduction
• What is trust?
• Two perspectives
• Supporting trust through game design

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TWO PERSPECTIVES
The gaming context
The rule system
Online/offline
Server setup
Length og single games
Possibilities for cheating
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TWO PERSPECTIVES

• The rule system concerns winning conditions and
  attribution of game points (the ideal game)
• Invokes an ideal player who is completely in
  line with the winning conditions specified by the
  game, wants to win but also acknowledges the
  importance of sportsmanship

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THE RULE SYSTEM

• Sum type

Zero-sumHave no trust issues
Non-zero-sumHave trust issues
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TWO PERSPECTIVES

• The gaming context the features of a game which
  are general to all or most instances of the game
  but not related to the core rules.

• Players physically together?
• Matching reliant on communication?
• How much at stake?
• Etc

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THE PLAN

• Introduction
• What is trust?
• Two perspectives
• Supporting trust through game design

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SUPPORTING TRUST

• The Chicken Game

Player 2 Player 2
Turn Straight
Player 1 Turn Player 1 2 Player 2 2 Player 1 1 Player 2 3
Player 1 Straight Player 1 3 Player 2 1 Player 1 0 Player 2 0
Numbers indicate points earned Numbers indicate points earned Numbers indicate points earned Numbers indicate points earned
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SUPPORTING TRUST

• Signal types
• Conventional signals Statements that something
  is the case.
• Assessment signals Unfake-able signals (usually
  costly to send). E.g. Conspicuous consumption,
  social contracts, Google page ranking.

Amotz Zahavi The Handicap Principle
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SUPPORTING TRUST

• High signal control correlates with low
  trustworthiness
• One solution Reputation systems
• Another Multimodal communication

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SUPPORTING TRUST

• The difficulty Trust is not necessarily good.
• The essence of drama etc
• A need to distinguish between necessary and
  drama-destructive trust

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FINALLY

• Thanks for listening
• Coming up Week-end
• smith_at_itu.dk