Limitations of Decision Making Models Within Current Video Game Theory

Dear Esther (thechineseroom, 2012) is a first person adventure game which lacks the many of the traditional conventions of other video games. The game has no traditional enemy to fight, challenges to complete or puzzles to solve and instead focuses on delivering an epistolary narrative to the player via voice over as they move through an abandoned island. Therefore, analysis of the first situation presented by the game through combination of the decision making model designed by Vorderer, Hartmann & Klimmt (2003), which has been designed to gauge player enjoyment through choice presented by competitive and challenging situations, in combination with Freud’s theory of The Psyche (1923), can be used to determine the limit of the effectiveness of the Vorderer et al model as an analytic tool.

The Vorderer et al model (figure 1) allows for the analysis of specific choices in video games by examining the situation which led to that choice. First all the possibilities to act which the player has within the rules of the game are determined. Then the specific necessity to act present in the situation is determined. The player then attempts to resolve the necessity to act by applying some of the possibilities to act which results in an outcome affecting the enjoyment felt by the player in that situation and affects the subsequent situations for that game.

Figure 1: Visual representation of the Vorderer, Hartmann and Klimmt model for decision making in games

Figure 2: Freud’s model
of the human psyche
(McMillan, 2010).

Freud’s theory on The Psyche posits that the human mind is comprised of three separate elements, the Id, Super Ego and Ego (figure 2). According to Freud’s theory, the Id is the oldest and most primitive part of the mind. The id contains the selfish desires within the subconscious and is represented as impulses for immediate gratification of those desires. The Ego is often described as the rational part of the mind and the portion of the mind which provides an individual’s sense of self. The ego is also the part of the mind which controls the id by deciding when and how the desires of the id can be met. The Super Ego is in many ways the opposite of the id, it represents the internalized ideals and rules of a person’s parents or society and can be thought of as a person’s conscience. In this respect the super ego monitors the ego and exhorts pressure on the individual to behave in a socially acceptable way, even if such action would be against the individuals own selfish urges (Rennison, 2001).

While the Vorderer et al model was initially designed to show the correlation between the amount of conflict or completion compelling a player to act in a situation and the enjoyment which results from said conflict (Vorderer et al, 2003). By combining the model with Freud’s theory on the human psyche we can develop a deeper understanding of the player’s decision making process by showing how player’s ego determines the best cause of action from desires of both super ego and id, in combination with the necessity to act  (figure 3).

Figure 3: Vorderer et al model combined with Freud’s theory on the psyche.
In this example, a situation within the game Ikaruga is the subject. 

At the very start of Dear Esther, players find themselves standing on a stone boat ramp looking along the coast of an island; a blinking red signal tower can be seen in the distance. Upon turning; an abandoned lighthouse can be seen at the top of the ramp. As the game begins the narrator tells the player of being washed ashore in “one last shipwreck”, where he presumably landed on this island, through a monologue addressed to a character named Esther. While it is not clear if the player is the narrator or Esther, this speech marks the player’s first situation of the game. As per the Vorderer et al model, the player has several possibilities to act which appeal to ether the super ego and/or id.

To the id the possibilities to act are to ether turn and walk into the ocean as the id has no interest in the short amount of story so far presented by the game. This cause of action may kill the player or break the game however, which would entertain the id immediately. The id would ultimately see quitting the game as an acceptable possibility to act as it currently is not interested in narrative of Dear Esther.

The super ego wants to explore the island as it has already begun to empathize with the narrator and wants to know more about what’s happening to him. Because of this it sees the possibilities to act as ether exploring the light house at the top of the ramp, or taking one of two paths towards the distant signal tower (and only visible sign of life).

While there is no conflict, clear objective or apparent danger in this situation the abrupt end to the opening narration provides the specific necessity to act detailed in the Vorderer et al model as the lack of information compels the player to try and discover more of the plot. The necessity to act forces the player to choose a way to resolve the lack of information from the options presented by the id and super ego. As the ego also remembers the past situations of other adventure games, the ego decides to continue playing in general and to explore the lighthouse in particular as the ego knows most adventure games will have something important in a landmark like a lighthouse. This choice results in the player exploring the light house, upon entering which they are rewarded by the game with a second monologue which furthers the plot of the game.

From this analysis of this initial situation within Dear Esther, it can now been seen that while the Vorderer et al model was not designed to apply to the situations present within a non-conventional game, deeper analysis of the situation through combination with Freud’s theory on the psyche allowed for the same analysis enjoyment from choice in Dear Esther as in the initial example of Quake (a very conventional game) detailed by Vorderer et al (2003). This case study therefore supports the use this toolset in the psychological analysis of games.

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References:

Banks, C. (2009). Sense / Image / Challenge. [Online] Available http://senseimaginechallenge.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/klimmt-and-vorderer-freud-and-maslow.html [October 12th 2012].

Briscoe, R. & thechineseroom. (2012). Dear Esther. [Video Game]. Published by Steam.

Freud, S. (1923). The Ego and the Id. London: The Hogarth Press Ltd.

McMillan, L. (2010). Id, Ego and Superego ‘Iceberg’. (see, fig 1)

Rennison, N. (2001). Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis. Harpenden: Pocket Esentials.

Vorderer, P., Hartmann, T., & Klimmt, C. (2003) Explaining the enjoyment of playing video games: the role of competition. In D. Marinelli (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2^nd International Conference on Entertainment Computing (ICEC 2003), Pittsburgh, New York: ACM.