## Playing with Friends or Strangers? The Effects of Familiarity between Players in an Asymmetric Multiplayer Virtual Reality Game<br><br> <font size=5, color=gray> **Authors**: Sukran Karaosmanoglu, Tom Schmolzi, Frank Steinicke<font size=5, color=gray> **Keywords**: asymmetric games, virtual reality, familiarity, player experience,<br> social experience, game performance<br> 06 October 2023 --- ## Abstract - asymmetric virtual reality games: improving social experience and player experience - design and implement an asymmetric VR game - The impact of familiarity on social and player experience as well as game performance. --- ## Introduction - Asymmetric games - address difference (e.g., hardware) - improve multiplayer player experience (PX) - richer social experience (SX) - Asymmetric VR games - similar levels of PX between VR and non-VR users - both players wear HMDs→? ---- ## Introduction asymmetric games→PX and SX social bonds→PX and SX：? - Design an asymmetric VR Game - two conditions: friends and strangers - without using interface asymmetry - depend on each other in a mirrored form --- ## Related Work mixed results on how familiarity impacts PX, SX, and game performance in multiplayer games ---- ### The effects of familiarity on PX, SX, and game performance 1. Playing against a co-located friend - a greater spatial presence and fun 2. *Halo: Reach* - friends-teams outperformed strangers-teams 3. Hudson et al.'s findings - familiarity→game performance: not strong - familiarity→cooperative social presence: positively correlated ---- ### The effects of familiarity on PX, SX,and game performance - The contrast studies by Vella et al. - playing with a friend or stranger didn't significantly affect PX and SX - cooperative, but didn't allow for verbal communication ---- ### The effects of familiarity on PX, SX,and game performance - A study by Harris and Hancock - asymmetric games: **more social connectedness** and **social presence** between players than symmetric games - only recruited players with pre-existing relationships →leaving a research gap ---- ### The effects of familiarity on PX, SX,and game performance - reserches mainly focused on interface asymmetry - VR technology popularized →worth exploring both users in VR <br> --- ### ASYMMETRIC VIRTUAL REALITY GAME ---- ### equipment 1. Game - Unity, Steam VR, Phonton Unity Networking2, Phonton Voice 2 2. Player - HMD (i.e.,HTC Vive Pro) and two controllers 3. Computers - i7-4790K, NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 - i7-11700K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 ---- ### Game Design Rationale - Inspired by *Overcooked 2!* - Self-implemented - to measure game performance easily - different roles may affect PX - Low level of asymmetry - asymmetry of information - mirrored form - External validity - Two different physical rooms - Genderless cartoon VR avatars ---- ### Gameplay - tutorial→game scene→10-minute playing phase - Goal：prepare as many recipes as possible - Three blocks ---- ### Gameplay - <font size=5>start block - put the ingredients synchronously - max(1000 - 200 * [Δseconds], 50). - maze block - telling the other players’ tile information - ingredients block - grab the ingredients they need - back to start block -  --- ### PRELIMINARY USER STUDY ---- Procedure and Methods : convenience sampling  Study Design : single-factor (friends and strangers) : pre-game and post-game measures <font size=5, color=gray>(social closeness, game performance, and gaming experience)</font> Participants : strangers: 4 pairs, friends: 3 pairs ---- ### Pre-Game Measures Questionnaire : Demographic questionnaire : Inclusion of Self (IoS)<br> - modified version  ---- ### In-Game Measures and Post-Game Measures - <font size=6>Game events - Questionnaire - IoS - Social Presence in Gaming Questionnaire (SPGQ) - empathy - behavioural engagement - Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) - interest/enjoyment - Player Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS) - autonomy, competence, relatedness, and presence/immersion ---- ### Analysis Methods Quantitative data - parametric tests and non-parametric tests - between factor cases: - parameter: unpaired t-tests (t) - non-parametric: Wilcoxon rank-sum tests (W) - within factor cases: - parameter: paired t-tests (t) - non-parametric: Wilcoxon signed-rank tests (V) ---- ### Analysis Methods(informal) Qualitative data - audio recordings and the answers to the open-ended question - translate via DeepL Pro - coded their interactions between dyads (e.g., laughing and clarifying the game) - using Dovetail  --- ### Results Quantitative Findings  ---- ### Results Qualitative Findings - Overall, regardless of their groups, all dyads enjoyed their experience - a few players took the role of a leader in their team <font size=6>*“It felt awesome connecting with a stranger and building some kind of relationship form within bare minutes!”* --- ### Discussion - <font size=6>Regardless of group type, there was an increase in IoS scores. - All players enjoy these games and have positive PX. - do not support Cheng et al.'s suggestion, due to the physical proximity between players - Game performance：no significantly differences - Physical interaction：? --- ### Conclusion - Results (N=14) suggest that familiarity has no significant effect on PX, SX, or game performance. - However, asymmetric game improved social closeness between players on the strangers teams.