2018
Alha, Kati; Kinnunen, Jani; Koskinen, Elina; Paavilainen, Janne
Free-to-Play Games: Paying Players' Perspective Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Academic Mindtrek Conference, pp. 49–58, 2018.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Attitudes, Digital games, Ethics, Experience, Free-to-play, In-game purchases
@inproceedings{Alha2018,
title = {Free-to-Play Games: Paying Players' Perspective},
author = {Kati Alha and Jani Kinnunen and Elina Koskinen and Janne Paavilainen},
url = {https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/publications/free-to-play-games-paying-players-perspective},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3275116.3275133},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-10-01},
urldate = {2018-10-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 22nd International Academic Mindtrek Conference},
pages = {49–58},
abstract = {This paper investigates the free-to-play revenue model from the perspective of paying players, focusing on high-spenders. As the free-to-play model has proven successful, game developers have increasingly adopted it as their revenue model. At the same time, worrying concerns over the revenue model have been voiced, calling it exploitative, unethical, or simply claiming it to offer poor gameplay experiences. We investigated these concerns by conducting an interview study with 11 players who have spent money on free-to-play games, on their perceptions about free-to-play games, experiences on playing them and paying in them, and opinions on ethical issues in the games. The results shed light on how players themselves experience these games.},
keywords = {Attitudes, Digital games, Ethics, Experience, Free-to-play, In-game purchases},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper investigates the free-to-play revenue model from the perspective of paying players, focusing on high-spenders. As the free-to-play model has proven successful, game developers have increasingly adopted it as their revenue model. At the same time, worrying concerns over the revenue model have been voiced, calling it exploitative, unethical, or simply claiming it to offer poor gameplay experiences. We investigated these concerns by conducting an interview study with 11 players who have spent money on free-to-play games, on their perceptions about free-to-play games, experiences on playing them and paying in them, and opinions on ethical issues in the games. The results shed light on how players themselves experience these games.
Karhulahti, Veli-Matti; Kimppa, Kai
"Two Queens and a Pwn, Please." An Ethics for Purchase, Loot, and Advantage Design in Esports Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings of the 2nd International GamiFIN Conference, GamiFIN 2018, 2018, ISSN: 1613-0073.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Electronic sports, Gamification, In-game purchases, Out-game purchases
@inproceedings{Karhulahti2018,
title = {"Two Queens and a Pwn, Please." An Ethics for Purchase, Loot, and Advantage Design in Esports},
author = {Veli-Matti Karhulahti and Kai Kimppa},
url = {http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2186/paper14.pdf},
issn = {1613-0073},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-05-23},
urldate = {2018-05-23},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2nd International GamiFIN Conference, GamiFIN 2018},
abstract = {In this paper, we provide a new perspective on esports as gamified play by mapping out the means of their ludic customization with a reflection on ethics. We start by systematizing purchasable customizations in esport games by their effects: cosmetic in-game purchases, functional in-game purchases, and out-game purchases. Subsequently, we situate purchasable customizations within the five demands that contemporary esport games set for their players: money, time, skill, luck, and occasion. Ultimately, we show that some effect-demand combinations may result in ethical conflicts when perceived through of the sport-philosophical frame of athletic superiority.},
keywords = {Electronic sports, Gamification, In-game purchases, Out-game purchases},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper, we provide a new perspective on esports as gamified play by mapping out the means of their ludic customization with a reflection on ethics. We start by systematizing purchasable customizations in esport games by their effects: cosmetic in-game purchases, functional in-game purchases, and out-game purchases. Subsequently, we situate purchasable customizations within the five demands that contemporary esport games set for their players: money, time, skill, luck, and occasion. Ultimately, we show that some effect-demand combinations may result in ethical conflicts when perceived through of the sport-philosophical frame of athletic superiority.