it's the autonomy, stupid: autonomy experiences between playful work and workful play

it’s the autonomy,stupid! autonomy experiences between

playful work and laborious play Sebastian Deterding / @dingstweets

Digital Creativity Labs, University of York February 21, 2017

cb

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016643280500272X

Then: »Enriched environments«

Marian Diamond

»The combination of toys and friends was established early on as vital to qualifying the environment as ›enriched‹.«

qtd. in stuart brown, play (2009: 39)

play!

all about the box

what about the context?

now: »games«

<1> a puzzle

the standard folk theory

play work

Malaby 2006

the standard folk theory

play workvoluntary involuntary

inconsequential consequentialautotelic instrumental

unregulated preregulated

“fun” not “fun”

Malaby 2006

»First and foremost, all play is a voluntary activity.«

homo ludens (1938/1950: 7)Johan Huizinga

»There is also no doubt that play must be defined as a free and voluntary activity […]. A game which one would be forced to play would at once cease being play.«

roger cailloisman, play, and games (1958/2001: 6)

Goldfarming

“play”voluntary

inconsequentialautotelic

unregulated

“fun” ?

professional (e-)sports

voluntaryinconsequential

autotelicunregulated

“fun” ?

?“play”

instrumental playvoluntary

inconsequentialautotelic

unregulated

“fun” ?

?“play”

serious games in school

voluntaryinconsequential

autotelicunregulated

“fun” ?

?“play”

gamification at work

voluntaryinconsequential

autotelicunregulated

“fun” ?

?“play”

work experienced as play

work experienced as play

work experienced as play

“work”involuntary

consequentialinstrumentalpreregulated

not “fun”

play behaviours at work

“work”involuntary

consequentialinstrumentalpreregulated

not “fun”

???

»As Stevens [in Work and Play: A False Dichotomy?] recognized, we cannot empirically sustain “play” as a label ... By rejecting play as a supercategory of activity for games, we free the game concept for rethinking, and that is the aim here.«

thomas malabybeyond play: a new approach to games (2006: 102)

»Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is it not a game if social pressure forces the players to play? Because human motivation is too complex to be explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary, I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully describe whether games are voluntary or not.«

jesper juulhalf-real (2005: 31–3)

in other words: stay inside the box!

but this doesn’t go away

What is this? play? work? Something else?

how do we (as researchers and everyday people) make sense of this?

<2> perspective &

method

perspective: socio-material constructivism

from essences to construction processes

What is a nation?

What is crime?

How and from what is “nation” made and stabilised?How and from what is “crime” made and stabilised?

What is play?How and from what is “play” made and stabilised?

method: Qualitative episodic interviews

• Semi-structured episodic interviews, 90-120 min. length • 19 interviewees gaming in presumed high-voluntariness “play”

contexts and presumed-low voluntariness “work” contexts: game journalism, game design, game research, e-sports

• Interviewees invited to narrate experiences of high/low autonomy, voluntariness, choice, consequence; then compare contexts and situations

• Coding and analysis of transcribed interviews with MAXQDA following grounded theory

Corbin & Strauss 2008, Flick 2008

organising questions

1. How is “voluntariness” practically accomplished in“play” versus “work-like play” situations?

2.How are “play” situations practically accomplished?

3. How do “voluntariness” and “play” relate?

<3> accomplishing

“voluntariness”

»Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is it not a game if social pressure forces the players to play? Because human motivation is too complex to be explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary, I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully describe whether games are voluntary or not.«

jesper juulhalf-real (2005: 31–3)

Edward Deci, Richard Ryan

»To be autonomous means to behave with a sense of volition, willingness, and congruence; it means to fully endorse and concur with the behavior one is engaged in.«

motivation, personality, and development (2012: 85)

autonomy in self-determination theory

• Action is energised and directed by three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness

• All motives range from controlled to autonomous • We are energised by multiple motives at once; sum determines

overall autonomy experience -> autonomy need satisfaction

Ryan & Deci 2002, Deci & Ryan 2012

spectrum of motives

Deci & Ryan 2012

Perc

eive

d ex

tern

al

locu

s of

cau

salit

y Perceived internal locus of causality

External extrinsic

introjected extrinsic

internalised extrinsic

integrated extrinsic

intrinsic

overall controlled: sense of “having to”,

pressure, coercion

overall autonomous: sense of “wanting to”,

ease, enjoyment

autonomy experience is part of game enjoymentDeen 2015, Przybylski et al. 2012, Rigby & Ryan 2011, Sheldon & Filak 2008

game design supports autonomy experience

• Meaningful choice in goals, strategies, actions

• Customisation

• Open explorable worlds

• Ability to create and inhabit “ideal self”

Deen 2015, Przybylski et al. 2012, Rigby & Ryan 2011, Sheldon & Filak 2008, Turkay 2013, Weinstein et al. 2009

Su & Reeve 2011

context supports/thwarts autonomy in school etc.

Lopez 2011, cf. Heeter et al. 2011, Mollick & Rothbard 2013

first evidence that contexts matters: but how?

#1

norm of autonomous/intrinsic enjoyment

»Because that has a different meaning for me, that- if I play in that moment, then I would have fun with this thing.«

»[In WoW] I said at a certain point, that I don’t want to partake regularly in battles. And when […] I say: <<I don’t want this to become an obligation for me>>, then I am representing in that situation the position, then it’s no longer play, and they represent the position: <<Why? It’s fun>> ((laughs)). Then the definitions are different.«

#1

norm of autonomous/intrinsic enjoyment

#2

license to reconfigure & leave situation

»Apart from Counterstrike I would never play any game when I don’t want to. [...] When Diablo 3 comes out, I will really want to play it, so I will play it very much. But if I don’t want to play it […] then I will not play it«

»At the office, [...] I have to focus on the game analytically, and not say, I let myself go and play the whole day, and at the end no results. That would be inappropriate.«

»When I in principle have no time limit, that is, when I can say, I can play until I say: <<I don’t want to anymore.>> No appointments and no obligations, both inside the game and outside of the game, then I find, that’s an experience of freedom.«

#2

license to reconfigure & leave situation

#3

relaxed spatiotemporal field

Interviewer: »So that’s the usual process, that you, that you pick a day, and then on that day start in the afternoon and stop in the evening? Interviewee: »If it is that way and I can focus on the afternoon, then I also plan it like that, such that I have finished everything until then, until that point, that could make me go to the door or interrupt the game.«

»in my private rooms, then I can show any emotion, because there would be nothing inappropriate in doing so, because I wouldn’t offend anyone with it«

[With a Nintendo DS] I am then mostly in a public surrounding, loud screaming or throwing that thing in the corner are not an option. Although you would really want to do it, you have to restrain yourself a bit there and, let’s put it this way, appear a bit more suited for public.«

relaxed spatiotemporal field

#3

#4

minimised socio-material consequence

»[When money is involved] there's the pressure that you have to win. Of course, everybody who plays wants to win somehow. […] Bu::t when it's about money, that's a real thing, and that you have to work hard for. That wouldn't have a playful character for me then.«

»when you fail and know: <<I can’t write the review tomorrow>>, because you actually haven’t reached these and these things, [...] the consequence then means for instance, that you have to get up in the morning two hours early to start the game again. And that can be incredibly infuriating.«

minimised socio-material consequence

#4

»I need to be very routinized; I mustn’t let myself drift.« »I hammer it through.« »Often, you have to force yourself to do it.« »You’re under real pressure.«

»My friends usually cannot comprehend how stressful this is.«

play lacking these features feels (self-)controlling

#5

»Especially with WoW you somehow had [...] a social coercion behind it. Because as I said, this reputation and then also the social contexts that you maintained through it. Or found there. [...Y]ou don’t feel like training in the evening, or something, and you still go there. Because you feel socially obliged somehow.«

»[When playing with friends not alone] the considerateness for the friends dominates, for the people with whom I’m sitting there. So then it’s less the case, that I focus on the game and say: <<I am now, now I am free and can determine this.>> Instead it’s also more about me being the host, and being a guest of somebody and still take regard of that.«

in leisure play, this is driven by regard for others

#5a

private solitary play is highly autonomous play

#5b

autonomy construal is a meta-process

Activity becomes controlled when afforded choices mismatch spontaneous interests and perceived-controlling motives keep us from changing or leaving the situation

#6

»In::: 95 percent of the cases no. It's still a hobby. You- it's still a passion. You enjoy playing it, also because something like:: a professional level comes in, money and you get around and you get to know new people. That's nice, no question. And those remaining five percent, those are the percentages where you say: <<Hm, not training again from seven to ten pm? Now I could have gone to the movies with my girlfriend.>> For example. Where you would say: <<I so would have wanted to go with her to the movies. Damn, damn, damn. Why do I have to train now?>>«

#6

autonomy construal is a meta-process

Intrinsically motivated gameplay

License to (dis)engage & configure situation

Minimized social and material consequence

Salientautonomous motives

Salient controlled motives

++

+

–

–

Construal of action as autonomous

+–

Temporal field cleared from outer demands

Spatial field shielded from public observers

+

Self-regulation of attention & emotion

display

Autonomy need satisfaction

+

+–

Spatial field cleared from distraction

–

+

–

<4> accomplishing

“play”

»Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is it not a game if social pressure forces the players to play? Because human motivation is too complex to be explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary, I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully describe whether games are voluntary or not.«

jesper juulhalf-real (2005: 31–3)

»Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is it not a game if social pressure forces the players to play? Because human motivation is too complex to be explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary, I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully describe whether games are voluntary or not.«

jesper juulhalf-real (2005: 31–3)

»There is also no doubt that play must be defined as a free and voluntary activity […]. A game which one would be forced to play would at once cease being play.«

roger cailloisman, play, and games (1958/2001: 6)

»There is also no doubt that play must be defined as a free and voluntary activity […]. A game which one would be forced to play would at once cease being play.«

roger cailloisman, play, and games (1958/2001: 6)

»First and foremost, all play is a voluntary activity.«

homo ludens (1938/1950: 7)Johan Huizinga

a basic distinction

object activityGame Gaming

Toy PlayingTool Workingetc. etc.

we play with many objects

we engage games in many ways

debugging

playtesting/reviewing

making a machinima

testing screen resolution

a scientific study

learning (serious games)

sports (e-sports)

work (goldfarming)

http://cameracraniums.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10041/Mark_juggling_a_chainsaw.jpg

objects afford activities …

http://cameracraniums.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10041/Mark_juggling_a_chainsaw.jpg

… but activities can redefine objects

so how to make ‘x’ into a certain type of activity?

»I assume that when individuals attend to any current situation, they face the question: What is it that’s going on here?«

erving goffmanframe analysis (1986: 8)

A frame is »the definition of a situation«: »principles of organization which govern events ... and our subjective involvement in them.«

erving goffmanframe analysis (1986: 10-11)

key tenets of frame analysis

• Frames are socially shared organisational principles for types of situations

• Frames organise situations epistemically (how we experience, interpret, expect X), normatively (how we demand and sanction X to be), and practically (how we structure matter and practice)

• Framing is the process by which co-present actors constitute a situation as the instantiation of a frame through material configuration, routine performance, meta-communication

Goffman 1986, Deterding 2014

70

»playing« is a multitude

Deterding 2014

»When I’m playing reviewingly … I am somehow taking part cognitively in a different way. That means, beforehand I’m already in this mood: <<Okay, I do, I work now, and I try to grasp intellectually what is going on here now.>> And in a normal non-reviewing gaming situation exactly that is a great advantage for me, that I don’t try to grasp things intellectually, but instead let myself be drifted by the sensual impressions«

people distinguish and label different keys

»And if for instance there is only fooling around, then I also have said, Hey guys, pull yourself together now, we have the chance to get the title on the weekend. This here is no fun or so, this is, we want to get the title! Now into training, pull yourself together.« »I would recognise [review play] after ten minutes at most, because up to now really all video game journalists I have observed reviewing have a notepad with them and take notes in an interval of, I don’t know, ten minutes, quarter of an hours, about something they have seen.« »When I play for the job, then it’s this goal-oriented. So there I wouldn’t play if I could get directly to the point I want to get to. The activity of playing is more purely utilitarian, or a necessary evil. Yes perhaps also to ruin the game with walkthroughs, save games, or cheat codes.«

keys have different norms, setups, practices

Keyings are »conventions by which a given activity, ... meaningful in terms of some primary framework, is transformed into something patterned on this activity but seen by the participants to be something quite else.«

erving goffmanframe analysis (1986: 43-44)

http://cameracraniums.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10041/Mark_juggling_a_chainsaw.jpg

e.g., a rehearsal

a second distinction

frame keyingas workas play

etc.

PlayingWorking

etc.

<5> relating

“voluntariness” and “play”

mark twain

»If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.«

the adventures of tom sawyer (1876)

»It’s still a game as such, and defined as such, but I would not say that *I* play it at that moment, because that has a different meaning for me.«

»sometimes you just have to play, you have to get further, no matter whether you want to or not. And then, then that is, then playing is indeed work.«

»Whenever you’re forced to do something, then in becomes more work.«

»Then it feels like working, […] <<I have to do this now. Do it as productively and quickly as possible.>>«

autonomy experience drives ‘work’/‘play’ labelling

framing/keying as work/play

(in)congruenceautonomy expectations

autonomy affordances

autonomy experience

<6> conclusions

Accomplishing autonomy

• Autonomy can replace the conceptual muddle of “voluntary”, “free”, “autotelic”, “inconsequential” with a causal model and established constructs

• Game design affords autonomy through meaningful choice; open worlds

• Leisurely play contexts afford autonomy through license to configure and leave situation, relaxed field, minimised consequence

• Obligations to others can make leisurely play controlling

accomplishing play

• Everyday people distinguish objects (games), frames (playing), and keys (reviewing play) in their lived experience and practice

• Leisurely play can be experienced as controlling, play-as-work as autonomous; autonomy experiences drive people’s labelling of an activity as ‘work’, ‘play’, ‘feels like work’, etc.

• Distinguishing objects, frames, and keys and understanding them as practical accomplishments solves the theoretical issues posed by goldfarming, e-sports, play experiences at work, etc.

• Framing drives autonomy expectations and affordances; autonomy experience partakes in (dis)confirming framings

Fun Voluntarygames

Fun Voluntary

autonomy Fun, play

games

how to support autonomy in gamified work?

how to make serious games in school playful?

outside this design box

outside this theoretical box

outside this methodological box

sebastian@codingconduct.cc

@dingstweets

codingconduct.cc

thank you.

“play” is like “sex/gender”

Burghardt 2005; Henricks 2015

overformed by

natural categories found beyond human culture

social categories made in human culture

»Alle Spel is allereerst en bovenal een vrije handeling«

Johan Huizingahomo ludens (1950: 36)

»Il n’y a pas de doute que le jeu ne doive être défini comme une activité libre et volontaire, source de joie et d’amusement. Un jeu auquel on se trouverait forcé de participer cesserait aussitôt d’être un jeu.«

roger cailloisles jeux et les hommes (1967: 36)