An avatar is “an interactive, social representation of a user” (Meadows, 2008, p. 23) in a digital environment. Although avatars broadly include textual screen names or social network profiles, we specifically discuss here the two- or three-dimensional graphic
bodies representing players in online games. These bodies are at least partially controlled by players as they engage a game – in movement, gesturing, communicating, and acting in/on the world – and these interactions constitute a multimodal gaming
literacy that is central to play (Gee, 2004).
From toy and tool to partner and person: Phenomenal convergence/divergence among game avatar metaphors
1. Jaime Banks
@amperjay
Nicholas David Bowman
@bowmanspartan
West Virginia University, USA
@wvucommstudies
#ixlab
From toy and tool
to partner and person:
Phenomenal
convergence/
divergence among
game avatar
metaphors
2. Avatars
• Graphical user representations
• Carriers of meaning/agency
• Participants in varied
relations with players
• Mediators of phenomenal
gameplay
3. Metaphorical characterizations
Examples:
• “The uncanny aspect of the relationship between player and
avatar is heightened by the use of them as vehicles through a
3D game space ….” (Carr, 2002).
• “The same is true for users of avatars – the effects of donning
their “virtual costumes” are enhanced by deindividuation and
the reactions of others (Merola & Peña, 2010).
• “… while in the avatar-supported medium, anonymity can be
further increased by ‘wearing a mask’ to confuse or distract the
recipient about one’s identity” (Balanxhi & Nah, 2007).
• “Self-differentiation was revealed in … stories of avatars’
existence as whole, independent personalities in the
gameworld” (Banks, 2015).
4. Metaphorical characterizations
• Utility
• Addressing nuances in avatar use, perception
• Making unfamiliar experiences accessible
• Problems
• “Metaphor sprawl” inhibits synthesis of new knowledge within
existing frameworks
(cumulative/static developments not progressive/dynamic)
• Often analytical artifacts rather than phenomenologically valid
characterizations
6. Research questions …
• RQ1: Can avatar metaphors be meaningfully situated
within the sociality continuum?
• RQ2: Can avatar metaphors be collapsed into a
parsimonious model for metaphorically
characterizing player-avatar sociality?
7. Method …
• MMO-related gaming forums and FB groups
(general and game-specific)
• Online survey re: self-selected ‘favorite’ MMO avatar
• One-item sociality measure:
I connect with that avatar as I connect with other humans.
(M = 3.81, SD = 2.89)
• 26 avatar metaphors, 10-point Likert scale,
not at all/very accurate ratings:
How well do each of the following words describe how
you see this avatar?
• Analysis
• RQ1: Correlations between sociality and metaphor ratings
• RQ2: EFA of metaphor ratings
8. Participants …
• N = 501
• 31.5% female
• Age M = ~30,
ranging 18-69
• International sample
(33 countries)
• Diverse MMOs
(39 games)
10. Discussion …
• Theoretically divergent characterizations are
sometimes empirically convergent
• PAR typology may be useful for synthesizing
existing scholarship using different
characterizations, as function of sociality
• In analysis, pair generalizable ‘meta-metaphors’
with more nuanced metaphors for breadth and
depth
Jaime talks about common definition, shifting to Nick to discuss his PP lens…
The functions of avatars have been characterized in many ways, often through metaphors ...
We use these as a sort of shorthand for how we perceive and use avatars
Explain as significant negative and positive correlations … plus those in the middle – not that they aren’t meaningful, just that the didn’t correlate with a human-like sociality (which makes sense because they are all very FUNCTIONAL metaphors).
RQ1 – Yes they be can meaningfully situated within the sociality continuum?
EFA, Varimax .600/.400 loading thresholds, converged in three rotations, ~63% variance two-factor solution with weak third factor. ‘Meta Metaphors’; here, not that they aren’t related to human-like sociality but unrelated to other metaphors.
RQ2: - Yes, they can be collapsed into a parsimonious model for metaphorically characterizing player-avatar sociality? Conveniently enough, the clusters can be interpreted through the PAR typology laid out in Banks, 2015. Av as object, av as me, and av as other