Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2017, American Culture Studies

Forum-based role-playing games are a rich, yet barely researched subset of textbased digital gaming. They are a form of storytelling where narratives are created through acts of play by multiple people in an online space, combining collaboration and improvisation. This dissertation acts as a pilot study for exploring these games in their full complexity at the intersection of play, narrative, and fandom. Building on theories of interactivity, digital storytelling, and fan fiction studies, it highlights forum games' most unique features, and proves that they are is in no way liminal or secondary to more popular forms of role-playing. The research is based on data drawn from a large sample of forums of various genres. One hundred sites were explored through close textual analysis in order to outline their most common features. The second phase of the project consisted of nine months of participant observation on select forums, in order to gain a better understanding of how their rules and practices influence the emergent narratives. Participants from various sites contributed their own interpretations of forum gaming through a series of ethnographic interviews. This did not only allow agency to the observed communities to voice their thoughts and explain their practices, but also spoke directly to the key research question of why people are drawn to forum gaming. The main drawing power of forum games is their focus on creative, collaborative writing. Players interested in writing with others in a playful setting, and engaging with their favorite popular culture texts through composition, are drawn to these sites because of the narrative freedom they offer compared to other gaming platforms. In addition, their narratives born from play are consciously, intentionally, and enthusiastically multimodal. Multimodality offers a wide range of creative opportunities for telling stories in a digital space, and it also has connections to older, oral forms of (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kristine Blair Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); Radhika Gajjala Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); Jeremy Wallach Dr. (Committee Member); Lisa Gruenhagen Dr. (Other) Subjects: Composition

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Career and Technology Education/Technology

New generations of learners who have grown up in a digital age have made it difficult for educators to keep students engaged in the classroom. Video games are one solution to the problem of engaging and motivating students. This study looks at current popular social video games, as well as alternate reality games, and the elements that these games possess that foster engagement in players. The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze gaming characteristics to determine how certain game characteristics could be effectively incorporated into a introductory digital photography course curriculum to create more motivation in class critiques and discussion. A framework based on Tom Chatfield's TED Talk "7 Ways Games Reward the Brain" was used to develop a gaming model that could be applied to an Introductory Digital Photography course at Bowling Green State University. This model was reviewed by members of an expert panel through a process of alpha and beta reviews. Recommendations of the expert panel were taken into consideration for the development of the final model. The study concluded that many tools and applications are available to assist instructors in creating personalized and engaging learning environments, but much work would still be required to develop and implement gaming elements into a course curriculum. As new tools and technology become available, the integration of such a model may become less cumbersome and more common among educational environments.

Committee: Terry Herman PhD (Advisor); Larry Hatch PhD (Committee Member); Anthony Fontana MFA (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Technology; Higher Education; Instructional Design; Multimedia Communications; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, English

More Than Reading: Narrative, Medial Frames, and Digital Media in the Contemporary Novel explores the narrative effects of medial experimentation in contemporary American and British novels. This project argues that the production and reception of many recent novels are influenced by a range of forms and practices common in digital media, and that these influences have a profound impact on contemporary storytelling techniques. Through analyses of novels by Kate Atkinson, Salvador Plascencia, Steve Tomasula, and Mark Z. Danielewski, I consider how (sometimes subtle) shifts in authors' use of media is changing the way that the novel form operates, reflecting audiences' familiarity with new media even as the novel remains a vital literary form in the twenty-first century. In order to study these issues, I introduce the new analytical category of the medial frame, a particular type of social frame used to identify and describe the conventionalized rules and expectations that readers apply to specific uses of media. Medial frames, developed from a diverse set of linguistic and phenomenological approaches, are defined as social contexts that pair technological materials with the wealth of conventions that govern how those materials are used as part of communicative acts. Medial frames can be employed as interpretive tools to analyze how a text's use of medial technologies (e.g., printed text, images and color, page layout, paratextual materials) prompts audiences to apply certain reception practices over others. I show how medial frames are particularly suited to examining the complex medial environment of twenty-first-century storytelling, in which creators often use a diversity of technologies to communicate with audiences. The print novels of this era ask readers to adopt surprising medial frames, such that persuasive interpretations of these texts are only available to those who are prepared (whether implicitly or self-consciously) to adopt and adapt digital and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian McHale (Committee Co-Chair); Jared Gardner (Committee Member); James Phelan (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Comparative Literature; Literature; Modern Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Popular Culture

Retro video game collecting has seen an increase in popularity in the recent decade, however, with the increase in popularity of digital gaming and digital media the retro video game collectors are an endangered subculture of the video gaming industry due to the increase in digital gaming and the disappearance of the physical commodity. This research takes an autoethnographic approach and uses theories such as, Pierre Bourdieu's theories regarding capital and the field, Karl Marx's theory of commodity, and Ray Oldenburg's theory of the Third Place to explain the importance of this subculture and why retro video game collecting is worth researching.

Committee: Kristen Rudisill Ph.D (Committee Chair); Jeremy Wallach Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Epistemology

Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2022, Art

This research project outlines the mental health benefits of art-making and establishes exposure to artistic domains as essential to the art-making process. Understanding the role of intent in behavioral change established the need for external motivators, such as gamification, in the adoption of new habits. Pokemon Go players in Cincinnati, Ohio were studied to understand the relationship between virtual gameplay and physical spaces. Feminist geography and the principles of meaningful gamification informed the design solution, a location-based augmented reality game (LARG) that utilizes artwork by women as elements of gameplay to mitigate patterns of underrepresentation in the arts. The research showed that a LARG would not only increase engagement for those new to the arts but also for those already engaged by providing a new perspective on familiar experiences; travel between locations of gameplay also offers an additional landscape for cultivating meaningful engagement.

Committee: Zack Tucker (Advisor); Willie Caldwell (Committee Member); Eric Hodgson (Committee Member) Subjects: Arts Management; Fine Arts; Gender

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2021, Communication

This study used semi-structured interviews to examine how players chose to customize their avatars in social video games. Thematic coding of 28 interviews revealed the common threads with which players create and maintain or update their avatars over time in many different game worlds. The effects of different toolsets that players use to construct these avatars is examined, along with the special role that players assign to the gender of their avatars. The behavioral effects of avatars are briefly explored, along with the way players regard the relationship between themselves and their avatars.

Committee: Teresa Lynch Dr. (Committee Member); Jesse Fox Dr. (Advisor) Subjects: Communication

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2018, Art History (Fine Arts)

This research's intention is to define and classify what art games are and how these three particular games rely on the audience to activate the artworks, thus making the audience's interactions essential to complete the artworks. Technology has always impacted the art world and shaped the media that artists experiment with and use. Today, there are many artists who use games as their method for conveying their ideas and messages. This paper will examine how three artists use gaming structures to critique historical and social topics through the audience's interactions with the artworks' gaming structures. The three case studies about Pippin Barr's The Artist is Present, Tale of Tales' The Path and Wafaa Bilal's performance Domestic Tension will examine how these artworks exemplify and use the elements of the particular genre of games, art games. Through looking at research done on digital space and the case studies this paper will address how these artworks create a shift from the focus of the artwork being on the creator or artist to how the interactions and performance of the audience complete the works.

Committee: Jennie Klein (Advisor); Mark Franz (Committee Member); Lee Marion (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History

Bachelor of Science of Media Arts and Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2017, Media Arts and Studies

MOLOCH is a game about internal struggles between passive content consent and critical views in systems where digging deeper can lead to darker truths. A top-down 3D game with simple directional movement puzzles, MOLOCH places us behind a desk as a shift manager in a dystopian company. Throughout the game, the player will be confronted with the binary of efficiency vs morality. The game encourages us to increasingly hurry our managed workers, but is the company's goal and corporate approval worth the amoral work we force? Are we ok with the system's tactics aimed at keeping us complacent? MOLOCH takes inspiration from Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis and from the German Expressionism art movement at-large. Increasing anxiety over the networked world's discordant relationships between humanity and the physical world and the rise of social inauthenticity and near endemic individual alienation highlight the intentions of MOLOCH (Klaas, 2016). Adapting a rich history of prior art is critical to the tonal and thematic success of MOLOCH. David Freeman, designer and writer, states that one of the keys to creating a rich world is through adding history (Freeman, 2003). Adding backstory to MOLOCH through ancillary materials, and injecting the sentiments of Metropolis facilitates a rich history. The precise adaptation necessary for analytical success spans visual and audial assets as well; without proper signifiers the tone of the game will be lost due to a lack of thematic cohesion. This aspect will be accomplished through continual examination and inspiration of prior art.

Committee: Novak Beth (Advisor) Subjects: Communication; Film Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2015, Curriculum and Instruction

The proliferation of online simulation games across the globe in many different languages offers Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) researchers an opportunity to examine how language learning occurs in such virtual environments. While there has recently been an increase in the number of exploratory studies involving learning experiences of predominantly English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) participants in these environments, the context of a Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) classrooms has rarely been examined. To address this, this study investigates a Second Language Acquisition-theory driven instantiation of CALL within the context of a JFL classroom. Through a mixed-method case study approach, participants' natural acquisition of Japanese in a 3D virtual environment was examined. Data detailing participants' communicative capacities in several modalities were collected, as were their attitudes toward participation in a massively multiplayer online (MMO)-based virtual world of Tokyo. In the present study, eight sources of data from eleven university-level JFL students (n=11) were collected and analyzed to evaluate the learning outcomes from an integrative CALL framework (Warschauer, 2004; Yamazaki, 2014). Based on both interpretative and statistical analyses of data, the major finding of the present study was that the participants, when immersed in the 3D virtual world of Tokyo, acquired contextualized communicative competence. More specifically, quantitative analyses revealed statistically significant improvement in the participants' acquisition of incidentally encountered vocabulary, in particular, kanji pronunciation and vocabulary interpretation. Qualitative analyses revealed participants' acquisition of various communicative competencies specific to the context, including persuasive talk, concept of audience, collaborative communication, and colloquial expressions. Data from a post-hoc reflection survey provided strong evidence (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Susanna Hapgood (Committee Chair); Leigh Chiarelott (Committee Member); Douglas Coleman (Committee Member); Florian Feucht (Committee Member) Subjects: Curricula; Curriculum Development; Educational Technology; Instructional Design; Language

Master of Applied Communication Theory and Methodology, Cleveland State University, 2013, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current critical climate in popular online video game reviews (i.e., video game criticism written for a general audience). So far, most of the research published in this area focuses on how the reviews reflect the games themselves, rather than strictly examining the content of the reviews in this growing body of literature. This study uses computer-aided text analysis (CATA) supplemented with human coding to identify typological differences between film and video game reviews, as well as differences in theory usage and critical thought and style. Video game reviews are more concerned with the price of the work being reviewed, supporting the notion for a utility theory of video games. Game reviewers also tend to find redeeming qualities even in very flawed games, suggesting they are either overly passionate and/or concerned about keeping advertisers happy. Although not at the exceedingly high levels as previous studies, the author finds support for using usability heuristics (e.g., responsiveness of controls, use of in-game tutorials) to review games. Neither body of popular criticism examined delves deeply into theoretical frameworks for auteur or feminist theories, but discussion is provided as to how the reviewers could address these issues should they choose to do so.

Committee: Kimberly Neuendorf PhD (Committee Chair); Bob Abelman PhD (Committee Member); Anup Kumar PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Mass Media

Bachelor of Science (BS), Ohio University, 2010, Media Arts and Studies

Due to their unique capability to be altered by those experiencing them, games have the potential to tell a more immersive story and evoke a stronger emotional response than traditional entertainment media. Moreover, it is in the nature of open world games to facilitate the most personal and immersive gameplay and narrative experience. Admittedly, sacrifices have to be made on both sides in order for the best match of gameplay and narrative to be found. By studying the shortcomings of other sandbox games, and carefully balancing modular developer controlled content with player freedom, or at least the appearance of player freedom, this potential can be attained.

Committee: Beth Novak (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2010, Mass Communication (Communication)

This dissertation draws on feminist theory – specifically, performance and performativity – to explore how digital game players construct the game experience and social play. Scholarship in game studies has established the formal aspects of a game as being a combination of its rules and the fiction or narrative that contextualizes those rules. The question remains, how do the ways people play games influence what makes up a game, and how those players understand themselves as players and as social actors through the gaming experience? Taking a qualitative approach, this study explored players of fighting games: competitive games of one-on-one combat. Specifically, it combined observations at the Evolution fighting game tournament in July, 2009 and in-depth interviews with fighting game enthusiasts. In addition, three groups of college students with varying histories and experiences with games were observed playing both competitive and cooperative games together. The themes and experiences identified at these sites fell into three broad areas: the environment in which games are played, normative ideas about how those games are played, and the ways in which gamers play socially. Beyond the actual computer code of the game, and its story, the play experiences of the gamers in this study involved socializing and exchanging play information via online forums, attendance at social events focused on play, and the creation and maintenance of a very specific way of playing. These paratextual elements extend from social activities to specific, preferred technological interfaces for gameplay. This research argues that a game is defined as much by the ways it is played as by the formal aspects that make it up. Future research is needed to identify if these behaviors are limited to fighting game players or exhibited in other gaming communities, as well as to continue to explore the intersectional construction of identity inside those gaming communities.

Committee: Mia Consalvo PhD (Advisor); Jenny Nelson PhD (Committee Member); Christine Mattley PhD (Committee Member); Bernhard Debatin PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2009, Curriculum and Instruction Instructional Technology (Education)

The quasi-experimental study investigated sixth and eighth graders' perceptions of science with gender, grade levels, and educational experiences as the variables. The Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985) claims that attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control play a major role in people's intentions, and these intentions ultimately impact their behavior. The study adopted a quantitative research approach by conducting a science perceptions survey for examining students' self-efficacy in learning science (i.e., perceived behavioral control), value of science (i.e., attitude toward the behavior), motivation in science (i.e., attitude toward the behavior), and perceptions of digital science games in science classes (i.e., perceived behavioral control). A total of 255 participants' responses from four rural Appalachian middle school science classrooms in southeastern Ohio were analyzed through a three-way ANCOVA factorial pre-test and post-test data analysis with experimental and comparison groups. Additionally, the study applied a semi-structured, in-depth interview as a qualitative research approach to further examine STEAM digital science games' and Fellows' impact on students' perceptions of science. Eight students in the experimental group were interviewed. Interview data were analyzed with an inductive method.The results found in the three-way ANCOVA data analysis indicated that the diversity of educational experiences was a significant factor that impacted sixth and eighth graders' perceptions of science. Additionally, the interaction of gender and educational experiences was another significant factor that impacted sixth and eighth graders' perceptions of science. The findings of the two short-answer questions identified the reasons why the participants liked or disliked science, as well as why the participants would or would not choose a career in science. The conclusions of the semi-structured, in-depth interview suppo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Teresa J. Franklin (Committee Chair); George Johanson (Committee Member); Wayne Huang (Committee Member); Greg Kessler (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Science Education; Technology

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Technology Management

Motivating students to learn is one primary goal of education. The same students that are unmotivated in school are highly motivated to play digital games. However, educational games have not enjoyed the same success as commercial games. An alternative approach to transforming education is to apply the aspect of popular game design into the more traditional existing best practice within the schools. Gamification is the process of integrating digital game attributes into an academic curriculum utilizing things such as levels, challenges and rewards with the goal of increasing student engagement. Thus, designing educational curriculum in the same way that successful games are designed may lead to more effective teaching and learning. This study used a review of literature and experts to create a set of guidelines of digital game attributes and design that can be applied to a more traditional curriculum. One purpose of this guideline was to provide educators with an alternative method of curriculum design and content delivery. The second purpose of this guideline was to provide suggestions for how teachers as to how they might implement digital game elements into an academic setting.

Committee: Terry Herman PhD (Committee Chair); Larry Hatch PhD (Committee Member); Paul Cesarini PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Technology

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2011, American Culture Studies/Communication

Although seen as an emergent area of study, the history of video games shows that the medium has had a longevity that speaks to its status as a major cultural force, not only within American society but also globally. Much of video game production has been influenced by cinema, and perhaps nowhere is this seen more directly than in the topic of games based on movies. Functioning as franchise expansion, spaces for play, and story development, film-to-game translations have been a significant component of video game titles since the early days of the medium. As the technological possibilities of hardware development continued in both the film and video game industries, issues of media convergence and divergence between film and video games have grown in importance. This dissertation looks at the ways that this connection was established and has changed by looking at the relationship between film and video games in terms of economics, aesthetics, and narrative. Beginning in the 1970s, or roughly at the time of the second generation of home gaming consoles, and continuing to the release of the most recent consoles in 2005, it traces major areas of intersection between films and video games by identifying key titles and companies to consider both how and why the prevalence of video games has happened and continues to grow in power. By looking at a wide variety of games – those found in arcades; on home consoles and home computers; for portable devices included dedicated gaming units, cell phones, and other personal digital assistants; and games that exist in other forms, such as those found in web browsers or as bonus features on digital video discs – this dissertation illuminates a complex history that intertwines technological development, economic forces, and aesthetic considerations of visual and narrative design.

Committee: Ronald Shields PhD (Committee Chair); Donald Callen PhD (Committee Member); Lisa Alexander PhD (Committee Member); Margaret Yacobucci PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Cinematography; Communication; Comparative; Film Studies; Mass Media; Motion Pictures; Multimedia Communications

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2009, Career and Technology Education/Technology

This study contains the research, design, and development of a digital game based learning (DGBL) module that incorporated pedagogical elements of energy and transportation technology standards. A sample game prototype on energy efficiency in transportation was created by the researcher and assessed by a panel of subject matter experts. The prototype was focused toward an audience of children attending kindergarten through fifth grade. Based on the assessment by subject matter experts and the collected research, the game prototype accredited DGBL as a viable tool for use in education technology standard benchmarks. Although considered viable, DGBL required special considerations of design and development before the possibility of

Committee: Dr. Terry Herman (Advisor); Dr. Larry Hatch (Committee Member); Dr. Paul Cesarini (Committee Member) Subjects: Design; Education; Educational Software; Educational Theory; Energy; Teaching; Technology

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Career and Technology Education/Technology

The problem of this study was to develop and evaluate an educational role-playing game aimed at the instruction of fourth-grade Ohio State Mathematics Standards. The program Realmcrafter was used to create the virtual environment in the study. For this study, a combination of Educational Research and Development or (R & D) and iterative design was selected for the research design. Educational (R & D) “… consists of a cycle in which a version of the product is developed, field-tested, and revised on the basis of field-test data …” (Borg & Gall, 1983, p. 771). Alternatively, the method of iterative design as detailed in Salen and Zimmerman's Rules of Play Game Design Fundamentals is defined as “… a cyclic process that alternates between prototyping, play testing, evaluation and refinement …” (2004, p. 11). A hybrid of these methods was chosen to supplement the general research model described by Borg and Gall in 1983 for educational product design with the specific techniques for game design found in Salen and Zimmerman (2004). Dickey (2007) states that MMORPGs, “… may be of great relevance in the design of interactive learning environments …” (p. 254) and the bottom line is that the program created in the study can be used by educators to help enhance the learning that goes on in and out of their classrooms. What, in summary, was developed by a teacher practitioner was a prototype mathematics educational game using a simple but powerful gaming engine. The study used the R & D refinements from Borg and Gall (1983). While the R & D process was shorter than in a commercial applications development, its purpose was fulfilled in creating a potentially viable educational gaming prototype.

Committee: Larry Hatch (Advisor) Subjects: