1. Multi-tasking while playing computer games Gretchen Ortiz MS HCI-Psychology Celia Pearce, Ph.D. Director of Experimental Game Lab LCC

2. Avid computer gamer. Past projects related to MMORPG’s and virtual worlds. Started to use Alt+tab command in many games without thinking about the HCI implications. Until one night… BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Background

3. Computer games Designed with the computer users in mind Console games Designed with console users in mind Hybrid games Designed with both types of users in mind, now that computers and consoles are closing the gap Mobile games Designed for the cell phone user in mind Different types of games } BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications

4. When computer games are designed for console users. The computer user has a machine that does a lot more than play games. Designers make the assumption that all users want to be immerse inside the game and do nothing else. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Conflict arises

5. Participant observation and interviews inside an MMORPG called Maple Story Global 2D side scrolling MMORPG Anime Style Graphics Population: 12-35 years of age. Very popular among teenagers and college students. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Research

6. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Maple Story

7. Started the participant observation without having a clear focus on the topic. Once I started to keep journal entries it was clear that many players were AFK (away from keyboard) and frequently use the Alt+tab command. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Participant observation

8. “Today I did party quests (group missions) and it’s mind- boggling how many players rush to the top boxes on stage 8 just to be able to Alt+tab properly. Some will have the courtesy to let you know and others will just do it without notifying the group”. “We were all there waiting for him to respond so that the group could go on with the mission. After two minutes, he says: ‘Sorry I was on AIM’”. “Today I played while using the messenger (IM), which is kind of hard if you don’t want to get killed. I wanted to level up (my character) while also chatting with one of my best friends using the messenger”. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Journal entries

9. 20 inside the game interviews Participants were between 18-35 years of age 10 conducted in Spanish/10 conducted in English 14 male / 6 female All of them have been playing the game for more than 5 months BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Interviews

10. AFK Away from Keyboard. The users are taking their attention away from the game. Not necessarily away from the computer. Alt+tab (Ctrl+Atl+Del) commands for switching to another computer application. Multi-tasking the attention of the users is split between the game and something else. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Analysis

11. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Analysis How many times do players AFK in a one hour game session?

12. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Analysis What players do when they AFK? 10/20 said they usually stayed in their computers 5/20 said sometimes they watched TV 5/20 said sometimes they have to answer the phone 11/20 said they had to go somewhere away from their computer

13. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Analysis What are players doing when they stay in their computers? IM Music Player Other Internet

14. How do players switch from the game to another computer application? BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Analysis

15. Maple Story is an example of a computer game that is designed for console users. Full screen mode Only seamless way to interact with other computer applications is by quitting the game Assumption that the players want to focus on the game and nothing else BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Evaluation

16. Maple Story is an example of a computer game that is designed for console users. Some players are even using other software to help them multi-task more efficiently. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Evaluation

17. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Evaluation Quote from an Internet article : “Plus, now I can play Maple Story while serving files with Subversion. And that’s nice and geeky “.

18. Design computer games for computer users and their needs. Do not rely on users expertise. Do not rely on third party software to solve the problems. Computer games should have seamless way in which to set up the game on window mode if desired. BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications

19. Research to know if this kind of behavior is also present in other computer games Issues with population: Could it be that younger players are multi- tasking more than mature players? Could it be that female players are multi- tasking more than male players? BackgroundResearchAnalysisEvaluationImplications Future Work

20. Thank you