EMOTIONS ENGINEERING
Influencing Emotions Task
For this task, in a group of 2 we are required to play a game we have never played before. Then based on Yerkes-Dodson Law as well as Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model, we are to evaluate how the game improves or damages performance, and whether it created a state of flow. For this task, the game that we decided to play is the recently released Overwatch 2.
Game Background
Overwatch 2 is a sequel to Overwatch, a team-based multiplayer first-person hero shooter. Overwatch 2 at its core is the same as the original Overwatch, however, it is now free, (only the Player vs Player mode (PvP) is free, not the newly introduced Player vs Environment mode (PvE)).
For the new game, the developer, Blizzard Entertainment, did provide some major changes as well as added new content such as new Heroes - a terminology for characters they use in-game, new maps, new game modes, a new user interface for the game, etc.
Characters and Storyline
The heroes in Overwatch 2 are diverse in design, they have different nationalities (which are based on real-life countries) and this is reflected in the way they dress and the way they talk. The heroes also have a unique relationship with each other, some are family, some are rivals, some are mentors and students, and some are colleagues in a research organization.
As for the storyline, there is no story to follow in the PvP mode, although there are some character interactions that hint at their character lore. The only way to consume the story is through watching the cinematic, reading the lore, or playing the PvE mode.
Gameplay
There are multiple modes in Overwatch 2. However, we only played the Open Queue game mode, where players can play as any Heroes. Open Queue puts 2 teams of 5 players against one another in various game modes with unique objectives, such as Assault, Escort, Control, and the newly introduced Push. Players have to work together with their team to achieve victory!
When starting a game, players will have to wait to be paired up with other players to play with and against in the game lobby. Once a match is found, a random game mode will be chosen. Players then choose which Hero to play as. While teammates cannot choose the same heroes, the opposing team can consist of the same Heroes as the other team. Heroes have unique sets of abilities which affect the game in various ways. With different team combinations, there can be no two same gameplay experiences.
Heroes are divided into 3 classes or categories - Tank, Damage and Support. Tanks are the team’s frontline, able to soak damages from the enemy and protect their teammates from harm. Damage heroes specializes in combat and eliminating the opponent. Supports keep their team alive by healing and providing them with buffs.
Yerkes-Dodson Law
The Yerkes-Dodson Law states that performance and arousal level are empirically related. The arousal level produced by a particular task may increase or decrease one’s performance.
The theory explains that people perform the best when they have moderate arousal levels. In contrast, high arousal level causes anxiety, resulting in performance decline. The same can be said about low arousal level, which causes boredom.
In Overwatch 2, the arousal level floats between moderate and high. Playing against other human players gives a sense of competitiveness. The feeling of not wanting to win against other people and also the responsibility to not be a burden on teammates makes us pay more attention and focus and the game, preventing boredom. In some cases, stress may accumulate too much throughout multiple matches due to the reasons above. This results in anxiety or high level of arousal, thus decreasing performance. The same situation can also occur when playing other competitive games.
The game is also more casual than other competitive games, as mistakes are not as punishing. Dying is a normal occurrence because players can respawn after a short duration and do not reward the enemies other than less people to deal with. Players also have infinite ammo reserve and relatively fast cooldowns on abilities so missing some is fine. Finally, the TTK (or time to kill) is long, meaning you often cannot get instantly killed when encountering an enemy. All of this keeps players from getting frustrated and cause anxiety, increasing their arousal level.
In contrast, as the game session gets longer, arousal may decrease. This is due to the repetitive format of the game which can cause boredom. This then leads to a drop in motivation in trying to perform in a match thus, damages overall performance.
Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Model
Csikszentmihalyi's flow model talks about a state of total focus that people have when doing an activity. The state of flow usually occurs at the boundary between boredom and anxiety and it requires a balance of challenge of the activity as well as the skill to do it. If the challenge is too high there will be anxiety, and if there is no challenge there will be boredom.
As for Overwatch 2 since it implements skill-based matchmaking or in short SBMM (a system which matches players with another player of similar skill), the first few matches will usually be easy as the system will match us with other beginner players, therefore, the match will feel boring and thus the state of flow is not yet achieved.
After a few more matches, and when the SBMM system has found where our skill level is currently at, only then we will be matched will other players with a skill level similar to ours or sometimes even higher. At this stage, the player's skill level matched the challenge of the game and thus a state of flow is achieved. The more we play with players of similar or higher skill, the more we will learn from them and our skills will improve. To prevent the game from becoming boring in the long term, the system will match us with other players with higher skill levels. Because of this, players need to learn to adapt to different situations. For example, players cannot use the same tactics for different team compositions. Some heroes are good against specific heroes but can be countered just as easily.
In summary, while playing Overwatch 2, we are most of the time in a state of flow, though there are times when we feel slight anxiety when faced with a highly skilled player and slight boredom when facing players of lower skill levels.
