A paper Gameplay Design Patterns for Social Networks and Conflicts by Staffan Björk and me was accepted to The Fifth Annual International Conference in Game Design and Technology (Liverpool, 14–15 Nov, 2007).

Here is the abstract:

This paper explores how games can be designed to make the social networks of characters as part of the gameplay. We start with a premise that game characters and social relations between them are import in games. We examine several games and derive gameplay design patterns from those games. Models from social network analysis, actor-network theory and Egri’s model for dramatic conflict is used to focus the analysis. In addition to isolating design patterns from existing features of the games, we look situations where game structures do not support social networks or conflicts as proposed in above-mentioned theories. Patterns identified include Competing for Attention, Gain Allies, Social Dilemma, Internal Conflict, and Social Maintenance.

Update: I also posted full paper.

This post contains notes and my comments on papers relating to game characters (presented at Situated Play, DiGRA 2007 conference).

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University of Toronto researchers have discovered that differences between men and women on some tasks that require spatial skills are largely eliminated after both groups play a video game for only a few hours. (Elias, 2007)

So study implies that games can help to improve skills from driving to math. There were also a study that gave evidence that surgeons skills can be improved by playing games.