Papers by Lucy Sparrow
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2024
AI is increasingly being used to moderate player behaviour in online multiplayer games, working t... more AI is increasingly being used to moderate player behaviour in online multiplayer games, working to identify and respond to toxic and problematic conduct with greater efficiency and accuracy than existing automated systems. However, little work has explored the application of AI moderation in the gaming ecosystem, despite growing ethical concerns about AI applications in other domains. In this study, we conducted 2 expert workshops and interviewed 26 players and industry professionals on their understandings, perceptions and experiences with AI moderation in multiplayer games. Applying a metaphorical frame via template analysis, we outline four metaphors that capture participants' views on the roles of AI and automation in moderation: the Unreliable Police Force, the Unscrupulous Governor, the Uncaring Judge, and the Untiring Assistant. We discuss these roles as exacerbating a top-down, punitive online justice system and identify ethical concerns around transparency, fairness and inclusion, privacy, and human-AI collaboration. To address these concerns, we put forward a set of ethical design considerations and alternative roles for AI moderation in multiplayer games.
CHI '24: Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2024
Biometric data plays a multifaceted role in innovative artistic endeavours. As artists continue t... more Biometric data plays a multifaceted role in innovative artistic endeavours. As artists continue to break new ground by integrating performers' biometric data into live performances, others collect biometric data from audiences to measure engagement. Given the sensitive and personal nature of biometric data, particularly in relation to immersive technology, it is imperative to ethically consider how this data should be handled in performative contexts. To clarify these ethical considerations, we conducted a scoping review of sources related to immersive biometric performance in HCI, Performing Arts, and Social Sciences published over the past 30+ years. We detail how and why biometric data is being used in immersive artistic performance, identify associated ethical questions and concerns, and develop a framework of ethical considerations for artists and researchers in this space. In doing so, we emphasise an 'ethics by design' approach that considers values such as privacy and autonomy alongside artistic merit.
CHI Play, 2023
In 2020-2021, under the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, boardgame players aro... more In 2020-2021, under the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, boardgame players around the world sought out ways to play physical boardgames with each other despite being physically apart. Their creative appropriations of digital technologies and physical tools to allow for hybrid distanced play demonstrate not only the resilience of boardgaming as a hobby, but also provide important insights into the design of novel distanced hybrid digital boardgames (DHDBs). Through a survey of over 1300 respondents, this paper explores the ways distanced players engaged in homebrew practices to make physical boardgame play possible. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we identify three themes that reflect the practical issues players grappled with, including game choice, game mode or setup, and technical implementation. Reflecting on the challenges and opportunities associated with these issues, we consider their implications for DHDB design more generally. In doing so, we present the DHYE (Distanced Hybrid plaY Experience) framework, a practical set of design considerations that emphasises an understanding of distance not simply as an obstacle to enjoyable boardgame play but as an inspiration for novel and meaningful design.
2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021
Game industry professionals are frequently implementing new methods of addressing ethical issues ... more Game industry professionals are frequently implementing new methods of addressing ethical issues related to in-game toxicity and disruptive player behaviours associated with online multiplayer games. However, academic work on these behaviours tends to focus on the perspectives of players rather than the industry. To fully understand the ethics of multiplayer games and promote ethical design, we must examine the challenges facing those designing multiplayer games through an ethical lens. To this end, this paper presents a reflexive thematic analysis of 21 in-depth interviews with games industry professionals on their ethical views and experiences in game design and community management. We identify a number of tensions involved in making ethics-related design decisions for divided player communities alongside current game design practices that are concerned with functionality, revenue and entertainment. We then put forward a set of design considerations for integrating ethics into multiplayer game design.
Games and Culture, 2021
This paper introduces the ludic ethics approach for understanding the moral deliberations of play... more This paper introduces the ludic ethics approach for understanding the moral deliberations of players of online multiplayer games. Informed by a constructivist paradigm that places players' everyday ethical negotiations at the forefront of the analysis, this study utilises a novel set of game-related moral vignettes in a series of 20 in-depth interviews with players. Reflexive thematic analysis of these interviews produced four key themes by which participants considered the ethics of in-game actions: 1) Game Boundaries; 2) Consequences for Play; 3) Player Sensibilities; and 4) Virtuality. These results support the conceptualisation of games as complex ethical sites in which players negotiate in-game ethics by referring extensively-though not exclusively-to a framework of 'ludomorality' that draws from the interpreted meanings associated with the ludic digital context.
The Digital Games Research Association, 2020
This paper examines key discussion points among VR-interested Reddit users regarding a controvers... more This paper examines key discussion points among VR-interested Reddit users regarding a controversial case of VR groping reported in 2016. Through a mixed-methods approach that includes qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative coding, this paper identifies four key discussion themes: 1) Conceptualization-what is the act of groping? 2) Ethics-what is (un)acceptable about the act? 3) Action-what should be done about it? and 4) Vision-what does this act mean for the future of VR? Within these themes, most comments were dedicated to the questions of whether the act of groping in VR constitutes sexual assault or sexual harassment, whether it is the individual's responsibility to respond to this act, and whether this act causes harm. These results assist in the formation of a framework for understanding and addressing concerns related to unwanted sexual behaviours in VR and other digital play spaces.
The “digital animal intuition:” The ethics of violence against animals in video games
Ethics and Information Technology, 2020
Video game players sometimes give voice to an “intuition” that violently harming nonhuman animals... more Video game players sometimes give voice to an “intuition” that violently harming nonhuman animals in video games is particularly ethically troubling. However, the moral issue of violence against nonhuman animals in video games has received scant philosophical attention, especially compared to the ethics of violence against humans in video games. This paper argues that the seemingly counterintuitive belief that digital animal violence is in general more ethically problematic than digital human violence is likely to be correct. Much video game violence against animals has at least some potential, even if only a modest one, to contribute to moral indifference toward animals and to their routine mistreatment. These possible effects have ethical implications for animals, society, players, and video game designers.
Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-Interaction, 2019
Players are sometimes understood to hold an 'amoral' stance in games, morally disengaging from ga... more Players are sometimes understood to hold an 'amoral' stance in games, morally disengaging from game content and in-game player behaviours because 'it's just a game'. This amorality is often seen as problematic and in need of refuting or amendment, particularly if we wish to encourage more ethical play online. However, few studies have approached a theory of player amorality from the player's perspective in multiplayer games. This study aims to address this gap by conducting 20 in-depth interviews with a wide range of multiplayer game-players, exploring players' ethical views towards problematic or disruptive in-game behaviours. Preliminary results show that while players do exhibit a certain amorality regarding in-game actions, players express, justify and explain this amorality in a variety of considered ways that go beyond notions of 'it's just a game' and the 'sociopathic griefer', and step outside the framework of moral disengagement. This paper puts forward a preliminary framework of player amorality termed 'Apathetic Villager Theory', encapsulated by six key attitudes/themes that highlight the nuances involved in the (un)ethical standpoints of a range of players. It is hoped that this framework will be useful in approaching and responding to player amorality in a way that gives due recognition of the various voices and understandings involved in multiplayer digital gameplay.
Conference Presentations by Lucy Sparrow
ANZCA, 2023
The recent emergence of generative AI tools like ChatGPT presents an opportunity to develop innov... more The recent emergence of generative AI tools like ChatGPT presents an opportunity to develop innovative and impactful AI-software with the potential to reach millions of users. In games, for example, some of these tools can monitor players’ text chat, voice chat and in-game actions, which can potentially help manage in-game harassment and abuse in unprecedented ways. But how far is too far when it comes to the reach of AI in monitoring our actions? The design and processes of AI moderation tools also remain largely opaque – so how can we be sure they are making accurate and fair decisions that reflect the needs and values of the communities they serve? This paper presents preliminary findings and critical reflections on the co-design methods our interdisciplinary team use for two ongoing research projects: one project examining the ethics – and co-creating the future – of AI moderation tools in online multiplayer games, and one project co-creating an anti-harassment AI tool called “AI Ally.” In both projects, we have sought co-design methods as a way to empower our target cohorts: ‘players, human moderators, and AI developers of multiplayer games’, and ‘girls, young women and gender-diverse individuals’ as the demographic who disproportionately face online harassment.
The Digital Games Research Association Australia, 2021
This paper explores how digital games can be designed to betray a player's trust to positive effe... more This paper explores how digital games can be designed to betray a player's trust to positive effect through engendering "productive distrust". Three types of productive distrust are examined, each illustrated by a case study of a recent game: (1) distrust in sensory perception; (2) distrust in authorial voice; and (3) distrust in other players. While acknowledging the importance of fostering trust in game design, this paper aims to highlight the positive role that distrust can have as well. Ultimately, we suggest that distrust can be utilized as a game mechanic to foster meaningful experiences, critical thinking and entertainment value in digital games.
Thesis Chapters by Lucy Sparrow
Online multiplayer games present players with vast opportunities to interact with one another in ... more Online multiplayer games present players with vast opportunities to interact with one another in rich and interesting ways. However, this freedom also allows players to interact in harmful or ‘toxic’ ways, from trolling, griefing and disruptive play to abusive chat and player harassment. This toxicity is problematic because it can cause significant harm to players and because it can drive players away and deter new players from joining games. This has led to calls for more ethical play and design. However, ethics in the context of multiplayer gaming is a nebulous concept. Literature suggests that the context of an in-game act can heavily dictate how it is interpreted in a specific game and community, and that different players can hold very different moral views about the same in-game act. This presents a problem: If there are multiple ways of understanding in-game ethics, what does it mean to ethically play and design multiplayer games?
This thesis addresses this question through a comprehensive, contextualist, empirical examination of the ethics of multiplayer gameplay and design. It investigates the ethical understandings of gaming communities from the bottom up, examines how these understandings are tied to ethical disagreements within these communities, and explores what ethical design might look like in these varied, shifting and morally complex contexts. In doing so, this thesis adopts a qualitative, constructionist and reflexive methodological approach. It presents three studies encompassing analysis of hundreds of online comments, 40 in-depth interviews, and 3 focus groups with both players and game industry professionals as two key groups making up gaming communities.
The first study examines a morally important case study of groping in a virtual reality game. Thematic analysis of over 300 online responses to this particular incident demonstrates the ways that commenters attempt to make sense of this act by comparing and contrasting it to other physical and in-game acts amidst a tense sociomoral context.
The second study analyses 20 individual interviews and 3 focus groups with players to formulate the ‘apathetic villager theory’ of player amorality, which suggests that players’ apparently morally disengaged stances can disguise a variety of attitudes towards in-game acts, including a sense of helplessness in the face of disruptive behaviours, as well as an active valuing of disruption. This study also presents a novel framework of ludomorality that captures the main concepts that players draw on in their ethical deliberations—in particular, it highlights the importance of the ludic and digital context in shaping their ethical judgments.
The third study presents a reflexive thematic analysis of 21 interviews with game industry professionals. It highlights the wicked problem that this group faces in the design of multiplayer games, and puts forward a set of design considerations to address these issues.
Through these three studies, this thesis contributes a nuanced theoretical perspective on multiplayer ethics. Rather than understanding players and industry professionals as amoral, this thesis emphasises the multiple layers in which the ludic and digital context influence ethical deliberation. It finds that rapid developments in games and gaming communities, as well as wider discourses around ethical practice tied to technology, produce conflicting understandings of what it means to play and to play ‘right’. This complex social context, along with current industry structures that emphasise a game’s functionality and profits over ethical governance, produce a number of difficulties in designing multiplayer games in ethical ways. Based on these findings, this thesis introduces the ISA principles (Information, Specificity, and Agility), which aim to assist designers and researchers in navigating multiplayer design in ethically divided contexts. In doing so, this thesis advocates for a contextualist approach to multiplayer ethics and design that both responds to and challenges the ambiguous ludomoral contexts at play.
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Papers by Lucy Sparrow
Conference Presentations by Lucy Sparrow
Thesis Chapters by Lucy Sparrow
This thesis addresses this question through a comprehensive, contextualist, empirical examination of the ethics of multiplayer gameplay and design. It investigates the ethical understandings of gaming communities from the bottom up, examines how these understandings are tied to ethical disagreements within these communities, and explores what ethical design might look like in these varied, shifting and morally complex contexts. In doing so, this thesis adopts a qualitative, constructionist and reflexive methodological approach. It presents three studies encompassing analysis of hundreds of online comments, 40 in-depth interviews, and 3 focus groups with both players and game industry professionals as two key groups making up gaming communities.
The first study examines a morally important case study of groping in a virtual reality game. Thematic analysis of over 300 online responses to this particular incident demonstrates the ways that commenters attempt to make sense of this act by comparing and contrasting it to other physical and in-game acts amidst a tense sociomoral context.
The second study analyses 20 individual interviews and 3 focus groups with players to formulate the ‘apathetic villager theory’ of player amorality, which suggests that players’ apparently morally disengaged stances can disguise a variety of attitudes towards in-game acts, including a sense of helplessness in the face of disruptive behaviours, as well as an active valuing of disruption. This study also presents a novel framework of ludomorality that captures the main concepts that players draw on in their ethical deliberations—in particular, it highlights the importance of the ludic and digital context in shaping their ethical judgments.
The third study presents a reflexive thematic analysis of 21 interviews with game industry professionals. It highlights the wicked problem that this group faces in the design of multiplayer games, and puts forward a set of design considerations to address these issues.
Through these three studies, this thesis contributes a nuanced theoretical perspective on multiplayer ethics. Rather than understanding players and industry professionals as amoral, this thesis emphasises the multiple layers in which the ludic and digital context influence ethical deliberation. It finds that rapid developments in games and gaming communities, as well as wider discourses around ethical practice tied to technology, produce conflicting understandings of what it means to play and to play ‘right’. This complex social context, along with current industry structures that emphasise a game’s functionality and profits over ethical governance, produce a number of difficulties in designing multiplayer games in ethical ways. Based on these findings, this thesis introduces the ISA principles (Information, Specificity, and Agility), which aim to assist designers and researchers in navigating multiplayer design in ethically divided contexts. In doing so, this thesis advocates for a contextualist approach to multiplayer ethics and design that both responds to and challenges the ambiguous ludomoral contexts at play.
This thesis addresses this question through a comprehensive, contextualist, empirical examination of the ethics of multiplayer gameplay and design. It investigates the ethical understandings of gaming communities from the bottom up, examines how these understandings are tied to ethical disagreements within these communities, and explores what ethical design might look like in these varied, shifting and morally complex contexts. In doing so, this thesis adopts a qualitative, constructionist and reflexive methodological approach. It presents three studies encompassing analysis of hundreds of online comments, 40 in-depth interviews, and 3 focus groups with both players and game industry professionals as two key groups making up gaming communities.
The first study examines a morally important case study of groping in a virtual reality game. Thematic analysis of over 300 online responses to this particular incident demonstrates the ways that commenters attempt to make sense of this act by comparing and contrasting it to other physical and in-game acts amidst a tense sociomoral context.
The second study analyses 20 individual interviews and 3 focus groups with players to formulate the ‘apathetic villager theory’ of player amorality, which suggests that players’ apparently morally disengaged stances can disguise a variety of attitudes towards in-game acts, including a sense of helplessness in the face of disruptive behaviours, as well as an active valuing of disruption. This study also presents a novel framework of ludomorality that captures the main concepts that players draw on in their ethical deliberations—in particular, it highlights the importance of the ludic and digital context in shaping their ethical judgments.
The third study presents a reflexive thematic analysis of 21 interviews with game industry professionals. It highlights the wicked problem that this group faces in the design of multiplayer games, and puts forward a set of design considerations to address these issues.
Through these three studies, this thesis contributes a nuanced theoretical perspective on multiplayer ethics. Rather than understanding players and industry professionals as amoral, this thesis emphasises the multiple layers in which the ludic and digital context influence ethical deliberation. It finds that rapid developments in games and gaming communities, as well as wider discourses around ethical practice tied to technology, produce conflicting understandings of what it means to play and to play ‘right’. This complex social context, along with current industry structures that emphasise a game’s functionality and profits over ethical governance, produce a number of difficulties in designing multiplayer games in ethical ways. Based on these findings, this thesis introduces the ISA principles (Information, Specificity, and Agility), which aim to assist designers and researchers in navigating multiplayer design in ethically divided contexts. In doing so, this thesis advocates for a contextualist approach to multiplayer ethics and design that both responds to and challenges the ambiguous ludomoral contexts at play.