Guild Wars 2

So after reading a couple articles of “Neurogaming 2013” and “Biofeedback”, we have companies out in the public that are using “Biofeedback” to create video games.

To make matters worse, a company named “Valve” has publicly stated they are hiring a “Psychologist” to make future video games to so-call “Making a video game experience” by using “Biofeedback”.

Due to privacy terms, most of the companies are not listed publicly, in using “Biofeedback”.

What I want to know Arenanet, was “Biofeedback or any related programs” used during production of Guild Wars 2?

If no, are there any plans to use “Biofeedback or related programs” in any future testings?

What do you mean with biofeedback?

I presume every company has players test their games, and look at them whether they like them or not. If testers tend to commit suicide after a 4 hour session, maybe their game isn’t that good. On the other hand, if they’re begging you to lift the NDA … that’s a sign too.

However, putting expensive words like “biofeedback” on that is a bit silly imho. The correct question being “do you make sure your games are fun”.

@ marnick.4305

Note: Please note that this is a summary of what the intention of “Biofeedback” is to be used for, there are more in-depth articles that explains what it “can” be used to further studies.

Article:

Valve Psychologist Experiments With Biofeedback From Games

A Valve psychologist wants in your head. In a move that looks like a chapter from the Aperture Science handbook, the makers of Portal and Half-Life have hired a professional to make better use of player feedback for game development. Valve Psychologist, Mike Ambinder, is exploring how biofeedback can tell a developer how a player is responding to a game.

At the NeuroGaming 2013 Conference, the Valve psychologist talked about Biofeedback in gameplay and how the gaming company measures physiology such as sweat and heart rate to enhance the gaming experience.

“One thing we are very interested in is the notion of biofeedback and how it can be applied to game design,” Ambinder said. For him there are two side of the equation. First of all, Valve can use “Physiological signals to quantify an emotional state while people are playing the game.” They want to get an idea of how people emotionally experience the game “in a somewhat more granular fashion than you can get from just watching them or hearing them think aloud or asking them questions after the fact.”

The other idea is that they can potentially plug that kind of information into the game while you are playing it. Your emotional responses can affect what happens on the screen.
“The more interesting side of the equation is what you can do when you incorporate physiological signals into the gameplay itself.”

The Valve psychologist goes on to describe today’s gaming experience. “You map player intent into onscreen behavior,” using a keyboard, mouse or controller. That’s great, but Ambinder thinks that game developers are “missing another act of some players’ experience.”

pc games Aperture Science Wants In Your Head“What is the player’s emotional state while they are playing the game? How are they enjoying the game? …If we can start tapping into that, all of the sudden you have this wealth of data that you could use to create, in theory, more novel and more compelling gameplay experiences.”

So they want to use Biofeedback to make better games. The Valve psychologist mentioned the experiments that were done a few years ago and said the results have already starting being used. Measurements of the pH content in sweat affected how Left 4 Dead was made in order to create a more enjoyable experience.

In their experiments, a mod of a game was made that gave the players four minutes to shoot 100 enemies. If the player stayed calm, the four minutes would go by and the enemies would go down easily. If the player got nervous, the timer would go faster making the game harder.

Another cool idea is that they made a version of Portal 2 that can be played with your eyes. “The mouse works well for what it does, but the eyes are quicker.” He said if you are playing a game where accuracy and speed are important, the eyes are a more appealing option.
But what does it all mean?

Certainly Valve is trying to make cooler games, but the potential for this kind of research goes a lot farther than that. The ability to play games with your eyes instead of manipulating something with your hands would be a giant deal for gaming accessibility. What about the idea that your emotional state could affect what happens in the game? If a game like that became an E-sport, would gamers need to be tested for anti-anxiety medication?