Does it matter if you don't know who's talking?

Abstract

Voiceover IP (VoIP) now makes it possible for people in distributed online multiplayer games to talk to each other. This might not only influence game performance, but also social interaction. However, using VoIP in multiplayer games can often make it hard to know who is talking, an issue that other researchers have found to be problematic. In a 10-week study of a fixed group of adult gamers, we found that not knowing who is talking affects game performance differently according to the type of game. In team-based war games, it can have a negative effect both on learning and coordination, but in race games, where individual rather than teams compete, it appears generally not to matter. In contrast, the impact of not knowing who is talking on social interaction is the same regardless of game type: while the social experience can be highly enjoyable, it is difficult for gamers to get to know each other. We consider the design implications for enhancing both game performance and social interaction.