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The impact of video game avatars on the motivation to play and consequent purchases in it
Rosová, Sylvie ; Fousek Krobová, Tereza (advisor) ; Švelch, Jan (referee)
This diploma thesis deals with the topic of game avatars and their influence on the motivation to play the game and subsequent purchases in it. The topic is first grasped theoretically, and the studies and research of previous authors are presented and analysed. The importance of avatars in video games, as well as the process of their creation, is explained in more detail. The work also discusses the relationship between the player's real and online self and tackles the topic of social identity. In the area of motivation to play, the paper analyses the individual motivators identified by previous studies and then focuses on two important factors associated with the avatar, which are identification with the avatar and immersion in the game. In the section dedicated to in-game purchases, the microtransaction system is explained and the reasons for in-game purchases are discussed. The practical part follows on the theoretical part and places the topic in the Czech environment, while examining and describing the way in which avatars, their design, functions and processing, influence the motivation to play the game and subsequent purchases in it. The practical part first analyses the behaviour of players when editing avatars and then when purchasing virtual items for them. The obtained data finally...
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I, Developer: Media reflection of Czech game developers in Level magazine during 2015 - 2021
Bouše, Václav ; Švelch, Jan (advisor) ; Švelch, Jaroslav (referee)
This thesis focuses on self-reflexive representation of Czech game developers on pages of Level magazine between 2015 and 2021, which is one of two continually released game- oriented periodicals in the Czech Republic. The aim of this thesis is to define the key topics that Czech game developers consider crucial and to place them in a broader theoretical framework. The main qualitative research method used is thematic analysis, examining articles that were part of the Dílna section during the period. A total of 25 articles were analysed, falling genre-wise into the category of postmortem, which aims to re-present the work of developers with all its negative and positive aspects. The results of the thematic analysis show that Czech game developers in the articles reflected mostly topics of funding, working with gamer and fan community and differences between the way of working in Czech and foreign development studios. The research sample also shows that the major Czech game studios have a major historical importance and influence on the cultivation of the entire Czech game development. The analysis also results in the finding that Czech developers prefer global development and distribution platforms to traditional models and tools. For them, these platforms represent a major facilitation of entry...
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Parody of educational games
Valtonen, Zuzana ; Švelch, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Švelch, Jan (referee)
The work deals with the analysis of parody in computer games. Specifically, a parody of educational games. This work examines five computer parody games Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, Baldi's Fun New School, Baldina's Basis in Education Literary Grammar, Frog Fractions and Supervised Driver's Education. In selected parody games, work describes the elements of parody, which are then interpreted using three theoretical approaches to humour, which are the theory of incongruence, the theory of superiority and the theory of relief. The work tries to find out how the contexts of educational games and parodies are related by means of the analysis of selected games. It qualitatively examines the themes, mechanics and audio-visual aspects of both genres and then compares them. Furthermore, the work discusses the history of educational games and their shortcomings, which are related to the significant expansion of parodies in the 90s. Among other things, it describes the function of parody on the examples of the most frequently ridiculed game conventions first-person shooter, boss fight and achievement system. At the end of the thesis, he mentions the universality of parody within another genre and gives an example of parody of parody, which is a parody musical played on YouTube, parodying the...
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Game Over: Death in video games and impact of videogame Brothers: Tale of Two Sons on gamers
Khan, Jakub ; Švelch, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Švelch, Jan (referee)
Videogames are no longer just an entertainment product for certain interest groups, they are a global mass medium for all generations that can be used for purposes other than entertainment. The subject of this thesis is videogames and their influence on gamers. The aim is then to find out how male and female gamers perceive death in videogames, what emotions and reactions this contact evokes in them, and whether videogames can change their perception of death. The research was conducted through a qualitative study, conducted through semi- structured interviews with male and female gamers who first played the videogame Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which contained a narrative type of death. From the conducted research it was found that the videogame was able to evoke strong emotions in the male and female players, especially negative ones such as sadness, fear, or regret, caused by contact with the unexpected death of the main character they had been playing all along. The evocation of these emotions was enhanced by the simple controls and simple puzzles, allowing for a greater focus on the story, as well as the interactivity of the videogame and belonging to the protagonist. Only one participant out of six in the research succeeded in changing the perception of death in a positive direction, but...
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Czech gaming communities on Twitch platform during the pandemic of coronavirus and the influence of streamers on fans'perception of Covid-19
Poláčková, Nikola ; Švelch, Jan (advisor) ; Fousek Krobová, Tereza (referee)
This Master's thesis focuses on the roles of Czech gaming streams and their online communities in lives of their members during Covid-19 pandemic. The thesis aims to describe the ways in which streamers and online communities influence opinions of their members regarding the pandemic and how streams fit into viewers' everyday lives. Streaming is put into context of gaming as a spectator activity and concepts of opinion leadership, parasocial relationships, and online communities. The main part of thesis is dedicated to mixed methods research, which was split into three parts. In the first part, the author surveyed opinions and values of Twitch viewers through quantitative online questionnaire. In the next parts, she conducted qualitative interviews with streamers and viewers. These interviews were used to gain context and deeper understanding of the researched phenomenon. Based on the empirical findings, the influence of streamers and online communities on their opinions regarding the pandemic seems to be quite marginal. Streamers and especially online communities however played a big social role - they substituted leisure and social activities of respondents and gaming streams along with community chats became a place to escape from reality of everyday lives or talk through their problems in a...
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Use of the new media at a local level: at an example of Novojičínsko region
Ocásková, Šárka ; Jirků, Jan (advisor) ; Švelch, Jan (referee)
New media are now growing more than ever before. It is probably clear to everyone that this new trend impacted on has hit all fields of dissemination of the news and information channels. How far have these new media influenced such a specific journal as town hall journal is? It may vary according to by regions. It also depends on what the situation in the town is, what is typical for the region, and how can region manage the rapid modernization in this area, to be more useful than harmful. That is why I have chosen Moravian-Silesian region for my work. Due to the fact that even this area is quite large, I focused on Novojičínsko region in more detail. To get a better idea of this area the first part of the work is focused on the specification of the region, especially Novojičínsko region. There is explained why the town hall journal is so specific and sodifferent from other magazines. The main sources of the data for this work are in-depth interviews with the authors of the individual periodicals. These interviews will show us how far the authors have been influenced by new technologies and information channels, what they have already put into practice. We also discussed their plans for the future, and on the other hand - what causes the biggest problems and complications in implementing the new...
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The Fight against Evil: Stereotypization of Antagonists in War-Themed Shooters
Houška, Jan ; Švelch, Jan (advisor) ; Krobová, Tereza (referee)
Using the method of qualitative content analysis, my research is focused on the visual and ideological representation of antagonists in eight PC games of first-person shooter genre (FPS), released between 2007 and 2019. The analysis is based on the identification of the stereotypical antagonistic representations. Its main attention is devoted to the ethnic and national stereotypes, because antagonists are ethnic and national Others in relation to protagonists. I aimed to define another summarizing and defining criterion of antagonistic representation, apart from the categories of othering already mentioned. In my thesis, I also describe ideological aspects which frame antagonistic representation. For the analysis of ideological content, I use Pötzsch's selective realism, which, by means of the four filters (violence, consequence, character and conflict) excludes negative and controversial aspects of war from FPS games. Not only does selective realism presents war selectively, it represents antagonistic actions selectively, too. In the text, I identify the stereotypical representations of three ethnic-national groups - orientalism and Cold War stereotypes in the case of Russians, neo-orientalism in the case of Middle Eastern antagonists and techno-orientalism in the case of East Asians. The ideology...
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