"Friendly, don't shoot!": how communication design can enable novel social interactions

The ability to communicate by voice in multiplayer networked virtual worlds has become almost ubiquitous over the past decade. Yet the possibilities for creating interesting social dynamics and game play experiences through the design and configuration of voice channels remains largely unexplored. In this paper we discuss the first person shooter game DayZ, which utilizes a relatively unique voice communication system. We examine the design of DayZ's voice channel and present examples of its use in order to understand how its configuration influences social interaction and game play. We claim that two features of this system - proximity and all-to-all - enable novel and enjoyable game play experiences and user interactions.