Hooked! - Evaluating Engagement as Continuation Desire in Interactive Narratives

Engagement in interactive experiences is a complex, multi-dimensional concept that can be determined by a variety of factors which are dependent on user preferences and media content. However, one fundamental requirement of any interactive experience is the desire to continue the experience, and this study is concerned with investigating engagement in interactive narratives by focusing on this aspect. In the present approach, engagement is described as the user's desire to continue an activity in order to accomplish an objective while experiencing affect. In order to investigate engagement during run time, this description is used as a foundation for formulating an intrusive method and the Engagement Sampling Questionnaire. The application of the method and the questionnaire is exemplified by an investigation of continuation desire in the experiential learning scenario, "The First Person Victim", where participants experience a non-pleasant emergent narrative concerned with being a victim of war.

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