FDG2017

The Non-Player Characters and Social Believability in Games Workshop is a point of interaction for researchers and game developers interested in different aspects of modeling, discussing, and developing believable social game agents and Non-Player Characters (NPC). This includes discussions around behavior based on social and behavioral science theories and models, social affordances when interacting with and in game worlds and more. The purpose of this workshop is to facilitate discussion on the theories and models for NPC social behavior and social affordances in industry as well as between different but related academic disciplines. We expect this workshop to result in a clearer vision of what NPC studies is as a field, and how this workshop should develop in the future. Additionally, we hope to foster collaboration between different research groups, in particular of an interdisciplinary nature. 
Website: http://www.npc-workshop.org/

Across disciplines, games are being increasingly used as research environments for experimentation and empirical study. This includes enlisting the use of games to explore human behavior and decision making, validate algorithms, consistently improve AI, collect player data, inform game design and more. However, the cost, complexity and rigor needed to produce these types of games is high and not enough is known about how games could be fully utilized in service as rigorous research environments. This workshop aims to bring together the game design and research community who have used games as research environments or those interested in building or enlisting games for this purpose, for a discussion on this topic and to share lessons learned from their work. 

The workshop will have two parts. The first part will be brainstorming and group discussion where participants will explore core topics and lay the groundwork for tracing the boundaries of games as research environments. The second part will be a hands-on session with the game research environment Mad Science, developed in the PLAIT lab at Northeastern University. The workshop will conclude with group discussion.

Participants will require a laptop for participation in the hands-on session. 

Website: https://gamesasresearchenvironments.wordpress.com/

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL UPDATE FOR PARTICIPANTS: You might get a bit dirty playing this larp. White sugar is one of the props used, and it tends to get on people. Nothing that stains, but in previous runs, some participants have ended up a bit sticky and shower-bound. Anyone planning to wear their fancy silk shirt might want to know this in advance. 

The larp White Death, by Nina Rune Essendrop and Simon Steen Hansen, revolves around a group of pioneers who travel into the mountains to create a new and better world. But life in the mountains is hard and demanding, and slowly, their community begins to fail. One by one, the snow will embrace them, giving them peace and rest, tranquility and light. 

This acclaimed Nordic larp is poetic, non-verbal, and emphasizes physical expression. Set to a soundtrack of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Jonny Cash, the larp guides players through feelings like anger, frustration, sorrow, and fear--and the peace and closeness that follow the characters' gentle deaths. In this larp, there are no words, instead, communication and interaction with others happens through physical movement. There are no secrets-- the experience focuses on the atmosphere rather than the outcome.

Important note: Please wear clothing that allows you to move comfortably, preferably all black clothing, if at all possible. Come prepared to try something a little different, and don't be surprised if you end up lying on the floor.