Play-Persona: Modeling Player Behaviour in Computer Games

Nonetheless, linguistic and semiotic tools can be precious for articulating the polysemic nature of
games as acts of communication.
1.1.2 Denotation and Connotation
Denotative and Connotative levels refer to the “literal” meaning of an element and the associative
values, the symbolic content subject to cultural interpretations. As an example, in architecture, the
Greek column’s denotative level is their function: to sustain the roof of the temple, while its
connotative level conveys the notion of democracy, sharing the weight to carry. Yorda, the girl that
accompanies Ico in the homonymous game [53], is dressed in white, the denotative level sees only
a garment whose function is to cover the girl’s body, but there is an added connotative level since
white is often a symbol for innocence and purity, at least in messages codified within our culture. A
further connotative level emerges when realizing that the game was produced in Japan, a culture
with a very different code where white is often worn at funerals. Here the white garment could be
seen as a foreshadowing of events taking place towards the end of the game, where players are
led to believe that the girl is in fact dead.
1.1.3 Syntagm and Paradigm
Syntagmatic and paradigmatic operations are easily explained with an example: a player
negotiating a swarm of enemies in Gears of War [44].
1. The player selects signs from a paradigm (i.e. sets of possible signs). Each paradigm contains a
possible set of pieces from which only one can be chosen. From the “weapons” paradigm (including
sniper rifle, shotgun, machinegun), the player selects one. These items share a similar structure,
function, and/or other attribute with others in the set: they are related to one another on the basis
of similarity, they are all weapons capable in a way or the other to disable enemies.
2. The player then needs to render the choice of weapon operational with a certain movement
pattern. A functionally defined classification system or code shapes the connection between a
certain selected weapon and a certain way to navigate the environment (i.e., the sniper rifle can be
best utilized from a distance, not while charging the enemy), these connections are the more or
less conscious or explicit rules. The player’s choice of elements within a certain paradigm
(weapons) and combination with other paradigms (movement) sends a message through the
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