Play-Persona: Modeling Player Behaviour in Computer Games

ensemble - the syntagm. Selection requires the player to perceive similarity and opposition among
signs within the set (the paradigm), classifying them as items having similar function or structure,
only one of which the player needs. The player can substitute, or select, a shotgun for the sniper
rifle – expressing a different attitude.
Figure 1: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic operations from the player’s point of view
The combination “sniper rifle” + “facing enemies from a distance” (figure 1) requires the player to
know the rules by which weapons are optimally utilized. “The combination is, in short, a kind of
sentence” [66]. The “shotgun” + “charging the enemies” syntagm conveys a different meaning
(sends a different message) if the player has open ground in front or is separated from the enemies
by a chasm, this means that awareness of the context and its consequences is fundamental for
player’s choices. In a game, each of these sentences composed by players is an unconscious act of
communication without a receiver.
Figure 2: Syntagmatic and paradigmatic operations from the designer’s point of view
On the other hand, we could also look at the practice of designing game spaces, as opposed to
using them, with the same perspective (figure 2). In a game level, the succession of spaces is the
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