A core tenet of traditional play theories is that play is voluntary. This view has been troubled by recent empirical phenomena of "instrumental play" and "playbour": instances where play is mandatory, has serious consequences attached or is done as gainful labour, such as goldfarming. Similarly, people are increasingly using game design elements in non-game contexts like work to make them more playful and engaging. This talk suggests that the conceptual troubles of playbour and gamification can be resolved by focusing on autonomy as a psychological state: how much autonomy people experience informs whether they understand and a label an activity as "work(-like)" or "play(ful)". Drawing on a qualitative interview study with participants engaging in instrumental play, the talk will tease out how social and material features of gaming and work situations support and thwart autonomy experience and thus, their understanding as "work" or "play."

1. it’s the autonomy,stupid!autonomy experiences between
playful work and laborious play
Sebastian Deterding / @dingstweets
Digital Creativity Labs, University of York
February 21, 2017
c b

4. Then: »Enriched environments«

5. Marian Diamond
»The combination of toys and friends was
established early on as vital to qualifying the
environment as ›enriched‹.«
qtd. in stuart brown, play (2009: 39)

6. play!

7. all about
the box

8. what about
the context?

9. now: »games«

10. <1>
a puzzle

11. the standard folk theory
play work
Malaby 2006

12. the standard folk theory
play work
voluntary involuntary
inconsequential consequential
autotelic instrumental
unregulated preregulated
“fun” not “fun”
Malaby 2006

13. »First and foremost,
all play is a voluntary activity.«
homo ludens (1938/1950: 7)
Johan Huizinga

14. »There is also no doubt that play must be
defined as a free and voluntary activity […].
A game which one would be forced to play
would at once cease being play.«
roger caillois
man, play, and games (1958/2001: 6)

15. Goldfarming
“play”
voluntary
inconsequential
autotelic
unregulated
“fun” ?

16. professional (e-)sports
voluntary
inconsequential
autotelic
unregulated
“fun” ?
?
“play”

17. instrumental play
voluntary
inconsequential
autotelic
unregulated
“fun” ?
?
“play”

18. serious games in school
voluntary
inconsequential
autotelic
unregulated
“fun” ?
?
“play”

19. gamification at work
voluntary
inconsequential
autotelic
unregulated
“fun” ?
?
“play”

20. work experienced as play

21. work experienced as play

22. work experienced as play
“work”
involuntary
consequential
instrumental
preregulated
not “fun”

23. play behaviours at work
“work”
involuntary
consequential
instrumental
preregulated
not “fun”

24. ???

25. »As Stevens [in Work and Play: A False Dichotomy?]
recognized, we cannot empirically sustain “play” as a
label ... By rejecting play as a supercategory of activity
for games, we free the game concept for rethinking,
and that is the aim here.«
thomas malaby
beyond play: a new approach to games (2006: 102)

26. »Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The
problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is
it not a game if social pressure forces the players to
play? Because human motivation is too complex to be
explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary,
I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully
describe whether games are voluntary or not.«
jesper juul
half-real (2005: 31–3)

27. in other words: stay inside the box!

28. but this doesn’t go away

29. What is this? play? work? Something else?

30. how do we (as researchers and
everyday people) make sense of this?

31. <2>
perspective &
method

32. perspective: socio-material constructivism

33. from essences to construction processes
What is a nation?
What is crime?
How and from what is “nation”
made and stabilised?
How and from what is “crime”
made and stabilised?
What is play?
How and from what is “play”
made and stabilised?

34. method: Qualitative episodic interviews
• Semi-structured episodic interviews, 90-120 min. length
• 19 interviewees gaming in presumed high-voluntariness “play”
contexts and presumed-low voluntariness “work” contexts:
game journalism, game design, game research, e-sports
• Interviewees invited to narrate experiences of high/low
autonomy, voluntariness, choice, consequence; then compare
contexts and situations
• Coding and analysis of transcribed interviews with MAXQDA
following grounded theory
Corbin & Strauss 2008, Flick 2008

35. organising questions
1. How is “voluntariness” practically accomplished
in“play” versus “work-like play” situations?
2.How are “play” situations practically
accomplished?
3.How do “voluntariness” and “play” relate?

36. <3>
accomplishing
“voluntariness”

37. »Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The
problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is
it not a game if social pressure forces the players to
play? Because human motivation is too complex to be
explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary,
I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully
describe whether games are voluntary or not.«
jesper juul
half-real (2005: 31–3)

38. Edward Deci, Richard Ryan
»To be autonomous means to behave
with a sense of volition, willingness, and
congruence; it means to fully endorse
and concur with the behavior one is
engaged in.«
motivation, personality, and development (2012: 85)

39. autonomy in self-determination theory
• Action is energised and directed by three basic psychological
needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness
• All motives range from controlled to autonomous
• We are energised by multiple motives at once; sum determines
overall autonomy experience -> autonomy need satisfaction
Ryan & Deci 2002, Deci & Ryan 2012

40. spectrum of motives
Deci & Ryan 2012
Perceivedexternal
locusofcausality
Perceivedinternal
locusofcausality
External
extrinsic
introjected
extrinsic
internalised
extrinsic
integrated
extrinsic
intrinsic
overall controlled:
sense of “having to”,
pressure, coercion
overall autonomous:
sense of “wanting to”,
ease, enjoyment

41. autonomy experience is part of game enjoyment
Deen 2015, Przybylski et al. 2012, Rigby & Ryan 2011, Sheldon & Filak 2008

42. game design supports autonomy experience
• Meaningful choice in goals, strategies, actions
• Customisation
• Open explorable worlds
• Ability to create and inhabit “ideal self”
Deen 2015, Przybylski et al. 2012, Rigby & Ryan 2011, Sheldon & Filak 2008, Turkay 2013, Weinstein et al. 2009

43. Su & Reeve 2011
context supports/thwarts autonomy in school etc.

44. Lopez 2011, cf. Heeter et al. 2011,
Mollick & Rothbard 2013
first evidence that contexts matters: but how?

45. #1
norm of autonomous/intrinsic enjoyment

46. »Because that has a different meaning for me, that- if I play in
that moment, then I would have fun with this thing.«
»[In WoW] I said at a certain point, that I don’t want to partake
regularly in battles. And when […] I say: <<I don’t want this to
become an obligation for me>>, then I am representing in that
situation the position, then it’s no longer play, and they
represent the position: <<Why? It’s fun>> ((laughs)). Then the
definitions are different.«
#1
norm of autonomous/intrinsic enjoyment

47. #2
license to reconfigure & leave situation

48. »Apart from Counterstrike I would never play any game when I don’t want to. [...]
When Diablo 3 comes out, I will really want to play it, so I will play it very much.
But if I don’t want to play it […] then I will not play it«
»At the office, [...] I have to focus on the game analytically, and not say, I let
myself go and play the whole day, and at the end no results. That would be
inappropriate.«
»When I in principle have no time limit, that is, when I can say, I can play until I
say: <<I don’t want to anymore.>> No appointments and no obligations, both
inside the game and outside of the game, then I find, that’s an experience of
freedom.«
#2
license to reconfigure & leave situation

49. #3
relaxed spatiotemporal field

50. Interviewer: »So that’s the usual process, that you, that you pick a day, and then on that
day start in the afternoon and stop in the evening?
Interviewee: »If it is that way and I can focus on the afternoon, then I also plan it like that,
such that I have finished everything until then, until that point, that could make me go to
the door or interrupt the game.«
»in my private rooms, then I can show any emotion, because there would be nothing
inappropriate in doing so, because I wouldn’t offend anyone with it«
[With a Nintendo DS] I am then mostly in a public surrounding, loud screaming or
throwing that thing in the corner are not an option. Although you would really want to do it,
you have to restrain yourself a bit there and, let’s put it this way, appear a bit more suited
for public.«
relaxed spatiotemporal field
#3

51. #4
minimised socio-material consequence

52. »[When money is involved] there's the pressure that you have to win.
Of course, everybody who plays wants to win somehow. […] Bu::t
when it's about money, that's a real thing, and that you have to work
hard for. That wouldn't have a playful character for me then.«
»when you fail and know: <<I can’t write the review tomorrow>>,
because you actually haven’t reached these and these things, [...] the
consequence then means for instance, that you have to get up in the
morning two hours early to start the game again. And that can be
incredibly infuriating.«
minimised socio-material consequence
#4

53. »I need to be very routinized; I mustn’t let myself drift.«
»I hammer it through.«
»Often, you have to force yourself to do it.«
»You’re under real pressure.«
»My friends usually cannot comprehend how stressful this
is.«
play lacking these features feels (self-)controlling
#5

54. »Especially with WoW you somehow had [...] a social coercion behind it.
Because as I said, this reputation and then also the social contexts that you
maintained through it. Or found there. [...Y]ou don’t feel like training in the
evening, or something, and you still go there. Because you feel socially obliged
somehow.«
»[When playing with friends not alone] the considerateness for the friends
dominates, for the people with whom I’m sitting there. So then it’s less the
case, that I focus on the game and say: <<I am now, now I am free and can
determine this.>> Instead it’s also more about me being the host, and being a
guest of somebody and still take regard of that.«
in leisure play, this is driven by regard for others
#5a

55. private solitary play is highly autonomous play
#5b

56. autonomy construal is a meta-process
Activity becomes controlled
when afforded choices
mismatch spontaneous
interests and perceived-
controlling motives keep us
from changing or leaving
the situation
#6

57. »In::: 95 percent of the cases no. It's still a hobby. You- it's still a
passion. You enjoy playing it, also because something like:: a
professional level comes in, money and you get around and you get to
know new people. That's nice, no question. And those remaining five
percent, those are the percentages where you say: <<Hm, not training
again from seven to ten pm? Now I could have gone to the movies with
my girlfriend.>> For example. Where you would say: <<I so would have
wanted to go with her to the movies. Damn, damn, damn. Why do I
have to train now?>>«
#6
autonomy construal is a meta-process

58. Intrinsically motivated
gameplay
License to (dis)engage
& configure situation
Minimized social and
material consequence
Salient
autonomous motives
Salient
controlled motives
+
+
+
–
–
Construal of action as
autonomous
+
–
Temporal field cleared
from outer demands
Spatial field shielded
from public observers
+
Self-regulation of
attention & emotion
display
Autonomy need
satisfaction
+
+–
Spatial field cleared
from distraction
–
+
–

59. <4>
accomplishing
“play”

60. »Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The
problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is
it not a game if social pressure forces the players to
play? Because human motivation is too complex to be
explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary,
I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully
describe whether games are voluntary or not.«
jesper juul
half-real (2005: 31–3)

61. »Roger Caillois claims that games are voluntary. The
problem is that it is quite unclear what this means. Is
it not a game if social pressure forces the players to
play? Because human motivation is too complex to be
explained in terms of its being voluntary/involuntary,
I believe that it is not possible to meaningfully
describe whether games are voluntary or not.«
jesper juul
half-real (2005: 31–3)

62. »There is also no doubt that play must be
defined as a free and voluntary activity […].
A game which one would be forced to play
would at once cease being play.«
roger caillois
man, play, and games (1958/2001: 6)

63. »There is also no doubt that play must be
defined as a free and voluntary activity […].
A game which one would be forced to play
would at once cease being play.«
roger caillois
man, play, and games (1958/2001: 6)

64. »First and foremost,
all play is a voluntary activity.«
homo ludens (1938/1950: 7)
Johan Huizinga

65. a basic distinction
object activity
Game Gaming
Toy Playing
Tool Working
etc. etc.

66. we play with many objects

67. we engage games in many ways
debugging
playtesting/reviewing
making a machinima
testing screen resolution
a scientific study
learning (serious games)
sports (e-sports)
work (goldfarming)

68. objects afford activities …

69. … but activities can redefine objects

70. so how to make
‘x’ into a certain
type of activity?

71. »I assume that when individuals attend to
any current situation, they face the
question: What is it that’s going on here?«
erving goffman
frame analysis (1986: 8)

72. A frame is »the definition of a situation«:
»principles of organization which govern
events ... and our subjective involvement in
them.«
erving goffman
frame analysis (1986: 10-11)

73. key tenets of frame analysis
• Frames are socially shared organisational principles for types of
situations
• Frames organise situations epistemically (how we experience,
interpret, expect X), normatively (how we demand and sanction
X to be), and practically (how we structure matter and practice)
• Framing is the process by which co-present actors constitute a
situation as the instantiation of a frame through material
configuration, routine performance, meta-communication
Goffman 1986, Deterding 2014

74. 70
»playing« is a multitude
Deterding 2014

75. »When I’m playing reviewingly … I am somehow taking part
cognitively in a different way. That means, beforehand I’m
already in this mood: <<Okay, I do, I work now, and I try to
grasp intellectually what is going on here now.>> And in a
normal non-reviewing gaming situation exactly that is a great
advantage for me, that I don’t try to grasp things intellectually,
but instead let myself be drifted by the sensual impressions«
people distinguish and label different keys

76. »And if for instance there is only fooling around, then I also have said, Hey guys, pull
yourself together now, we have the chance to get the title on the weekend. This here is
no fun or so, this is, we want to get the title! Now into training, pull yourself together.«
»I would recognise [review play] after ten minutes at most, because up to now really all
video game journalists I have observed reviewing have a notepad with them and take
notes in an interval of, I don’t know, ten minutes, quarter of an hours, about something
they have seen.«
»When I play for the job, then it’s this goal-oriented. So there I wouldn’t play if I could
get directly to the point I want to get to. The activity of playing is more purely utilitarian,
or a necessary evil. Yes perhaps also to ruin the game with walkthroughs, save games,
or cheat codes.«
keys have different norms, setups, practices

77. Keyings are »conventions by which a given
activity, ... meaningful in terms of some
primary framework, is transformed into
something patterned on this activity but seen
by the participants to be something quite
else.«
erving goffman
frame analysis (1986: 43-44)

78. e.g., a rehearsal

79. a second distinction
frame keying
as work
as play
etc.
Playing
Working
etc.

80. <5>
relating
“voluntariness”
and “play”

81. mark twain
»If he had been a great and wise
philosopher, like the writer of this
book, he would now have
comprehended that Work consists of
whatever a body is obliged to do, and
that Play consists of whatever a body
is not obliged to do.«
the adventures of tom sawyer (1876)

82. »It’s still a game as such, and defined as such, but I would not say that
*I* play it at that moment, because that has a different meaning for me.«
»sometimes you just have to play, you have to get further, no matter
whether you want to or not. And then, then that is, then playing is indeed
work.«
»Whenever you’re forced to do something, then in becomes more work.«
»Then it feels like working, […] <<I have to do this now. Do it as
productively and quickly as possible.>>«
autonomy experience drives ‘work’/‘play’ labelling

83. framing/keying
as work/play
(in)congruence
autonomy
expectations
autonomy
affordances
autonomy
experience

84. <6>
conclusions

85. Accomplishing autonomy
• Autonomy can replace the conceptual muddle of “voluntary”,
“free”, “autotelic”, “inconsequential” with a causal model and
established constructs
• Game design affords autonomy through meaningful choice;
open worlds
• Leisurely play contexts afford autonomy through license to
configure and leave situation, relaxed field, minimised
consequence
• Obligations to others can make leisurely play controlling

86. accomplishing play
• Everyday people distinguish objects (games), frames (playing),
and keys (reviewing play) in their lived experience and practice
• Leisurely play can be experienced as controlling, play-as-work as
autonomous; autonomy experiences drive people’s labelling of
an activity as ‘work’, ‘play’, ‘feels like work’, etc.
• Distinguishing objects, frames, and keys and understanding
them as practical accomplishments solves the theoretical issues
posed by goldfarming, e-sports, play experiences at work, etc.
• Framing drives autonomy expectations and affordances;
autonomy experience partakes in (dis)confirming framings

87. Fun Voluntarygames

88. Fun Voluntary
autonomy Fun, play
games

89. how to support autonomy in gamified work?

90. how to make serious games in school playful?

92. outside this design box

93. outside this theoretical box

94. outside this methodological box

95. sebastian@codingconduct.cc
@dingstweets
codingconduct.cc
thank you.

96. “play” is like “sex/gender”
Burghardt 2005; Henricks 2015
overformed by
natural categories
found beyond human culture
social categories
made in human culture

97. »Alle Spel is allereerst en bovenal
een vrije handeling«
Johan Huizinga
homo ludens (1950: 36)

98. »Il n’y a pas de doute que le jeu ne doive
être défini comme une activité libre et
volontaire, source de joie et d’amusement.
Un jeu auquel on se trouverait forcé de
participer cesserait aussitôt d’être un jeu.«
roger caillois
les jeux et les hommes (1967: 36)