NPC와 상호작용을 통한 몰입감에 대한 연구 -생성형 AI를 활용한 RPG 게임과비활용 RPG 게임 비교를 중심으로- = A study of immersion through interaction with NPC –Focusing on the comparison between generative AI games and ordinary games–

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Gaming is one of the most important entertainment activities for humans. RPG games refer to the type of game in which players manipulate game characters to complete the tasks of the game system and experience stories. NPC is a non-player character in the game and is significant as it is a fun game element. Currently, the behavior of game NPCs is based on a preset program based on ‘logic.’ Some believe that interaction between real game players is limited.
Researchers believe immersion is key to enjoying games and argue that experience evaluation is particularly important. How game NPCs and players interact is directly related to game experience and immersion.
Generative AI is based on large-scale data learning and can generate ‘prompt engineering’ of text, images, or other media. In particular, with the advent of generative AI chat robots such as ChatGPT, generative AI is developing to a level where interactions with users are almost indistinguishable from humans using text and voice. With the popularization of generative artificial intelligence technology and the combined application of this technology and games, games with generative AI functions have appeared. Especially in the field of RPG games and NPC with generative AI functions bring players new interaction experience and immersion feeling. This study aims to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the differences in content user experience by comparing the interaction experience and immersion feeling between players and NPCs in existing ordinary RPG games and RPG games with generative AI technology. In addition, we explored the impact of generative AI technology on players’ immersion experiences when applied to NPCs in RPG games.This study used a questionnaire developed by the AttrakDiff evaluation method to collect data. The questionnaire was designed to measure four dimensions of interactive product usability: pragmatic quality (PQ), Hedonic quality-identity (HQ-I), Hedonic Quality-Stimulation (HQ-S), and Attractiveness (ATT).
It was broken down into 28 items (opposite adjectives paired at both ends) rated on a 7-point scale (-3: negative adjectives ~ 3: positive adjectives). A total of 80 respondents (56 males and 24 females) between the ages of 20 and 50 participated in the survey. The study’s results revealed the characteristics of the interaction experience of users with NPCs in normal games and RPG games applying generative AI technology. It has been found that the NPC of RPG games applying generative AI technology can make players feel more interesting (HQ-I), more homogeneous (HQ-S), and more attractive (ATT) to players compared to the interaction with the NPC of ordinary games. This study also revealed the result that the interaction of NPCs in RPG games with generative AI technology is weaker than that of normal games in terms of practical quality (PQ), and analysis showed the positive impact of the interaction of NPCs in RPG games with generative AI technology on game immersion through qualitative return surveys. It is hoped that this study provides helpful and meaningful insights into the application of generative AI technology to the field of gaming.

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