ontological bleed - Consent Form - Playtest Build

Date:        _____________________________

Project Title:        ontological bleed: player identification and the blurred borders of fictional worlds in interface investigation games

PURPOSE

This research is being undertaken to provide insights into how a player may experience their own identity in a fictional game where they are expected to play as themselves, and contribute any discoveries back into game studies and fiction discourse.

5-30 human participants are necessary as part of the playtesting process, to find bugs in the software, to discover if the story is being understood, and how you are emotionally affected by it. Insights you help discover will be analyzed and included in the research paper, and will be used to improve future versions of the game.  This research is being completed by a graduate student in partial completion of their degree, and the results will contribute to their MFA thesis.

The game prototype may be developed beyond the scope of the thesis project. It may be included in future exhibits, and released commercially, for free or for a fee. If you consent, objects you generate as part of the playtest can be donated back to the project to be used for any of these purposes.

Eligible participants are required:

• at least 18 years of age
• Moderate computer literacy
• Comfortable with light supernatural horror elements

If you’re not eligible under these conditions, you are still welcome to play the game, but your feedback will not be included.

WHAT’S INVOLVED

As a participant, you will be asked to play a narrative game and provide feedback about it.  Playtesting involves using a Windows application, and will require a few common materials such as paper and pens. In-person playtests will take place in downtown Toronto and will include a physical installation of the archive and the artifacts indexed there - these playtests will be announced on the research website.

Participation by playing a game build will take up to 1 hour of your time, including an exit interview that will be conducted either in person or by online form. You may discontinue playing the game build at any time and so that time commitment can be shorter. New playtests will be conducted throughout the year, and you are welcome to keep up with the project online and participate in as many rounds as you like.

The exit interview will ask you questions about your experience with the game, and some questions may involve demographic data for research purposes. All questions are entirely optional.

If you’re interested in having the artifacts you make included in future versions of the game, please be sure to let us know on this consent form.

Some versions of the game will have the ability to collect data about the playthrough and attach it to the exit survey as a text file, or pre-answer questions. This may include data about the computer hardware and choices you made in the game.  

In person playtests may include screen recordings, video or audio recordings. You may opt out of having these recordings taken and they will be disabled while you play.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS

Possible benefits of participation include: Participation contributes to a body of knowledge in game studies, will contribute to improving future iterations of the game, and should be an enjoyable experience in line with other speculative fiction media.

If you’d like, you may donate artifacts you make while you play back to be used in future versions of the project, either as media items in the database or physical items in the installation. If you’d like to be credited as a contributor to this project, be sure to include the name you’d like to be credited as!

POTENTIAL RISKS

There also may be mild risks associated with participation.

• Participants will be required to use a computer, keyboard and mouse, reading on a screen for long periods.  They will be required to write in whatever method best suits them.
• Artifacts may contain mild allergens (ie nickel, feathers.) If you have any specific allergens, please inform the researchers before handling any artifacts.
• The game involves some light horror elements intentionally designed to make players uncomfortable. For a full list of trigger warnings, please visit the game website. Trigger warnings may include spoilers! Please feel welcome to ask researchers about any specific content you’d like to check for. You may stop playing at any time, and researchers are prepared to walk you through a cooldown from the experience.
• You’ll be asked to describe this experience in the exit survey, and invited to optionally provide personal stories comparable to the experience they had in the study. You may opt out of any question you’re not comfortable answering.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All data will be anonymous, with the exception of video and audio recordings, and any artifact donations you’d like to be credited for.  Because of the nature of video recordings, your face and location may be traceable if you consent to have this footage shared for promotion. This consent form includes options to request footage be used only by the researchers, and not used promotional material, or to not have recordings made at all.

The online exit forms have the option of being submitted anonymously, but you may choose to provide contact info to be added to the mailing list or accredited for game contributions. In person playtests will collect data on the same form, and recording media will be matched by timestamp and ID number. Names and email addresses will be removed from the data for analysis.

Anonymous data is retained so study findings can be validated, and to continue refining the software beyond the scope of the original research creation project. Non-anonymous data is retained for future iterations of the software and to be informed of future research opportunities with your consent. Media artifacts will be stored in the software indefinitely, but physical items may be discarded or destroyed at the end of the study and will not be returned to participants.

Data will be kept for a minimum of three years, after which time digital assets may be deleted, to a maximum of five years. Exit Surveys, including artifacts and recordings provided through the survey,  and telemetrics collection will be completed using Google Forms, stored in Google Sheets, which uploads media to Google Drive. Sheets data will be exported to .cvs files, which will be backed up with any uploaded media to a solid state hard drive. All digital data will be securely deleted.

Any physical artifacts donated to the project may be discarded at any time, or kept for future iterations unless otherwise requested in the Artifact Release Form.

Digital assets used in the game software will remain as part of the software forever unless their removal is requested.

Access to raw data will be restricted to g blekkenhorst, Dr. Cindy Poremba, and Professor Emma Westecott.

INCENTIVES FOR PARTICIPATION 

Participants will not be paid or otherwise tangibly rewarded for participating in this study. Your only incentive is your own curiosity.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION

Participation in this study is voluntary. If you wish, you may decline to answer any questions or participate in any component of the study.  

Further, you may decide to withdraw from this study at any time during the playtest, or request withdrawal of your data prior to data analysis and you may do so without any penalty. Your choice of whether or not to participate will not influence your future relations with OCAD University,  the investigators g blekkenhorst, Dr. Cindy Poremba, Professor Emma Westecott, or any other institutions or organizations they have involvement with.

To withdraw from this study, let researchers know at any point during the playtest, or you may contact  g blekkenhorst at gblekkenhorst@ocadu.ca.  The data from the exit survey will be used anonymously and cannot be removed once submitted, but you may request any identifiable material, such as video and audio recordings to be removed from the research paper or promotions of the game - please provide information about where we can find this data to remove it.

PUBLICATION OF RESULTS

Results of this study may be published in the students theses, and potentially future reports, professional and scholarly journals, presentations to conferences. The game itself may be released commercially or for free, presented at conferences and festivals or presented in a gallery context.  In any publication, data will be presented in aggregate forms. Quotations from interviews or surveys will not be attributed.

Feedback about this study will be available on the project website, where you can subscribe to the mailing list for future updates.  

Data collected as a part of this study may be retained by researchers for further analysis on similar projects, or extensions of this specific project. It may be retained for a minimum of three years. Artifacts donated to the project may be destroyed or discarded at any time with certain exceptions agreed on in advance.  

The information you provide will be kept confidential, i.e. your name will not appear in any thesis or report resulting from this study. However, with your permission, attributed materials and quotations may be used in the research paper, software or promotional material.

CONTACT INFORMATION AND ETHICS CLEARANCE

If you have any questions about this study or require further information, please ask. If you have questions later about the research, you may contact the Principal Investigator g blekkenhorst at (gblekkenhorst@ocadu.ca)  or the Faculty Supervisor Dr Cindy Poremba (cporemba@ocadu.ca). This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Research Ethics Board at OCAD University REB 102788.

If you have questions regarding your rights as a participant in this study please contact:

Research Ethics Board c/o Office of the Vice President, Research and Innovation

OCAD University

100 McCaul Street

Toronto, M5T1W1

416 977 6000 x4368

research@ocadu.ca

If you wish to receive further updates about the project, you may visit the project website and subscribe to the mailing list.

PROJECT LINKS

Project Website -  https://blekkenhorst.ca/bleed/

Trigger warnings - https://blekkenhorst.ca/bleed/warnings.html
Consent Forms - https://blekkenhorst.ca/bleed/consent.html

AGREEMENT

I agree to participate in this study described above. I have made this decision based on the information I have read in the Information-Consent Letter.  I have had the opportunity to receive any additional details I wanted about the study and understand that I may ask questions in the future.  I understand that I may withdraw this consent at any time.

Audio- and video- recording

Choose all that apply:

• ☐ I agree to have my gameplay to be recorded for the purposes of this study.
• ☐ I agree to have my exit interview recorded for the purposes of this study.
• ☐ I agree to allow recording of my gameplays to be used for public promotional purposes of the game.
• ☐ I understand how these recordings will be stored and destroyed.

Other Data collection

Choose all that you consent to have collected:

• ☐ Screen recording
• ☐ Telemetrics - logs the computer software records automatically, of choices the player makes in game with timestamps.
• ☐ Filling out or replying to the exit survey

Please see the Artifact Release Form to consent to the inclusion of artifacts you create during gameplay into future versions.

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Name of Participant

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Signature of Participant                                                      Date

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