Comunicabilidade em jogos digitais: Avaliando o jogo Genshin Impact por meio do Método de inspeção semiótica intermediado (MISI) e do Método de avaliação de comunicabilidade (MAC)

Abstract

Games have been a part of humanity since ancient times, serving as playful activities for entertainment or as tools for educating the population. Over time, games have adapted to the social, cultural, and technological contexts in which they were embedded. As the 21st century approached, games transitioned into the digital realm, becoming increasingly integrated into people’s daily lives, now present both on computers and consoles. Given the integration of games into our society, a field of study dedicated to games began to emerge. Semiotic Engineering (SemEng), a theory in the field of Human-Computer Interaction that studies the communicability between the designer and the user through the system developed by the designer, started to be applied in studies focused on digital games, examining the communicability of these games. This study aims to evaluate the communicability of the game Genshin Impact, an open-world RPG with a gacha system, using two SemEng methods: the Semiotic Intermediate Inspection Method (SIIM), conducted with a sample of 2 game designers and 2 game developers, with a more technical focus; and the Communicability Evaluation Method (CEM), applied to 4 novice players, to gain insights from the players’ perspectives. As results, communicability issues were identified, including difficulties in understanding icons, confusing metalinguistic signs, inconsistencies in visual feedback, and insufficient emphasis on dynamic signs. Additionally, problems related to the game’s accessibility, usability, and robustness were observed.