Put on your goal-glasses

In an article by Delwin Clarke and Robert Duimering studying user preferences in FPS games I found the following quote of interest. The authors invent the concept of "genre models" to describe the conceptual model a player have of a specific game genre. (In fps games red barrels explode when shot etc.)

"Gaming goals appear to have influenced significantly the structure of gamers’ FPS genre models by shaping how they perceived and evaluated various properties of the gaming situation. Specifically, it is proposed that FPS gaming goals influenced gamers’ perceptions and evaluations in two ways. First, aspects of the gaming situation perceived to be most behaviorally relevant to goal attainment were seen as most salient to gamers and aspects seen as less behaviorally relevant to goal attainment were less salient. In other words, goals acted as perceptual filters, such that players paid most attention to aspects of the gaming situation perceived to influence most their attainment of gaming goals, and ignored or paid less attention to aspects perceived to have little or no influence on goal attainment. "

When discussing goals in this quote the authors intend both long term (mission objectives) and short term goals (imediate survival - health, ammo etc.).