Information Processing Strategies in Computer Game: Beginners and Experts

Our time is characterized by the rapid development of information and computer technologies that substantially restructure the practice of everyday life. Computer games are one of the forms of these technologies that allow anyone to transfer to the world of fantasy and get a new unique experience. Now there are a considerable number of areas and genres of games, ranging from mobile farms to survival games for the desktop computer. As the industry grows, so does the interest of research in this area, because games represent a unique environment that influences on human life and abilities. There is a lot of research in the field of computer games, which are aimed at studying the influence of different genres of games on the development of children, the emotional component of a person, human cognitive abilities, communication and leadership qualities, etc. One of the most popular areas of research related to games is research in eSports. ESports is a team or individual competition based on video games. As well as the usual sport, eSports are divided into different types and classes: multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), first-person shooter (FPS), fighting, digital collectable card games, battle royal games and real-time strategy (RTS), etc. Particular attention should be paid to MOBA games since its brightest representatives of Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA2) and League of Legends (LoL) are considered to be one of the most popular and profitable eSports disciplines in the world. However, central studies of MOBA games analyses replay files (game logs), which show players' movements on the map, their actions and game strategies. But to fully understand the interaction between game and player, it is worthwhile to touch on all aspects, including where the player is looking. Such studies can help the researchers to understand how do people interact, adapt to the game, and contribute to the players themselves who want to improve their skills, improve their Matchmaking Rating (MMR) and have the opportunity to become professional players. Research based on the comparison of beginners and experts using eye-tracker technology can help to investigate players with different levels of play. This is a very good way to study how people develop their skills. To compare beginners and experts in games, it is best to take popular genres among competitive games, one of these genres is the MOBA genre, and its bright representative, Dota 2, is considered modern chess. The main aim of this study is to explore the differences in information processing strategies of beginners and experts players in the game DotA 2, namely, to study how players at different levels perceive the gameplay, what they are more focused on, how often or rarely they look at various fields in the game.