[Reader-list] Fw: posting for readers-list

[Menso Heus]

On Fri, Apr 18, 2003 at 11:04:32PM +0530, souvikmukherjee wrote:

Hello Souvik Mukherjee and Riddhi Sankar Ray

> In our research proposal we have looked at the computer game as a possible alternative 
> to the books we read and also how these, thereby, change our reading habits. Games in their 
> own little way, tell stories. And these are not the hidebound stories created by someone 
> else: these stories are to a large extent created by us, the readers. How novel this is , is 
> of course a matter of speculation. Retelling, of any sort, would incorporate making changes 
> to the base text. There have been quite a few examples of such in literary history. the 
> point, however, is to see how far this can go and what it is like from the experiential 
> point of view. 

> In an earlier submission , we have looked at a few similarities and differences between 
> Computer games and fiction. Our comparison was made between the Bond novels and Wolfenstein 
> 3D (made by ID software). The action-packed storyline of the Bond novels likens these to 
> computer games like Wolf. But to how many more genres can we apply this ? The element of 
> re-telling is best observed in another genre of computer games. In the strategy game , be it 
> a war game like Age of Empires or a city building game like Zoo tycoon, the story can have 
> more ramifications because it allows us to 'build' the resources that make up the story. It 
> is  quite a novel experience: mining gold and stone, chopping wood , gathering food by 
> various means , we are expected to build for ourselves a city which in turn will withstand 
> sieges and furnish soldiers. Very often, with the medley of things that can be constructed 
> and the updates that can be made on the storyline and the characters,  this idea of 
> re-telling is given its fullest scope. In the above games , one can build the story of 
> entire civilizations; one can even change history. In this regard ,  one can look at the 
> numerous Age of Empires 'scenarios' constructed by various individuals and made available 
> online. The age of Empires game has in effect , besides its own campaigns allowed the 
> 'playing' of various other stories ranging from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to the battle of 
> Plassey. So successful has the series been , that it has spawned three successive sequels : 
> The Age of Kings , The age of conquerors and the age of Mythology. The games have a 
> framework involving a basic historical framework, with realistic fighting units, graphics and 
> being set in a quasi-real environment. The pay-offs of such a structure are many. For some 
> people, the ability to manoeuver the same building blocks to make numerous arbitrary stories 
> is very attractive. Even among games , this is not always possible. The most arbitrary 
> version of  playing would be children playing with toys. Theorists of game playing have 
> differentiated between the Game , which is structured formally with a set of rules, and Play 
> where the rules are absent. The above have been called ludus and paiedia respectively. Thus 
> chess would be a good example of a  ludus  and a child playing with her doll's house and 
> dolls would be a Paidea. The computer strategy game , however, combines the Ludus with the 
> paiedia. There is a set of rules alright but it is accompanied by an almost infinite amount 
> of choices of how one can play. Ultimately , though actually a Ludus, the strategy-game 
> seems to be a Paiedia. 

I think the research you are doing is rather interesting. The types of games
you bring up seem to lack one genre though: the role-playing game, or RPG for
short.

The RPG is, in my opinion, the perfect example of a game that not just tells a
story but allows the player of the game to actively change it. The RPG works 
with a rule system, the most common one being the Dungeons & Dragons system. 
This would make it a Ludus, though since there is an infinite amount of things
the player can do, it is also seems to be a Paiedia.

Originally the RPG is played with several people around the a table. There 
is one person who leads the game, the Dungeon Master or Game Master. He plays
'the world' the players are in, ranging from the people players meet in the 
towns they go to to the monsters they encounter. The Game Master's role is also
to keep an eye on the rules and decide whether or not things are possible. 
The game around the table takes part in the players imagination, there are no
visual representations of the world itself. 

Each player comes up with a character, a person (or 'role') he would like to 
play. This can be a sneaky thief, a brave warrior or an evil mage and everything
in between. Then, there is a storyline, created by the Game Master. The players
for example could be asked to help out with a plague of zombies that is attacking
a town, or a cult that is kidnapping all the children. 
The interesting thing about a roleplaying game is that the players are free to 
choose whether or not they want to do this, they do not have to do certain things
in order to progress in the game. For example, a thief might decide he can't be 
bothered with the zombies and, while everyone is fighting them, quietly loot the 
houses. An evil mage might try to take control of the zombies and then use this
new army to do his evil bidding. A noble warrior will probably help out the town
and be rewarded for it.

So, how does this translate to computer games? There are several companies that
started making computer game RPG's. The best known are probably games like Baldurs
Gate and Neverwinter Nights. These games come on four CD-Roms and, although they 
have a general storyline concerning the player, the player is free to roam around
the world and do al sorts of things. Next to 'the main story line' there are usually
tens of other little subplots the character can do, or can decide not to. 
In a shop, a character can either pay for what the sword he wants to buy or just
kill the shopkeeper and take it, for example. 
Roleplaying games also feature something that is called 'alignment' which has very
much influence on how the world responds to your character. Every action changes 
this alignment: killing innocent people will make you shift to evil and probably 
set the guards after you. Helping people out continuously will make the world respond
much nicer to you and perhaps give you discount on things and such.

Most of the succesfull games come from a company called Black Isle, you can check
at their website at www.blackisle.com.

Another very popular game, NeverWinterNights is probably the most interesting one for 
you since it gives the players even more freedom. It is released by Bioware and their
website is www.bioware.com (www.neverwinternights.com for the game site).
Next to the general 'single player' release, it comes with a big toolset that allows 
people to create their own stories which they can then have their friends play. 
These tools also allow for someone to take upon them the role of 'Game Master' and follow 
the players as they walk across his world. 

The Game Master for example creates a town where the player can talk to people
that live there. All the conversations he has scripted before hand (giving the
players several ways to respond, each response giving different respones from 
the person in that town, etc). When the game master wants to however, he can 
choose to play a certain character himself immediately, thus avoiding the scripted
conversation and interactively engaging in the talk with the players, just like 
a Game Master would do the 'old fashioned' way on a game without a computer. 

The classical roleplaying game has no 'end'. A game can go on for years and
years and years, the players getting what is called 'experience points' for
their actions, which can be swapped for certain abilities (more magic spells,
hitting people harder with your sword, being able to pick pockets better, etc)

The entire objective of the game is to create an interesting world, or interesting
story if you will, in which all players have an even amount of influence. It is 
the ultimate 'interactive story' which is created by the players and the game master
together. The choice of Bioware to release tools so players can create their own 
stories has brought this aspect back into computer Roleplaying games too.

There are also several RPG games running online, featuring thousands of players all
walking around in the same world, each with their own ideas and objectives. This,
as you can see, creates more and more stories and do not have to be part of the pre-made
quests one can follow in this world since players might come up with their own quests.
(For example: if you want to join our thief guild, steal this item that charachter Bob
is carrying around, bring it back and we will make you a member. Becoming a member of
a professional thief guild has a lot of advantages, and is a very nice thing for a 
thief character)

Quite a few players keep diaries of their characters, thus effectively are writing
a story. One example you can find here: http://playnaked.com/olie/DandD/diary/diary.html

If you want more information, drop me a line.

Menso

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   "The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and
    robbers there will be."                        -- Lao Tsu
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