exercise 7 - tension between agency and narrative structure
1. Discuss the tension between agency and narrative structure within the game. Do you agree that narrative and interactivity can never co-exist? Why/why not?I shall attempt to relate the discussion to Neverwinter Nights since it remains the freshest in my memory. I also write from the view point of one who has not played many games with strong narrative elements. My discussion will now begin with the end of this sentence.
NeverWinter Nights attempts to help players transit from a state of ignorance to a state of knowledge by allowing player interaction with non-playing characters. While this is a better strategy than the “cut scene” approach where the line between the narrative and play is clearly demarcated, it also presents limitations as the player can only choose from a series of predetermined questions for the non-playing characters. The agency of the player then is confined to the choice of question and freedom of exploration in order to establish some form of a coherent narrative. On the other hand, it may be said that the player has agency in making use of details from the revealed narrative to decide on his subsequent course of action. In other words, we have a choice in prioritizing the tasks to do first. It might be said that this is really to try and achieve a balance between the author and the player in their control over the narrative.
However, from the experience of playing the game, the revealed narratives can be overwhelming such that it may become annoying. Perhaps it’s a result of information overload within a short span of time, and the many possible tasks to complete that there is a risk of forgetting what has to be done. The player may then experience a seemingly lack of control over the events. Yet the game can still be considered interactive, with players having internal and explorative interactivity. The player has localized agency but limited global agency. NeverWinter Nights has probably a comprehensive network of rules, predetermined narratives and outcomes and it is within these boundaries that exploration, interactivity and the illusion of control is felt. In fact, it can be said that the narrative element is sometimes obscured by play as the player moves around to accumulate gold pieces and experience points.
Narrative and interactivity can coexist to some extent. It is not possible for both to be integrated into a game and yet have both retain the full extent of their characteristics. Some form of compromise has to be reached. After all, the notion of narrative already entails some form of limitations as an author attempts to maintain some form of coherence to the structure. The player also cannot obtain total autonomy of the entire system. To allow for complete agency of the player on its environment and other players, will result in a network of extensive possibilities of narratives which may be a tall order for the author. There needs to be some form of co-authoring done such that the opportunities and experiences of interactivity may emerge from the story and vice versa.
question 2. Is project 1 a game? WHy or why not?
This may seem long but it really isnt... If you'd like, you can skip part 1 and go straight to part 2 and read just the first line and then skip to part three where the argument really lies.
1. A brief background of Project 1:Project 1, “The Others”, was transposed from a movie to interactive media whereby hyper-multimedia – text, images, videos and audios, was incorporated. Designed to allow for the non-linear unfolding of the narrative, users are able to interact with the system and explore the environment in which the story is set based on their personal choice. A mind map at the top right hand corner of the interface allow for users to navigate their way through the environment at any point in time where necessary.
2. ArgumentWhile the project may present features which may lead one to deem it a game, it can be argued that it is not really the case. Instead, it is really more of a narrative than it is a game. We shall now consider the reasons why this is so.
2.1 GoalThere must be something that the user strives to achieve in the course of the game. In relation to “The Others”, the only objective or mission for the user in ‘playing’ or exploring the system is that of unraveling the story or to help Grace (Nicole Kidman) recall the events that have happened. However, having a goal is arguably insufficient to make a work a game. Even if a goal remains explicit throughout the work, it may become limited after awhile as users find their choices constrained. To contrast “The Others” with another work to better illustrate my point, I refer to the example of sim city as was referred to in the article by Costikyan. On top of having an ultimate goal of creating a functioning city, players are able to affect and influence their city based on their preferences and interest. They are thus able to set different targets for themselves. On the other hand, users in “The Others” are unable to create their own goals and have lesser sense of control or ownership over the system.
3.2 Control/Agency
The illusion of control is vital in gameplay. In “The Others”, while the user seems to have the illusion of control in the sense of being able to unfold the story in any way they want, there are many limitations. They seem to have local agency and no global agency where their decisions at any point in time have no effect on the outcome of the story. While it may be argued that this is the same with games like Indigo Prophecy, “The Others” differs in the sense that users can only move literally between pre-determined time and space, based on chance and with much uncertainty; and with the click of a mouse on hotspots. The inability to know where the hotspot which you’ve decided to click on will bring you to also minimizes whatever agency that you possess.
3.3 InteractivityAlthough the system is able to provide an output based on the user’s input and therefore provide some form of interactivity, the system is incapable of recalling the previous actions of the user. There is thus a possibility of the user going through the same place over and over again. The user is also sometimes forced to sit back and listen to the narrative. Therefore where narrative is focused upon, the element of play is significantly reduced. And since the work has a greater focus on the narrative, the element of play is minimal.
The user is also unable to interact much with the environment, affect any characters or change anything in the system especially since the story is in the past. The element of play is also minimal when narrative is at the core of the system. The user then experiences only external interactivity at the level where the discourse and the presentation of the story is affected. While there is the illusion that the user takes on Grace’s perspective of the story, it is often the case that the user sees the sequence of events from the third person perspective too.
3.4. Space, Time, Rules, Quantifiable outcomeThe situation of Grace having lost her memory is put into perspective right from the beginning and this sets the context for the user, therefore providing some form of motivation to enter this exclusive dimension. The system thus provides a dimension with limits of time and space, something which is characteristic of a game. The user is also free to exit the work as and when he pleases. In this light, it may be arguable that “The Others” is similar to that of a game.
Yet, there are not many rules that exist and the player cannot really push the boundaries of the work except by cracking a code for them to have access to all the nodes on the mindmap. In fact, there is also no quantifiable outcome to measure the level of success of the user. The only sense of satisfaction the user will get is the knowledge of the ending of the story. There is also no save mode for the system to recall the point in which the user quits the game.
3.5. Structure and othersThe sequence of events have already been predetermined in project one and they all converge towards the end to form a linear narrative. From this point forward, the focus of the work becomes strictly narrative as the user need not manipulate the system in any way. This aside, other comments to be added includes the fact that there is no element of conflict, struggle; not much of role playing, no resources to manage, no competitors, not much of a puzzle to solve, no character interaction, minimal decision making and no chance for character improvement.
These points, though not exhaustive, provides evidence that “The Others” is not really a game (though it has some features which resemble one) but more of a narrative.
