Player Expectations.

Courtesy of Critical Distance last Sunday, I was directed to these two articles analyzing Modern Warfare 3.  The first, written by John Walker of Rock Paper Shotgun, is fairly critical of MW3's design and lack of choice. The second is a rebuttal by Brendan Keogh (a writer for Edge and Kill Screen) defending the game a bit more.

When we play games, we tacitly agree to a contract.  We agree to be bound by the rules of the game as long as the game will give us the experience we're looking for.  In soccer, that means that only 11 players can be on the field at a time.  If we didn't follow this contract, some teams would rush the field with 25 vs. 5.  The experience of competition and teamwork that most players play soccer for would be ruined by the unfair odds.  In Hide and Seek, opening your eyes while people hide ruins the exploratory and deductive fun to be had by actually following the rules.  Likewise, by obeying the rules of video games, we gain the entertainment, challenge, competition, etc., that its gameplay has to offer.

For example, no one complains about Zelda's linearity.  I've never read a review that complains that a Zelda game doesn't allow you to join Gannondorf or asks for the ability to kill random townspeople.  No, in Hyrule, we are on our best behavior.  We put the cuccos back in their cages, we go on fetch quest after fetch quest, we save the children, rescue the horse, and, at the end of the day, prevent the end of freedom and goodness at the hands of Ganon.  In so doing, we feel like a hero.  We are challenged.  We participate in a story of courage and sacrifice.  These choices are part of what we expect from the game and we submit to the limitations of "goodness" gladly.

I think this is the central point that Keogh makes in his follow-up article.  Modern Warfare 3 makes no attempt to be a free-flowing, open world game where choice is a central theme (and mechanic).  This in no way makes it less of a game (After all, choices are still being made on a moment-by-moment, objective-by-objective level), it just makes it a different kind of game than Walker wanted to play or expected to play.

The core difference between Keogh and Walker's playthroughs also comes down to their beliefs of what a player should be.  Increasingly, I think this is what will divide games more than anything else in the coming few years.  Must players, necessarily, be the sole decision maker for how the game progresses (e.g. Minecraft)?  Or can players take a slight back-seat position to the designer's decisions (e.g. Final Fantasy)?

I wholeheartedly support Keogh's final conclusion and I think he says it more elegantly than I could.  So here it is:

So this is what I ask of you [Walker], and of all videogame critics and players alike: stop using “freedom” as a metric for a game’s quality or, even worse, for a game’s gameness. Every game is a dance between player and code, but that doesn’t mean the player always gets to lead. A game that leads the player can be just as meaningful, significant, intelligent, stimulating or exhilarating as a game that lets the player do whatever they wish (within the games confines). The player is not the centre of the equation, and neither is the game. It’s the interrelationship between the player and the game that matters most.

Minecraft Chronicles, pt. 2

I’ve been on this island for months, probably.  After those first few nights, struggling to scrape together enough supplies to survive, I’ve made a decent home.  I’ve plumbed the depths of a huge cavern.  I’ve mapped out my surrounding ocean so that I know where to go next.  To that end, I’ve been slowly building out a minecart track to the nearest continent. 

It’s been a few weeks of work on the track.  It’s slow going.  Iron is not exactly the most abundant resource in my caverns.  I’ll lay out 64 tracks, spend a few days finding iron, lay out 64 tracks, etc…  This morning, I finally completed the stone support going off to the continent and a thought struck me.  Why am I building track out here?  Why don’t I just move my base?  Heck, why don’t I go find a village?  That’s why I came here in the first place, right?

I head back to my base and gather a few supplies.  My clock, a compass, enough materials for a new map as I’m exploring, a few pickaxes and swords.  Basic survival stuff.  Maps are huge, right?  It surely won’t take long to find a village.

After about a week of exploring, I’ve exhausted my map.  No village that I could find anywhere in its borders.  Disappointed, I start heading back home, across the forest, through the huge swamp, and over a very nice plain.  I take a look at my map to make sure I’m walking the correct bearing, when all of a sudden, I fall.

Turns out that plain had a few ravines cutting through it.  Big ravines.  My insides are squashed out by gravity and, in my last moments, I see my two maps, clock, a good amount of iron, some gold, and all of my tools scatter across the ground.

Horrified, I respawn all the way back home.  Now mapless, I have no idea how I’ll get back to my body to get all my valuables back.  All I had left in my base was a half-used stone pickaxe.  Trusting in the map I had somewhat memorized in my head, I immediately run in the direction I think my stuff might be.

It’s four days of wandering before things start looking somewhat familiar.  There’s the forest that I crossed through.  And the edge of that desert.  And there’s a bunch of pigs here.  I think that’s near the plain.  Lo and behold, I came across the very same plain that I traipsed across before.  Before long, I found the ravine, all of my belongings still at the bottom. 

Very carefully, I mined my way to the bottom of the ravine, accidentally hurting myself in the last little jump.  But everything was there.  Now, to get back up…

I did it.

Hey.

Guess what?

It's over.

A month ago, I wrote this post, challenging myself to practice thinking and writing over the course of 30 days.  In that time, I have written 30 posts, lots of words, and thought quite a bit.  I've started directing my first short film, reconsidered my career, and gotten rid of my home internet service.  Are you ready for some life lessons from all this?

1. Discipline is great.  It's really worth it to sit down and force yourself to do something.

2. Planning ahead is better.  Knowing that, at the end of the day, I'd have to write something has made me think more intentionally throughout my day.  I actually look for ideas to articles.  I write them down.  I live life more interestingly when I know I have to bring home something of worth to share with my adoring fans (read: whoever clicks on the links to get here).

3. I think I still like writing.  So that's nice.

4. Hm.  I'm sure there'll be more.

Tonight's post sort of snuck up on me, to be honest.  By now, I'm so stuck in the rhythm of blogging every night that it's weird to think that the required part is over (for now).  I still have several ideas written down for stuff to talk about (including the upcoming Minecraft Chronicles) - and that's all just stuff in my head.  Can you even imagine what will happen if I started reading more criticism and responding to that?  Or worse, actually playing video games and thinking critically about them?  Good heavens.  It's staggering.

So thanks for sticking around this last month.  The posts will  by no means cease just because I'm not requiring it of myself.  In fact, I might just keep up the blog-a-day thing for a while longer.  See how far it'll go, ya know?

Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Like many other bloggers (probably, I think...), here's a small list of things I'm thankful for:

1. Food.  It's a simple thing.  I take it for granted.  
2. Clean water.  Whenever I want it.  It even gets heated! 
3. A family that loves each other.  
4. A mom and dad who are best friends.  Their marriage has never, ever faltered.  They've had to put up with a lot through the years, but I have never doubted their love for one another.
5. Sisters.  I guess.  
6. A full time job that I like that's sort of in my field. 
7. A location for the short film I'm working on.

You know what?  It's positively obscene how much I have to be thankful for.  I am a tremendously blessed person and no list, no matter how long, can capture the number or quality of gifts that the Lord has lavished me with.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Minecraft Chronicles, pt 1.

I've been playing more Minecraft lately.  Maybe you've noticed.

So I'm combining a couple of blog-tested ideas for a few posts.  Since gamers should be artists and I love telling stories and stories have characters, my Minecraft Chronicles shall center on my desire to find a village.  And you're going to hear about it!

The more I work hard to find that village, the more interesting things will be, right? 

Here's hoping.  For you guys' sake.