Narrative for Massively Multiplayer Online Games
Introduction
Narratology is, in its broadest sense, the study of story and story telling. This is the oldest form of communication known before man knew language cave painting’s existed which told stories of the peoples life’s, exploits and learning’s. In a traditional sense narrative is a linear process stories begin, events occur and the story concludes.
Narrative is present in all forms of media however in one of our newest forms of media, computer games, narrative is under some debate since narrative implies a narrator i.e. a story being conveyed from a perspective to the reader, computer games can traditionally fall within this category too since while the illusion of freedom is often conveyed little actual freedom exists. The player is free to explore within a scene but is restricted by the programming to experience pre-made narrative elements. However since the advent of the internet online gaming has sky rocketed in popularity, from the lowly beginning’s of text based dungeon exploration games to the gargantuan popularity and spread of World of Warcraft (well over 10 million subscribers).
The advent of online gaming has forced games designer to re-examine their use of narratology, while interaction with NPC’s can be given a strict narrative structure the majority of interaction is between players and thus cannot be controlled by the bindings of the designers story narrative. In the following essay I hope to outline a possible structure of an MMORPG that allows for narrative and player interaction to co-exist.
The Essay on A Narrative Story About Culture
In our society, there are always conflicts in different situations between cultures. In China, people like to eat wild animals during Chinese New Year and the winter. It is a traditional behaviour in China. However, it seems unusual in the United States. Americans do not really like it, especially eating their pets. When I was a teenager, my family liked to invite friends to our home for ...
My MMORPG concept
To construct an effective mmorpg world I feel its best to consider the current front runner in the mmorpg world (WoW).
Warcrafts lore is extensive and rich for those who chose to delve into it, since the success of the original Warcraft strategy game it has been built upon becoming as rich and deep as more traditional Universe’s like Tolkein’s middle earth. However the character and broader concepts within the universe stick to very relatable concepts, good vs. evil, nature vs. industry and the struggle against destiny. These are all obviously perfect for a format such as a computer game since they are conflicts that while considered core beliefs by large majorities of the world’s population (religion proposes good v.s. evil for example) actualizing these struggles is impossible for most people. Computer game’s allow the player to participate, on a fantastical and grand scale, in these conflicts. The characters in world of Warcraft often follow well established archetype’s though the main development of their personalities only really occurred within Warcraft 3. Since then the major NPC’s within the universe have settled into relatively simple personalities Arthas is a mirror for the corruption of power despite good intentions, Thrall is the charismatic tribal leader, Varian Wrynn despite being a late addition to the world of Warcraft franchise is a more interesting but fundamentally shallow personalty a “good” king who has prejudices against the seemingly barbaric tribes that are the horde.
So to my own concept for an MMORPG universe, a lot of different worlds and settings have been explored by the MMO market from high fantasy to sci-fi and
kung-fu, I first settled upon a historical setting but after fleshing out narratives and idea’s for a couple of settings I decided that using an established era as the base for a universe throws too many problems into the mix, people have expectations of different forces and if historical settings are used it is of course established history and thus the outcome of any event will be scoffed at if different and predictable if accurate. So to take advantage of the implicit lore within our history and how as a race we are inherently draw to human history as a theme for our fantasies.
The Essay on Poa-Historical Cost Concept
Historical Cost Concept Definition: Historical cost concept is an accounting concept that states that all assets in the financial statement should be reported based on their original cost, at the time of purchase. Example: James buys a building for $2,000,000 ten years ago, the value of the building now is $3,000,000 but in James's accounting records, the building is still recorded as $2,000,000 ( ...
The problem with using this setting however is the use of historical figures within the narratology, its hard to elaborate or change an existing and well documented historical figure to suit the narratology without, in my opinion ruining the novelty of using historical figures. We expect perhaps exaggerations of their personalities but nothing dramatically out of character.
The structure of the MMO would follow a system of a hub like future world for each of three factions. The agenda of each faction is to influence time for their own gains, or protect it from change, though from the perspective of each faction their goals and method’s are just and right.
Since this concept removes the concept of time from everywhere except the hub worlds narrative can be told within small bubble of pre-existing historical events with the twist of the player factions attempts to influence that event. All factions participate in each historical event and while there are stand alone quests following the standard narrative structure of a quest given a task completed and either a bigger quest or a reward these will branch towards the end of a particular events story into a more open Faction v.s faction conflict to change or prevent change to the time line. This will allow players to experience the single player story lines generate within the game and also influence the game world in a more substantial way than in most game’s by gaining control of strategic resources for their faction which will affect what is available to them in their world hub’s. While traditional narratology would say that a story and a game cannot co-exist I have to strongly disagree!
Greg Costikyan says:
In essence, MMOs are “story settings” – but have almost lost the connection to story in exchange for becoming good social environments as well as good games. (http://www.electronicbookreview.com/thread/firstperson/storyish)
A World Without Religion – Personal Essay
Each religion has its own set of rules and regulations that each person has to strictly follow. But there are plenty of hypocrites that do not follow the rules in a serious manner. For example, Mormons, the ones that go to church every Sunday then go home and drink beer are defiantly in this category. Another example is Jewish believers, they cannot consume pork, but I am positive that they all do ...
While this is true a “story” in the strictest sense of the word must have a beginning middle and end , and an MMO often has no end to the story this does not mean an MMO is devoid of story and narratalogical constructs. Quest development still provides advancement within a small sub story of the over arcing theme of the game. Though since the world is persistent and confined by time and financial costs its impossible to truly let the player affect the world in any true sense. Though I propose to use minor changes to singular environments let a player feel a sense of impact upon the world thus drawing them into the story aspects even if this is only an illusion. Which after all is what matter is a player feels they are interacting with an over arching story even if they are not we have succeeded as designers.
The factions are as follows:
The Wardens: The wardens are a faction of police like, well funded and well equipped time travellers using wonderfully crafted, crisp clean armour and equipment. The over-riding theme of this faction is to mirror the current state of America and its role within the world providing protection to the time lines and policing it often with excessive force and sometimes causing more damage than good, but ultimately justifying it through “the greater good”. Their NPC’s are often fervently religious (though to a more anonymous religion to avoid any religious conflict) and always dedicated to their tasks never giving up till the task is complete or they are eliminated. This faction will probably end up being the middle ground in terms of popularity a lot of players will prefer the anarchic style of other factions as this is a commonly held personality trait amongst the MMO demographic. However the mission style will often be very different to other factions taking direct and wide spectrum actions against the other factions resulting in a larger density of “big” quests with large set pieces, and more team based combat.
Example NPC: The factions current commander in chief is Goran Aegis. A tall strong middle aged man slightly greying hair but strong and fervent in his cause. His religious ideals are less fanatical than most of his high command yet at his core he is still a believer. The concept of this character is meant to be an idealised American president strong, charismatic, religious but not offensively so this serves to attract players to what at first glance appear to be “the good guys” though deeper into their story arc’s its discovered that their motives can be less pure and their methods can often be ruthless. Goran himself is tortured by this aspect of his role often agonising over assigning these less than honourable tasks but being lobbied by his military advisor’s to proceed. I think this will both make him a likeable, due to his lack of faith in underhanded tactics and while falling into the factions theme by believing in his religion does not overwhelm the player with fervour, which for gamers can often be a turn off in less high fantasy settings. Most of these traits are mirrored within the average gamers psyche or are considered normal in general, this makes Goran very relatable and making it easy for players to project themselves into his world and into his shoes.
The Essay on The Female Role in Quest Stories
When we think of “quest” stories what do we see? Knights in shinny armor? Magic? Fantasy? Fighting? Damsels in distress? Yes, in quest stories we do have a hero, which is predominately male, handsome, brave, and smart. His part is to defeat the foe, save the damsel, and ride off at the end, right? Sometimes as readers we focus too much attention on the hero and miss other characters that ...
The Illmatyr: The Illmatyr are a fanatical sect of the main religion inhabiting the game universe they are ruthless determined and unobstructed by the moral and social restrictions of the larger warden faction. This faction is designed as a representation of what would currently be described as a terrorist organisation. The faction uses morally questionable tactics to achieve its goals, primarily against the larger warden faction most often based around their differing interpretation of their religious beliefs. The NPC’s for this faction are always embedded within warden cities and outpost’s forcing the two factions to co-exist without complete knowledge of the Illmatyr’s existence warden player will only be able to know a player as Illmatyr once they are outside the sanctuary of a city hub. The NPC’s personalities are always determined and fervently religious believing in their concept’s of the religion above all other and seeing anything but their goals and beliefs as harmful to the universe and that their actions are “saving us all from our selves”. I think as a narrative construct this faction provides a useful antagonist for the main faction a diametrically opposed set of individuals who object to them on a base level, and from a more reflective sense they give people a chance to understand how these groups work in the real world and that their beliefs while objectionable to the outside are considered normal and as right as right can be within.
The Essay on Mario Lemieux Players The Game
Mario Lemieux Born: 1965 Mario Lemieux was born on October 5, 1965 in Montreal, Quebec. He had two brothers, Alain and Richard. They both also had talent in hockey, so when he was four years old, his parents sent him to the local hockey rink to learn how to skate. He was put under the watchful eye of Fernand Fichaud, Mr. Fichaud had seen his brothers play and knew that the Lemieux possessed ...
Example NPC: Maliphus Sorak leader of the Illmatyr an ex-cleric of his religion a religious firebrand seeking the restoration of his religion as the core value of the universe with all following its teachings and to purge the world of its depravities. Corrupted by his own personal losses to the lowest reaches of humanity, his daughter fell into drugs and prostitution and his wife was murdered trying to rescue her from her pimp, he now sees no options but to do whatsoever it takes to restore the value of religion to all and bring about a new age of honour and good. While most player’s of MMO games are not especially religious within the confines of an artificial world the opportunity to become a warrior of, from at least the perspective of this faction, good is a tempting and popular option. Maliphus is perhaps the least relatable of all the major NPC’s since his fervour and beliefs are not widely held within our world but the archetype is a very recognisable one of the crusader and often used in video games and so will be recognised and enjoyed for his qualities.
Elritis corporation: This Faction has very simple and straightforward motives nothing as hard to define as what is good or bad just profit driven by greed. Using time travel as a technology to lay claim to resources in a time where they are useless so expensive minerals belong to them before they become expensive. This faction is the only non-human race though they do appear very close to humans with some minor anatomical changes, no blobs from outer space since players need to be able to project upon their avatar and this is much easier when they are at the very least humanoid. Their NPC’s are always in the form of corporate leaders and their heirachy structure is very simple, the more resources you control the more important you become. While their actions are seen by the other faction as reckless use of time travel their own culture only views this technology as an opportunity to gain even more wealth and influence.
Example NPC: Maliana Jourgus, Maliana is the current leader and CEO of the Elritis corporation and is an extremely crafty, clever and manipulative individual. She sees all time as an opportunity for her organisation to gather more resources and increase their influence in the universe and the consequences are minimal in comparison to the profit to be made. While many people are often reluctant to work for “the man” in video game worlds the Machiavellian plans and anarchic way’s of the corporation will attract player’s to join and enjoy the experience of interacting with Maliana.
The Essay on Player Positions in Football Game
In football game, each player on a team is assigned to different position on the field. A football team on the field is consists of one goal keeper and other ten players with different position. Each position has different area and different responsibility in the game. With different responsibility and different area to play, each position in football game is also requires different ability to ...
Example quest line:
For the purposes of demonstrating the quest structure I’m proposing I will first create a map tree showing the structure of the quest and its node’s and the actions and consequences written into the quest. This quest is written in the early “romance of the three kingdom’s ear of china. When a player enters these area’s he is disguised making it impossible to tell what faction he/she belongs to.
This is the set-up for the initial phase of a short quest line which is part of the over-riding story of this era “the battle of Red Cliff”. In this initial phase the pieces of the story are set into place the Villain Cao Cao is closing on the antagonist Liu Bei and the player is influencing the flow of the event’s leading to the finale. Cao Cao is portrayed as a ruthless and wanting the destruction of Liu Bei above all else.
This is the connecting node between he initial set-up and the finale of this small quest building tension by hinting at a battle on a larger than previous scale. Cao Cao’s character is also further developed showing him to be a master manipulator taking the players perceived failure and threatening execution if he fails at his next task or in the case of the Elritis “rewarding” them with a further battle.
The player has no encountered Cao Ren despite being on the side of the villainous Cao Cao he is shown as a friendly personality. His character is developed further in the era quest lines but for now he is just to be introduced. This quest part acts as the finale of the introduction to the Three Kingdom’s era introducing some of the heroes and villains of the time and showing the player a taste of the scale of combat he will participate in.
The various different quests for each faction serve to reinforce the values of each faction and introduce the player to the likely course he will be taking during this Era.
This is the conclusion of this short quest line introducing the era to the player. These conclusions glimpse the player their next task and further re-enforce the values of their faction. Its important to push these values at least early on in the game to help set in the player’s mind their role within the universe and allow them to begin to feel in character. Hopefully the quest theme’s for each faction should ensure the player feels less like a dog’s body for the quest giver and more like part of a faction doing his part. This quest follows a very simple narrative structure for quest’s a set up
quest, introducing the player to the quest line. Followed by a transition to a new area where the quest will continue. Then a finale providing the pay off for the grind leading up to it. Later in the quest lines I would like to introduce the concept of player driven narrative, meaning not the players will create their own story but they will choose the outcome of that time line this would confer a reward based on the difficulty of the time line on the winning faction for the proceeding week.
This gives the players a feeling of empowerment of the over arcing story of the universe at least within the confines of their own server, something missing from MMO and providing an extra narrative to players. The server will evolve its own narrative a weaker faction struggling again stronger ones. Perhaps strategies could be employed by the factions choosing which Era’s to push their effort towards to gain control of different rewards, producing even if the narrative is not kept strictly within the confines of the story aspect of the game, i.e. they may not play in character, there will still be a narrative introduced in the interplay between each faction.
Conclusions
Narrative in games is a fiercely contested subject many say a game cannot have narrative as the two are complete opposites. Which if your solely concerned with following the strict definitions of each word then yes, this is entirely true. However I think a what’s misunderstood is the role of game play and narratives with a computer game many discussion’s on the matter online I have read always reference back to games such as chess. This is all well and good that is in fact a game and yes imposing a narrative upon it would be pointless but the difference comes with computer games where you control a character, a living (within their virtual world) being this confers a personality to them in the eye’s of the consumer and thus makes narrative possible. Humans always want to tell stories, its one of the main ways we communicate with each other so when we play a game yes we are interacting with a narrative and by the current definition of narrative that destroys it, but I think that’s incorrect we are not truly interacting the narrative the interaction I see discussed is implying a choice within the narrative yet a game is limited by the data in the program no new choices can be created and so no true interaction really occurs. I found a passage within an online article discussing Narratology in games which says what I’m trying to get at better than I could:
I am not proposing a literary approach that isolates narrative scripts from the rules of the game and studies them for their intrinsic aesthetic merit (though such an approach would be justified if game narratives rose to an appropriate aesthetic level), but rather, a functional ludo-narrativism that studies how the fictional world, realm of make-believe, relates to the playfield, space of agency. By connecting the strategic dimension of gameplay to the imaginative experience of a fictional world, this approach should do justice to the dual nature of video games. – Marie-Laure Ryan Computer Games as Narrative -The Ludology versus Narrativism Controversy
Bibliography
All references are referenced at the text but the following were used in my research for this essay.
Yee, N. (2006).
The Demographics, Motivations and Derived Experiences of Users of
Massively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments.
Merry. J. (2007) Narrative in computer games. (location unknown web link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/40384/Narrative-in-Computer-Games#about)
Costikyan. G.(2002) I have no word & I Must design: Toward a critical vocabulary for games.
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Player Approaches quest giver Cao Cao (early Chinese lord)
Player Race Affects quest type but not individual’s reaction
Cao Cao: Greeting young warrior, my general’s tell me you are a most promising soldier it pleases me to see young men with such talent found within my army. Talents such as your however must be tested to be proven and improved with this in mind I have a task for you.
(if player is warden)
[Avatar name] in the next valley lies the traitor Liu Bei and his army ready to be crushed by our forces you must go to this valley and destroy his scouts to allow us to advance upon him with the element of surprisee, hurry the quicker you kill them the sooner Liu Bei can be brought to justice!!
The wardens require Liu Bei is not caught by surprise Find and attack Liu Bei’s scouts when they are low on health take their insignia as proof of their demise but do not land a killing blow they must warn Liu Bei.
(if player is Illmatyr)
[Avatar name], Liu Bei must be crushed! But we cannot achieve victory while his scouts roam freely through the next valley any advance by our army would alert them and Liu Bei would be free to flee before we could engage him which the coward is sure to do! Go to the valley eliminate his scouts clear the way for our victory!
The Illmatyr require Cao Cao does not succeed but Liu Bei is to believe divine intervention is the only reason for his success. To this end you must attack the scouts but use the provided holographic decoy to produce an Animal that will attack you before you eliminate the scouts, once the word is spread Liu Bei is sure to believe the god’s have saved him this defeat.
(Continued on next page)
(if the player is Elritis)
[Avatar name] you are a trusted soldier in my army and my task for you is a simple one. In the valley beyond here Liu Bei has scouts waiting to warn of our armies advance, we cannot let this happen Liu Bei must not know of our advance till my sword is at his neck!
The corporation require Cao Cao succeeds in eliminating Liu Bei in return we will gain control of a small but valuable district in rural china harbouring rich mineral reserves. Go to the valley, eliminate the scouts and do not let a single one survive or send warning.
The player has succeeded in his initial quest and now returns to Cao Cao and turns the quest in for a moderate reward of experience.
(if the player is a Warden or Illmatyr)
Failure is unacceptable [avatar name], your failure has cost us the element of surprise But the battle and your life is not lost yet. Our cavalry is ready to attack as we speak poised above the village ready to sweep in and catch the garrison there by surprise go to my cousin Cao Ren there and assist him in our assault.
[For both factions]
The [Faction name] require you to go meet with Cao Ren and prepare for the assault make haste soldier we must ensure these event go as fate intended!
(for Elritis)
Excellent work [avatar name] you are truly as skilled as my generals told me, you have impressed me a great deal today, but your task is not over the garrison now lies lightly defended and unaware of the doom waiting in the valley, my cousin Cao Ren has taken some cavalry to the valley to attack the village, it is your honour to join the assault and destroy these traitors!
The corporation wants you to assist Cao Ren’s assault but first you must join up with him in the valley near the village, go time is of the essence.
The player arrives to meet Cao Ren outside the village he is surrounded by cavalry all armoured and ready to attack.
[For warden and Illmatyr]
Cao Ren: So your the soldier I’ve been waiting for, hmm, well you look strong enough don’t worry your failure to eliminate the scout’s is none of my concern we will achieve victory whether they are prepared or not!
Well there’s no use in giving them any more time to set up defences mount up we will destroy Liu Bei’s forces once and for all!
[For wardens]
Mount up with Cao Ren soldier and join his offensive. It saddens me to send anyone on this mission but all must be eliminated, especially Liu Bei’s wife guarded by a very competent soldier Zhao Yu, be careful with him he must not be killed but he will defend her and her child with extreme fervour.
[For Illmatyr]
Mount up with Cao Ren and ride to the village when the battle begins find the warrior Zhao Yu he will be guarding Liu Bei’s Child and wife Zhao yu must be incapacitated but do not kill him… Ensure the wife and child escape from this battle, this miracle will ensure Liu Bei’s belief and spread that belief for centuries to come.
[For Elritis]
Ah the hero of the hour as arrived your most welcome. I must say I am impressed you managed to eliminate those scouts without the village being alerted no easy feat. Well let us proceed to the task in hand [Avatar name] ride with me to VICTORY!
Mount up with Cao Ren and lay waste to the village. The warrior Zhao Yu guard’s Liu BBei’s wife and child kill them all with them dead Liu Bei will be distraught and unable to lead his army properly ensuring our success. Be wary though Zhao Yyu is a famed warrior of his time and will not let you take them easily, eliminate him!
For all quest chains they player will then enter into a scripted cavalry charge into the village where he and the warriors are dismounted and proceed to the objective. In all circumstances Zhao Yu cannot be defeated he is a key character to the final act of the Era he will always escape with Liu Bei’s child but the wife can be killed or saved depending on the player’s objective.
[For warden’s]
I would congratulate you soldier but I’m sure no one wishes to be congratulated for murdering a civilian. But it was necessary to ensure the sanctity of the time line here. Your actions will not go unrewarded but we cannot leave this time yet you must find Liu Bei’s camp and meet with the strategist Kong Ming assist him in what ever way you can.
[For Illmatyr]
Excellent work soldier lives have been saved and Liu Bei believes he is protected by the gods. You are truly my finest student you will be handsomely rewarded now and in the next life. Our task here is however not over Cao Cao will still pursue Liu Bei and we must ensure his survival go south to the wetlands and find Sun Quan’s palace volunteer to fight for his army, when Liu Bei contacts him for support we must ensure the alliance happens.
[For Elritis]
Excellent work [avatar name] you have ingratiated yourself to Cao Cao’s army and led them to a great victory a pity the child and Zhao Yu escaped but they are irrelevant. Cao Cao still need some more convincing to make you a general and take Lord ship over the land we require so go find his army they are mustering at the river join them again and do what ever it takes.
All factions will receive an excellent reward of experience and an item.
