More Dramatic Than the Previous

Welcome to the more dramatic continuation of elements in games!

This blog is going to cover what we learned in class regarding the dramatic elements in games. So, the list of dramatic elements I have for you includes: Challenge, Play, Premise, Character, and Story. Allow me to go into more detail on each.

First up is Challenge. There right away needs to be a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment when it comes to challenge. This can be determined by the abilities of a specific player. Most importantly,  there needs to be a good balance between the player's skill of the game and the difficulty of the challenge in the game. So if the player has little skill of the game, the challenges shouldn't be difficult. Likewise, if the challenge is very difficult, the player must be very skilled at the game by the time you introduce difficult challenges. If the challenge is too low when the player is skilled it will cause boredom and when it's reversed where the challenge is too high while the player isn't very skilled it can cause the player anxiety, both of which are not enjoyable for the player.

Next dramatic element in games is Play. According to Roger Caillois, the French Sociologist, there are four types of play and they are: Agon, Alea, Mimicry, and Ilinx. Agon interprets to competitive play such as fencing or wrestling. Alea is less competitive and instead chance based play such as Roulette. Mimicry is actually make believe play which can relate to theater. Lastly, there is Ilinx, which is actually Vertigo Play. Vertigo can be related to mountain climbing or skiing.

I know Player Types isn't in the list of dramatic elements in games, but allow me to quickly list the player types. So the 9 player types discussed in class are: explorer, collector, achiever, joker, artist, director, storyteller, performer, and craftsman.

Back to the dramatic elements, we have Premise. This sets the time period of the game, the place the game is located, the main characters and their backstory, the objective the main character needs to complete based on the other factors of the premise, as well as some action that is propelling the story forward. An example of a good premise is the one for the new Gears of War Judgement game, "Baird, Cole, Garron, and Sofia — the four members of Gears of War: Judgment’s Kilo Squad — have been charged for treason because they didn’t follow orders, stole equipment, and their actions could end up killing millions of people they swore to protect."

Up next we have Character. The drama of the events in the game can be depicted through the player's actions. The player's empathy propels their movement toward a resolution. This mirrors the audiences's fears and desires. The Protagonist or main character always has an Antagonist or main opponent. There are difference ways to characterize the methods of a character such as: wants, needs, hopes, and fears.

Lastly on our dramatic elements of games list, we have Story. The story is an uncertain outcome that fosters engagement of the player. Often stories for games will have a backstory covering the setting and the main conflict the player will encounter in the gameplay. Most times in game, the player's choice will affect the games outcome. This is done by having branching story lines. My favorite example of this is Dead Rising and how the player's choices will affect the ending of the game and how far you can actually get into the game. A story can also emerge from gameplay. Now a story needs meaningful conflict which draws the players into the game emotionally and builds tension about the outcome. Game's story also needs a dramatic conflict which is game conflict essentially and this form of conflict must escalate for the dramatic conflict to be effective.

This is all for this topic covered in class on dramatic game elements. Next week be prepared to see either another blog on course material covered in class or a blog based on emotional contagion.