Transcript Social Play Robin Burke GAM 224

Social Play
Robin Burke
GAM 224
Outline
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Admin
Rules paper
 Design project
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Social Play
Rules paper
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Grades
AA---- BBB+++ CC++- DDD+
 RWRW
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Rewrites
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Must
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May
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RW grade or
C- or below
anybody
but grade is not guaranteed to go up
Rewrite due date
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2/27
Must submit original graded assignment
• and new hard copy
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As well as to turnitin.com
Grading
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(2 * rewrite_grade + original_grade) / 3
example: Rewrite = A, Original = C(2*4 + 1.67) / 3 = 3.22 = B / B+
Problems
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Citation
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Correct
• Grand Theft Auto III Rockstar Games, 2001, Playstation 2.
• Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design
Fundamentals (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), 390.
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Incorrect
• anything else
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2nd citation
• none necessary for the game
• Salen and Zimmerman, 232.
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Unsupported assertions
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"World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG ever."
Might be true
• needs to be supported with a citation – according to whom?
Thesis
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More specific is better
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Blah
• "Halo 2 shows a lot of emergence."
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Better
• "The weapons systems in Halo 2 are tightly
coupled with many aspects of the game
generating emergent gameplay at both the
strategic and tactical levels."
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In many cases
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the conclusion of the paper contained a
good thesis statement
grab this and put it in front
Focus
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Do not "brain dump"
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the description of the game's premise
• should be just enough to get the reader started
• should focus on those areas that matter for your argument
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Example
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Unfocused
• "Madden has rules about .... [2 pages of description]"
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Focused
• "The main conflicts in Madden are set up by the standard rules
of NFL football and the operational rules for controlling the
game.... [2 or 3 paragraphs about these rules]"
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Warning sign
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Your paragraphs are too long
• 10 lines maximum
• otherwise you probably don't know what your point is
Focus cont'd
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A 5-page paper is very short
You cannot argue persuasively for more than one or
two points
Many papers tried to do too much
 every conflict in a game
 every game theoretic decision
Pick the most significant points that support your case
 argue them in depth with concrete examples from the
game
Don't slavishly follow my outlines
 if it doesn't apply, don't mention it
Proofreading
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The spellchecker is no substitute for
human judgment
loose (happens to shoelaces)
 lose (happens in a game)
 their (belonging to them)
 there (location reference)
 intact (together)
 in tacked (?)
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#1 Tip
Read your paper out loud
 You will learn
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if your overall argument holds together
 if your syntax is garbled
 if you are rambling on and on
 if your transitions are abrupt
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Schemas
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Emergence
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≠ finding two object coupled together
• the start button is coupled to the beginning of the game
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Game theory
 ≠ finding decisions that balance risk / reward
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you are looking for a system in which one object / behavior /
variable is highly coupled to many other things
what is the larger system of such decisions?
how does the player learn about the risks and rewards?
Conflict
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≠ identifying one or two types of conflict that are present
what is the system of conflict?
how do different types of conflict interact?
Halo
Social Play
What is going on here?
 The play is not just on the screen
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it is in the room
 between the players
 between the audience and the players
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Social Play
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This is the foundation of most precomputer games
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the only way to have an opponent
Important factor in play experience
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how else to explain "Thunderstorm"?
Social organization
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Internally-derived
the game assign social roles to
players
 or game roles with social
consequences
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Externally-derived
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the players bring their own
relationships to the game
Play community
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We talk about the community that forms around a
game
 an instance of a game
• (a game in play)
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Can be large
• Players + spectators + referees + hot dog vendors + ....
bounded game community
Different from the community that forms around a
game
 in order to promote it and share experiences
 unbounded game community
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Roles
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Roles are sets of characteristic
behaviors
enabled or required by the game rules
 taking a role often requires other
players to assume opposing roles
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Example
"it" vs the rest in a game of tag
 offensive vs defensive team in football
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Roles cont'd
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Games let players assume many social roles
Sometimes
 very different from their normal ones
• thug
• cyborg warrior
• king
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But with distance
 with low risk
 "it's only a game"
Some people (usually non-gamers) find social role
experimentation disturbing
 but this is not different from informal play
Roles in MMORPGs
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Achievers
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Explorers
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want to see more of the game
know the most about the map
know all of the spells and abilities
Socializers
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want to achieve the highest levels and best gear
will explore in order to do so
will socialize to learn more
want to make friends and engage in group activities
will accumulate levels as necessary to keep up with group
Killers / Griefers
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want to exercise power over others
will accumulate levels / gear in order to be able to cause more
harm
Designing for roles
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Game design can enhance or inhibit roles
 Turn off / allow player vs player combat
• = discourage / encourage the "killer" role
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Enhance player to player communication
• = encourage "socializer" role
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Release constant geographic expansions
• = keep "explorer" types busy
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Make some quests unachievable by single individual
• = require socializing by "achievers"
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Some games do all of these things
 to try to satisfy all of the audiences
Emergent social phenomena
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Rules have social consequences
Not always predictable how they will be
realized
May result in unexpected gameplay
scenarios
Some games try to eliminate this
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Bridge
• partners are screened from each other to prevent
signals
• other than standard bidding conventions
Assassin (Fall 2005)
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individual vs individual
 one target per person
 randomly assigned
 restrictions on kill locations
Consequences
 after an initial burst of kills
• nothing
• no movement for weeks
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numerous rule changes to speed things up
ultimately dropped players with no kills
• left active players
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Explanation
 "lying low" was very successful
 social networks too sparse
Assassin (Winter 2006)
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team vs team
 assimilation rule
 zombie rule
 no location restrictions
Consequences
 faster paced game
 (may be over by next week)
 students skipping class
Explanation
 social networks larger
 possibilities for teamwork
Emergence
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Couplings occur not just with in-game
objects and behaviors
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But also with external individuals and
relationships
Can be hard to predict
Rules as social contract
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Remember that play exists as a safe space
for conflict
Rules
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mutually-agreed upon
binding
repeatable
Play requires agreement
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agreement generates a social relationship
social relationships require "negotiation" to
maintain
Rule negotiation
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The game becomes a place where social
relationships are expressed
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"House rules"
• Players agree to follow their own rules
• may allow violations of standard rules
• may enforce normally implicit rules
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Social tensions in the play community
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may be expressed as conflict over rules
Book's example
• Foursquare
• "Rooie Rules"
Rule negotiation cont'd
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Not available (yet) in single-player games
But always possible in multi-player games
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limiting factor: tools for communication
Example
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WoW
• communication with opposite faction very, very
limited
• gameplay reason
• sense of distance and hostility to opposing side
Rule breaking
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Unsportsmanlike
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Cheater
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follows the rules but doesn't acknowledge
the play community
violates the spirit of the game
violates the rules in order to win
wants unfair advantage but is still playing
Spoil-sport
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violates the magic circle
denies the game its space
Forbidden play
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Play with social relationships
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The game creates distance
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can turn into play that explores taboo areas
of behavior
in which (otherwise) unacceptable acts
are contained and removed
Example
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"I killed my professor today"
"Spin the Bottle"
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Rules
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1 player in the middle, the rest in a circle
center player spins a bottle
kisses the player pointed to
What does the kiss mean?
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execution of an operational rule
• play relationship
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satisfaction of a desire for intimacy
• romantic relationship
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The game generates deliberate ambiguity
"Spin the Bottle" cont'd
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Play with social roles
allows "trying on" social possibilities
 with lower risk
 without all of the normal
consequences
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Cybering
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using the socialization mechanics of an on-line game
to create forbidden romantic / sexual play
Unbounded community
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How wide does the social network of a
game spread?
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Not all on-line together
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can be very large
5 million World of Warcraft subscribers (1/6)
or in the same realm
But there are other means of connection
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blogs
fan sites
guilds
Guilds
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social organizations
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specifically for ORPG players
mutual support
 in-game group activities
 might have tens or hundreds of
members
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Design questions
What kinds of social relationships do
you want the game to support /
discourage?
 What tools do players need to enable
these relations?
 Can social networks help market the
game and draw in new players?
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Monday
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Presentations
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submit the powerpoint slides by
Sunday night