ICING on the Content Cake Heidi McDonald Game Designer Schell Games LLC Heidi is a n00b What this talk is NOT about COM106 Assignment Examine an area of media that interests you and report on your results ID: 311308
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Writing the Romance-able NPC:ICING on the Content CakeHeidi McDonaldGame Designer, Schell Games LLCSlide2
=
Heidi is a n00bSlide3
What this talk is NOT aboutSlide4Slide5
COM106 Assignment:“Examine an area of media that interests you and report on your results.”
ZOMG!!!
I can
studiez
GAMEZ for GRADEZ!Slide6
Why study this?
Learn about player motivation and behavior
Learn how important NPC romance actually is
Identify patterns and models that can help improve NPC romanceSlide7
OK, so…“Relationships in Games…”Analyzed my own gaming behavior.
Asked a few other people about their gaming behavior.
Realized…hey, this could be a legit study!Slide8
Who here has ever had a crush on an NPC in a video game?Slide9Slide10
ROGUEROGUEEMOEMOCHASTE
EVIL
EXTREMIST
VIOLENTSlide11Slide12
Jesse SchellJennifer Brandes
Hepler
Sheri
Graner
Ray
Yes! You might be on to something!
Study it some more!
Cool! You go for it, girlfriend!
Need help with your survey questions?
No,
BioWare
doesn’t collect data like this. But if you happen to collect some…let us know!Slide13
Using SurveyMonkeyPRO’s+ Easy design+ Easy participation
+ Anonymous
+ Data makes sense
CON’s
Honesty-dependent
Not scientific
People can skip questions
People can re-take surveySlide14
The Respondents525 RespondentsAll gamers and/or game developers62% female, 33% male71% straight57% romantically attached
85% 18-40 with a 40% majority of 18-24Slide15
FEMALEMALEWhat gender character do you prefer to play when you are playing a single-player RPG?
Again: Respondents are 62% female, 33% male in real life.
But 69% prefer to play a female!Slide16
(This finding supportsNick Yee’s work.)Slide17
Do you, or would you ever role play a character with a gender different to your real-life gender?Again: Respondents are 62% female, 33% male in real life. Only 18% said NEVER, meaning that 82% of players are changing it up at least some of the time!
Sometimes
Often
Never
AlwaysSlide18
Do you, or would you ever romance a different gender character than you would in real life?OftenAlways
Sometimes
NeverSlide19
Which romance combinations have you, do you, or would you play?MalePlayer,FemaleNPC
Male
Player,
Male
NPC
Female
Player,
Male
NPC
Female
Player,
Female
NPCSlide20
Identity Tourism“The process of appropriating another identity on the web, and more specifically, an identity involving another gender and/or race other than one's own, particularly on the internet and in video games.”
~Lisa NakamuraSlide21
Identity TourismLet’s flip it on its head:Can Identity Tourism be a GOOD thing?Slide22
Safe Spaces?Slide23
TAKEAWAY #1Identity Tourism CAN BEa good thing that helps people’sself-awareness and tolerance.Slide24
How important is romance to your overall experience in a single-player RPG?SomewhatTake or Leave
Very
Not much
Not at allSlide25
Romance is IMPORTANT89% romance to see where the narrative goes.80% say romances add depth to their gameplay.76% romance for entertainment and to experience as much content as possible.60% HAVE had felt connection to a romance-able NPC.
53% find NPC romance emotionally stimulating.Slide26
What is most appealing about NPC romance?86% NPC’s personality77% Dialogue71% Integration of romance into game narrative
65% Voice/accent
55% NPC’s back story
49% Facial features
32% Body typeSlide27
Maslow’s
Hierarchy of NeedsSlide28
TAKEAWAY #2Romance is important in single-player RPGs.Slide29
ROGUEROGUEEMOEMOCHASTE
EVIL
EXTREMIST
VIOLENTSlide30Slide31Slide32
PEOPLEBOTHAVATARSlide33
PEOPLEBOTHAVATAR
Use these!Slide34
Dr. Jane McGonigal’s TED Talk, based on her book.Slide35Slide36
Use these!Slide37
Dr. Carolyn Kaufman’s work in using Jungian Archetype and the concept of the Shadow Personality in romance writing.Slide38
A Note onUniversally Disliked DescriptorsChasteChildishHelpless
Needy
ReligiousSlide39Slide40
Use these!Slide41
Jason VandenBerghe's "5 Domains of Play" Lecture at GDC 2012
using Big 5 Theory to address player motivation.Slide42
Applying VandenBergheTo RomanceBig 5 Category
Player
Motivation
Type
of
Romance
Openness Novelty
Unconventional
characteristics
with
strange or funny backstories
Low Openness Predictability
More
predictable, archetypal
Conscientiousness Challenge
"
Hard to get" character that must
be
actively wooed and
won
Low
C-Score
Ease
of play
Damsel
in distress to be
saved
Extravterted
Stimulation
Lots
of fun
banter
Low Extraverted Low
Social
Engagement Aggressive NPC
Agreeableness Harmony
Uncomplicated
romance that ends
well
every time
Low Agreeableness Discord
Tumultuous
romance such as
Neuroticism Threat
Dark
stories or bad
endingsSlide43
TAKEAWAY #3Heidi’s ResearchGaming
Scholarship
Writing
Scholarship
ICING
…on the content cake Slide44
The ICING RecipeSlide45
The Writing Processas I’ve experienced it in games Character development
Interactive component
P
layer perspective
Story construction
EndingSlide46
ICIN
G
n
clusiveness
(Lisa Nakamura)
haracter
perspective
(Dr. Jane
McGonigal
)
nterference
(Dr. Carolyn Kaufman)
ot
using universally-hated descriptors
(Heidi’s research)
ratifying endings
(Jason
VandenBerghe
)Slide47
Now that we know…People like experimentingRomance is importantWe can make tastier ICING on the content cake
Let them eat cake!Slide48
Special Thanks:Jesse Schell / Schell Games / ETCSheri Graner Ray / Schell GamesSchell Games Co-WorkersJennifer
Brandes
Hepler
/
BioWare
BioWare
Social Network
Brenda
Garno
/
LootDrop
Jason
VandenBerghe
/
UbiSoft
The CA’s from GDC 2012
Phyrra.com
Feminists in Games
Dr. Katie
Cruger
/ Chatham University
Dr.
Prajna
Paramita
Parasher
/ Chatham University
Alex
McPhearson
/ Catalina Games
My kids, who taught me to keep asking “why”Slide49
WORKS CITED:Alexander, Phill. "He's The Kind of Girl Who Wants Matching Daggers." World of Warcraft and Philosophy. By Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger. Chicago: Open Court, 2009. 153-64. Print.Benedetti, Winda. "Is 'World of
Warcraft
' the Future of Online Dating?"
Ingame
.
Msnbc
Digital Network, 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/world-warcraft-future-online-dating-123662
>.
Kaufman, Dr. Carolyn. Archetype: The Fiction Writer's Guide to Psychology. Archetype Writing, 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. <http://www.archetypewriting.com/articles/articles_ck/archetypes3_anima-animus_partI.htm
>.
"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Motivation Theory. Project Management Course, 2005. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs.asp>.
McGonigal
, Jane. "Gaming Can Make a Better World." TED2010, Long Beach, CA. 18 Feb. 2012. Lecture.
Nakamura, Lisa.
Cybertypes
: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet.
New York:
Routledge
, 2002. Print
.
Rosenbloom
, Stephanie. "It's Love at First Kill." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 22 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2012
.
"The Attitude-
Behaviour
Gap: Why We Say One Thing But Do The Opposite."
PsyBlog
.
PsyBlog
, 24 Mar. 2008. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. <http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/03/attitude-behaviour-gap-why-we-say-one.php>.
VandenBerghe
, Jason. "The Five Domains of Play." Game Developers' Conference.
Moscone
Convention Center, San Francisco, CA.
7 March 2012
. Lecture.
Heidi McDonald
@
Death_Bow
~ hmcdonald@schellgames.com
www.deathbow.comSlide50
Thank You!Heidi McDonald@Death_Bowwww.deathbow.comhmcdonald@schellgames.com