[D3] Narrative elements

I know that everybody is too busy massacring to pay attention to why they are doing so. I understand, I have also been playing as if I had a blinker on and could only move straight from boss to boss. That's the nature of Diablo. I am a bit concerned, though, that they have made several narrative choices that conflict with this known nature.

For instance, the recorded diaries and journals. Somebody at Blizzard identified a problem: People don't want to read. People often say: "I would prefer not to." (And then proceed to revolutionarily stare out of the window). Solution: we remove the written text and substitute it with a recorded voice which will be playing while they slaughter. People love to have voices narrating some oblivious story while they're struggling with a boss pull. Maybe they didn't catch all that was said and want to actually *read* it... Then we make the access to the notes in their appropriate order so convoluted that they will desist.

There's several problems to this method. First, most of the notes are part of a large series which, unless played in order and not too distant from each other, will make their continuity falter. Secondly, the Lore tag by the corner appeared interesting at first, but is ultimately obnoxious and not readily removable. It keeps blinking until you click on it and cancel the narration. Thirdly, I found some of the diaries to be rabble which did not offer any particular insight on Santuary and its inhabitants. I found especially intrusive the boss-orders series, with Belial and Azmodan acting in their obvious villainous role. I don't know if it was intended or a by-product of the diary marketing, but I found these demons much less serious than their predecessors. What made Diablo a terrifying creature was his alienness and untranslatability. He wasn't issuing mischievous orders to petty mobs you were slaughtering. Pure evil cannot be made explicit, or it loses its abstract power. Similar to one of the suggestions that actors are given on stage: you cannot enact a pure emotion without instilling a reaction against patheticism in the audience; they'll probably laugh it off. It's difficult to take Belial or Azmodan seriously. Even with this last Diablo apparition I found it hard to feel any awe.

There has been some discussion on the subject of ambience and how D3 doesn't meet the standards set by the previous titles. They have argued that it was the illumination, which was much more contrasted in D2 or 1; the bright colours, although D2 also had a good number of sceneries that were well-lit and coloured; the music, which does not set any tone at all, much less tension. The Diablo 1 tracks were renowned for their eerie quality. No need for a big orchestra and fancy effects, they could do much more with less. Check it out:

The aforementioned arguments are indeed correct, but they have not taken into account some other aspects of the game that, no matter how gritty and dark they turned their sceneries, would ultimately detract us from experiencing any awe. The gameplay and mechanics do not allow the necessary introspection of terror. In D1 you had a hard time from the beginning, without any tutorial areas to hold your hand; the normal (not unique) enemies also required you to be alert; getting hit meant getting stuck in an animation which would slow you down, while the hordes gathered around you; the gear you collected was scarce and usually a trade-off of stats, some pieces being so wicked that they actually hurt you more than they did good; even the shrines played a part in setting an atmosphere, as you could never be sure that the next shrine wouldn't cripple you. I am ignoring D2 for the sake of discussion because it had already departed from the original idea of D1. What we have in Diablo 3 now is a tutorial mode, Normal, which can made even more simple by purchasing 3 or 4 weapons from the gold AH (even Nightmare is a breeze with one or two rares that other people dispose of); normal enemies are laughable; no stun-lock animation, thank goodness; gear is abundant, and if you don't get lucky, other people will for a pretty decent price (of gold); actually hurtful traps? None.

Regarding the sceneries, and watching the D1 video of the Diablo theme below, I've noticed that in D3 we have a compensatory abundance of gore details that do not actually provoke any response in us. Differently from the minimalistic scenery of the previous game, where there are only pentagrams, torches and Diablo. It is similar to the scenery in D2, which was still threatening despite of the bright colours.

I am also concerned with the decision of Blizzard of forcing the players to go through the story over and over again in order to farm. I cannot predict if that will make the game wear off more or less; what final consequence it will have. I had argued before that it could help set a clear, canonical notion of the game in the players' minds, much as Cain's line "Stay a while and listen" had been embedded in our gaming culture because of that same repetition. It could also prove to be tedious and degrading for the story elements.

I've taken heed of some things that D3 did well in the narrative field and that I expect to be carried into other titles when appropriate: clear-cut but not excessively rigid personalities for our PCs (unlike Shepard, who for me was less of a vessel of my personality/the personality I wanted her to enact, and more of an actress). They have found a perfect balance between allowing personal identification and delivering some character-based flavour. The same thing happens with the companions. I have enjoyed listening to their personal stories. Short but with a concise property which teased me, and did not overwhelm me with too much straying speech, which is the scourge of modern novels these days (R.R. Martin, I'm looking at you). Another neat element are the conversations that you hear from the NPCs around town. They set an unique flavour; engrossing without being intrusive. Blizzard has been doing well in this regard, except for the diaries part. Who did really think that we wanted to hear disconnected pieces of narrative while simultaneously fighting and looting?

On a final remark, I am very annoyed by the repeating lines of my Templar. My Demon Hunter is too polite to tell him that they already had that conversation before; twenty minutes ago, and two hours before, and last night. I hope Blizzard will implement an option to shut him up.

Assessing morals through games

Based on the conversations about incentivized social behaviour here and at Sheep the Diamond, and Stubborn's post on the issue of morality, I want to take a look at what exactly games can tell us about behaviour as opposed to other real life platforms. My argument may also be applied to any system in which anonymity is carefully maintained.

Morality has always been an elusive thing to point at, probably because its sighting without any other factors is rare in most circumstances in real life. Morality is comprised of a set of rules defined by society which we have internalized to such an extent that they are no longer viewed as those external impositions rooted in early childhood, in our parents' teachings (or rather punishments). As adults, we no longer require such punishments and have apprehended 'good' and 'bad', desiring to foster the former and to prevent the latter. Of course, all of these rules of morality, often considered of 'common sense', are highly subjective. Nonetheless, most of us can share some basic moral tenets, like the Golden Rule of treating others as you would like them to treat you.

The Bushido Code is a very interesting read on the subject of morality. On many other topics it might be ridiculous and outrageously misogynistic, but one thing that they did well was distinguishing between doing right because one is compelled to it by his morals, or because of shame of doing wrong -under shame, there are two degrees: the first one, if you do right because you are wary of feeling guilty and ashamed if you did wrong, you are still on the right path towards true Courage (for the samurais, doing right was being courageous); the second one is if you did right because other people would judge you if you did the wrong thing - that is shame in relation to others. The true test of Courage was to do right without witnesses. The examples in the book (pages 18-21 of Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of the Bushido Shoshinsu) have to do with gold and its retrieval to its rightful owners. I have devised another example to show you morality at work without its usual strings and fetters to keep it in place.

Imagine you were a test subject identified with the letter E. No name, no picture is given to the researchers, you have been told you are anonymous. Only some psychological and financial details are referred to them for the study. You have been told that other twenty people are under your same circumstances. You are to be placed in an isolated cell, completely unwatched, in front of a table with only a conveyor belt which crosses all of the other cells, transporting a single note of five hundred euros. You are free to take it, they tell you, but then your neighbour, who is poorer than you, will not receive it. They have placed you so that the most well-off individual comes first, and the most miserable, last. There is no punishment for your actions, no others-shame experience, because nobody is watching you; the only thing that keeps you in check is your bare morality. Those five hundred euros might help with your dog's veterinary or your kid's tutor this semester, but they might save a family if you let them go. Five hundred euros won't change your life in any case, but what about five thousand, or fifty thousand? You may pay your mortgage with them. The poorer cell neighbour will keep living in that filthy caravan, you let your imagination loose.

What does this have to do with morality in video games? Well, as in the above example, and the one used in the Bushido code, there is a factor of anonymity. Anonymity disables the many strings that are attached to us in case basic morality is absent: punishment is without target and shame is without face. The only thing that remains is internal shame, our conscience, which for the samurais was still not the desired motivator of a just person. The true just acted following the tenets of rectitude, not the bite of a guilty conscience.

All of those jerks, the venomous community of the community-less MMOs of these days - they are the ones not shackled neither by a guilty conscience nor by aloof morality. Before the dismantle of the social binds and constraints of ye olde MMOs, communities acted as the judges of wrong behaviour by excluding the pernicious citizens from their social circles. Of course, for that punishment to be effective, one has to feel shame by an external account and/or be concerned with participating in the social aspects of the game. I remember that hilarious post from Big Bear Butt concerning an "asshat" he met in an instance, and how her guild was compelled to remove her after Bear's accusation because it tarnished the guild's reputation. That is one kind of punishment that may come to people behaving in the wrong way. Still, it is very light, and most online jerks would just shrug it off - it is no real punishment for shameless people with an immature morality.

That is why in real life we don't encounter as many jerks as in online games. It might also be because of the conception that most of them have about MMOs as "just a game", and players as "the enemy". Every time I hear somebody saying that they gank the opposing faction in revenge for the ganking they suffered, I shudder. Two things are happening here: misdirection of anger, and failure to see other players as people outside the game. Then there are those who gank for sport and fun; those, they are lost to the Bushido code.

I wonder, have you ever met somebody who acted jerkish in online games, and was an excellent person in real life? I don't know about you, but it tells me a lot of a person if she shows no morality in an anonymous environment, and then acts just right in real life. I may think that she is following an external code in real life which is absent in video games, not her morality at all.

Can games be an accurate tool for assessing morals? Perhaps it wouldn't be the most accurate, because of the many circumstances that surround games - such as the idea of games being a platform where real life rules should not be allowed ("it is just a game"), the competitiveness, and the violence. Still, when I witness a kind act, I can be sure that they have not done it due to external pressure, and that is reassuring.

Sandboxing your Themepark MMO

The Elder Scrolls series is renowned for its sandbox gameplay, which I doubt that will be translated well into the upcoming MMO they are planning. It might have to do with the early date, or the inexperience of the studios that will undertake the challenge. Many other bloggers are also wary about the transformation of a beloved singleplayer series into an MMO. Most of the clamor is focused on the failure to deliver the true sandbox experience of the original game. Themepark MMOs have proven their finiteness, while one of the most successful MMOs of these days is EVE Online. It might not be for the mass audiences, but it cannot be argued that it is more healthy than any other subscription-based MMO.

We players like to have some freedom to play the game the way we want - a sandbox. As with many things in life, the two concepts, sandbox and themepark, are not exclusive and do blend in most games. Almost in any game we have those activities which are alternative, which help us express ourselves and wander off the beaten path. In fact, the achievement system Blizzard implemented is merely the expression of that alternative way of engaging with the game - which, for me, is entirely redundant, but that might go to another post.

Even if your MMO is heavily invested in the themepark model, you can find a way to step away from that and construct your individual experience. Challenges such as leveling up with the bare minimum equipment or in a peaceful manner, without killing one soul, can be such alternative modes of playing which would make a sandbox out of your themepark of choice.

Today I wanted to make a list of a couple of sandbox-like activities which you can perform in your MMO of choice to break with the routine of gearing up, making gold, ganking the Alliance, etc.

1. Roleplaying.

The sandbox activity par excellence.

There's a very interesting post on TL-DR about the typical case of phobia about roleplaying. That is due to the depiction of the roleplayer in the mass media which make apocryphal assumptions based on very superficial observations. The first thought that may come to our mind on the topic of roleplaying is likely to be that introvert and unsuccessful geek which lives through her imagination. Tinged with negative connotations. Completely unrelated to the actual definition of roleplayer.

What roleplaying in fact is, is an activity which stimulates our creativity, demanding from us both a more intimate relationship with the virtual world we inhabit and its lore, and the prompting of our own narrative preoccupations. By telling a story with some friends or strangers, we are forced into a position of co-authoring, which may be even more stimulating than the traditional introvert authorship. It is a delight for the mind.

It might take a while to find your roleplaying voice and your ideal roleplaying companions. It might not be fluid the first time you attempt to roleplay. You will make mistakes (according to the etiquette of the other roleplayers). But you shall make memories that will last, and your character would no longer be "my dps warrior", he would be Sir Dpswarrior (or any permutation thereof). Joking aside, you'll forge memories about your characters and that of other people which will go beyond "I went once with her to this dungeon." Me, I will always remember all the plotting, the lying, the duelling; the weddings, the alliances, the shadows.

2. Exploration

Exploration is not restricted to the grand discovery of hidden locations, you can also explore the more immediate things that often go unnoticed. Go into a first-person perspective, enjoy the details. Craft a story perhaps about that dwarven room full of explosives. A bench overlooking a particularly inspiring landscape. That poster which has a quest, has a neat drawing of the Wanted criminal!

This kind of immersion in the world would need the same mindset in which you find yourself (or you induce yourself in) when reading a book you have found in that bandit's cave in Skyrim. You cannot play to fill a quota of xp or gold, you must be playing to enjoy the scenery. I assure you that it is not an easy task, to lay down your MMO urges and become the recipient of the subtle and the evocative.

Maybe you can combine this with roleplaying? Bring a friend along, show him how beautiful is.

3. Guild-bonding stuff

This is one of my favourite activities. I love coming up with ideas on how to interact with my guild mates which do not involve the stressful, blinker-like end-game. The aim for those is to get to know your partners in a more relaxed, friendly environment, and to have fun while at it.

Have you done any event of this type? I will share my own experience and see if it might prompt you to do something similar.

My favourite guild-bonding event was an idea I had for a calendar that would be delivered to those players which made a little gold donation for our gearing process. There would be two calendars, one with the female characters of the guild, and the other one with the males. I started with the second one and never got to the ladies', we couldn't find anybody skilled enough in photoshop and we finally parked the initiative. I have lost some of the pictures, but most have survived and will be featured here, in debut, for you ladies, (and gents, if you like semi-naked Night elves).

The event involved not just regular toon-dressing and stage-setting, I would take the participants (and often the whole guild, which would tag along for the giggles) to the most bizarre places, and ask them to pose in all kinds of manners, making the most of the spell effects and event items that we had at hand to construct a particular narrative.

Here are the pictures that survived.

See the gallery in full size.

Now, I would love to hear some examples of this kind of alternative stuff that you have done with your guilds. I have just joined a new one in this private TBC server and I would want to make the most of it. If this post has inspired you to make any off-the-grid events, or if you think you could manage a photography session to get the whole guild involved in something more personal than the PvE dance, then by all means, take a chance at it and tell us about your experience.