Comments on Pixel Poppers: I Told Him to Do That: Option Restriction, Choice,...

Thanks for the blogs, found them a few days ago, a...

2011-01-18T16:52:08.184-08:00

Thanks for the blogs, found them a few days ago, and they make for great reading!

What seems to be lacking in the games market these days is real decisions, and the consequences leading from those decisions. I enjoyed Dragon Age as the choices I made affected the world, and the path I followed (which is also a great way to extend the play length of a game!) So while all the tasks were explicit, there were true choices, which adds interest to the game, and deepen the players involvement, improving the immersion. While many sandbox games offer freedom to do other things, are they really that different to Bioshock? Prototype was a great game, but the plot progression relied on the same explicit goals as nearly all games, and my limited knowledge of GTA leads me to the same conclusion. Just because you can detour, does it really give you any freedom?

@Ro...

2009-12-02T09:32:58.318-08:00

@Roger Travis:
I'd definitely be interested in taking a look at the more scholarly version. Your argument intrigues me, but you lose me a little in the last few paragraphs. I'd like to see the fuller version and see if the extra detail helps make a few things more clear. I want to be sure I completely understand your position before I tell you why I disagree with something you never said. :)

Also, "ludonarrative dissonance" is my new favorite phrase. "Ludic" is apparently the word I've been searching for for some time now - I thought maybe I could use "gamic" but it turns out to mean "sexual".

Thanks for this post, Doctor Professor. I'm in...

2009-12-01T11:48:06.678-08:00

Thanks for this post, Doctor Professor. I'm in agreement with the vast majority of it, but I do disagree with your central claim. In case you're interested, I argue the opposite side here and also in a forthcoming chapter in a Games and Ethics volume (and I'd be happy to send along the more scholarly version if you'd like).

@St...

2009-11-30T19:44:46.309-08:00

@Steven A.:
That scene in Portal was so well-crafted. Valve knows what they are doing. :)

And you raise a totally fascinating point. I think you're really onto something here. That moment is where Portal transitions from explicit goals (laid out for you by GlaDOS) to implicit ones (which need to be teased out from the environment by the player). So even though the game still makes liberal use of option restriction to lead you along, the feeling is totally different - by requiring the player to figure out their own goals, the game engages them so much more - along with the rebellious aspect leading them to feel like they are "going rogue" as you said.

The great failure of Bioshock's reveal is that it doesn't result in a substantial mood change. So I think you're right - if Tenenbaum hadn't taken over for Atlas, and goals had become implicit instead, I have to think that would have solved most of the problem. Very interesting idea.

I'm also intrigued by your other solution of simulating brainwashing, which eliminates part of the contradiction between plot and player experience and justifies the rest by establishing the equivalent of an unreliable narrator. Having played the game partially spoiled, this is actually what I thought they were going to do.

Another thought: What if BioShock actually tried t...

2009-11-30T16:18:48.663-08:00

Another thought: What if BioShock actually tried to simulate brainwashing? That's tough, because I don't know what it's like to be brainwashed. But the (otherwise horrible) game "Haze" did this. Basically, at some point in the game, it's revealed that all these enemies you've been killing are actually innocent, but the drugs you've been taking make them look aggressive - or something to that effect.

So what if the Ryan scene played out like this: At first, he looks completely insane like a splicer and he attacks you. Maybe right before this, he says, "Will you kindly put up a fight?" Naturally, the player will fight back. But once you kill him, he does his speech about slave/man/etc. etc., and reveals that actually, he didn't really attack you at all. It was just the brainwashing this whole time that made you think he was attacking you.

And from that point on, you see that all the splicers you were killing were actually just harmless loonies. So you go off, swearing to find and kill Atlas.

SPOILER WARNING: Portal One of the most exciting ...

2009-11-30T16:07:32.606-08:00

SPOILER WARNING: Portal

One of the most exciting moments I've ever had with a game was the furnace section in Portal. At first, I thought the game was over at that point! "Oh, so I just die in the end. That's pretty clever I guess." I had been following GlaDOS's directions/restrictions this whole time, so why should things be any different now?

But then I saw that little opening near the ceiling and I immediately thought, "Wait...can I escape? Let's try it...HOLY SHIT YES! I CAN ESCAPE!" It was a pretty unique moment - it felt like I had broken the game somehow by escaping. And in the narrative, I was indeed breaking GlaDOS's game. The player is subtly invited to break the option restrictions, GlaDOS's orders, that were imposed for most of the game up to that point.

That made the last section of the game much more exhilarating. Now, you were on your own - going rogue. No more clearly marked goals or GlaDOS telling you what to do. Just you, the portal gun, and an immediate need to get the hell out of there any way you can.

Perhaps there's something to be said for different methods of option restriction. The first part of Portal and most of BioShock deliver goals and restrictions pretty explicitly: another character tells you. But other games, and the "escape" part of Portal, restrict you more by physical means (e.g. locked doors). Games can make things more interesting by mixing up restriction methods. Perhaps BioShock would be more interesting if, after the Ryan scene, you no longer had anyone telling you what to do by radio. You just knew you had to find Atlas and kill him any way you can.

Though, I never finished BioShock. I found it pretty boring compared to Deus Ex and System Shock :)