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Is Ebert Right? Games as Art

Apr 212010

Penny Arcade, the clown princes of the game commentary, brought my attention to a recent article by Roger Ebert, which is a response to his earlier conversation with Clive Barker and a TED video by Kellee Santiago. Although I agree whole heartedly with Gabe and Tycho, Roger Ebert does have some good points.

Roger Ebert vs. Games

Roger Ebert is steadfast in his insistence that Games are not Art, but his reasons for this are less then rigorous. He seems to have many things that qualify a work as art. He even qualifies “trash” film as “not great art”:

I treasure escapism in the movies. I tirelessly quote Pauline Kael: The movies are so rarely great art, that if we cannot appreciate great trash, we have no reason to go. I admired “Spiderman II,” “Superman,” and many of the “Star Wars,” Indiana Jones, James Bond and Harry Potter films. The idea, I think, is to value what is good at whatever level you find it. “Spiderman II” is one of the great comic superhero movies but it is not great art. – Ebert “Games vs. Art: Ebert vs. Barker”

If Ebert can appreciate the Art in this so called “Trash” then why are games not so qualified? In the same article he makes what might be one of the most over quoted things he ever said. (besides the thumbs up thing):

If you can go through “every emotional journey available,” doesn’t that devalue each and every one of them? Art seeks to lead you to an inevitable conclusion, not a smorgasbord of choices. – Ebert “Games vs. Art: Ebert vs. Barker”

Does choice ruin art? It seems to me that Roger Ebert is missing the point, a game can and most games do have an “inevitable conclusion” independent of their “smorgasbord of choices”. As an example, in the GTA series, players are in a sandbox and have a great number of possible choices. Yet no matter what choices the player makes, as long as they participate, they will come to the “inevitable conclusion” that life is a absurd state in which mundane existence is a mere break in our nature as petty, violent, and greedy insects climbing for the top. How many pieces of Art have tried to convey this message? GTA conveys this message to new audience in a new way through the very nature of it game mechanics. That is Art.

I’d have to say that there are only two good points that Roger Ebert manages to make. The first is that Famous Game producers are not rigorous in their approach to Games as Art. Clive Barker and Kellee Santiago are obviously no match for Roger Ebert, but their inability to defend Games as Art shouldn’t be taken as condemnation of Games as Art. The second point is one that it is hard to find a quote for. It is a point he seems to skirt around, but it is there as the subtext to all he writes. Games are not Art because those with power to create games are not artists they are business guys.

Penny Arcade is Right

Of course Penny Arcade is right, but not for the reason they think. It is essential that Games are considered Art and are critiqued as Art. This feedback will convince Game Companies to place Artists (Game Designers) in charge of their games and allow them to express themselves. A world where this is true is a world with great games, which do all that all other great Arts do and more.

Answer

Art is not easily defined by any philosophy and Philosophers much greater then Roger Ebert have argued over and written great treatises on the subject. My answer to Roger Ebert’s good points and Tycho’s question are the same; you just have to look to the top. Is the person who conceives of the game, makes the decisions, and has the final say an Artist Game Designer? Is this Artist Game Designer actually deeply involved with the creation of the game? If both answers are yes; the game is Art. If either answer is no, then the game isn’t Art. It is that simple.

Narrative Mode in Video Games & RPGs

Game Design, Game Mastery No Responses »

Apr 122010

I went to Game Developers Expo this weekend and one thing you have to say about these conferences; they have some tasty food and fun Swag. You have to love chocolate croissants and mini-Frisbees.

The presentations were very good and were all very intriguing and thoughtful, but when Armando Troisi talked about his work on Mass Effect 2 he brought up a particular topic I had been thinking about quite a bit lately, Story Perspective.

Story Perspective as Armando called it, or Narrative Mode includes the point of view of the audience or players. Armando talked about the PoV of the player in Mass Effect 2 and compared it to other games such as Dragon Age. He talked about the difference as Subjective vs. Objective gameplay.

In Subjective Gameplay the player is their avatar they decide everything it does at a micro level; it is a first person narrative mode. (Not necessarily 1^st Person Camera though) In this mode the player decides every word the avatar says (usually without voice acting) He had several example of these games, including Dragon Age and Knights of the old Republic.

In Objective Gameplay the player is not their avatar, but they control many of the avatars choices. They make choices on a more macro level; it is a second person narrative mode. Mass Effect 2 is his example of the mode; the player decides what sort of dialogue choice Commander Sheppard makes, his intent rather than his exact words.

Narrative Mode in RPGs

These ideas are very applicable to Traditional RPGs, both for the Gamemaster and the Player. Some Gamers consider these different modes as play styles and many games will move between these different modes depending on the situation. For RPGs, I will break Narrative Mode is two categories: PoV and Scope.

Most players have a conscious preference about their roleplaying Point of View. Those who like to speak in their character’s voice use First Person Point of View; they refer to their character as “I”, and state exactly what their character says. Other players prefer to play in Second Person Point of View, they tend to explain what their character says, and refer to their characters as “he” or “she”.

Few Gamers realise the scope used during their play and often consider it merely a function of pacing. Roleplaying Scope ranges between the Micro and Macro. The most common Micro choices are made in actions like tactical combat, which describes every exact action chosen by the round. Common Macro actions are used in contemporary games, where players choose the intent of their actions without choosing the individual actions to arrive at that intent. To increase the narrative, the Player or Gamemaster will sometimes describe the scene and the actions cinematically that lead to the chosen result.

All ranges of Narrative Mode can be of good use in RPGs. Even the most 2^nd Person Players may like to perform a 1^st Person scene, if provided with enough support. 1^st Person Players may also enjoy 2^nd Player scenes, perhaps to speed up scenes. Gamemasters should feel free to vary Scope, choosing a different scope for every scene or task. Some tasks will work better at a micro scope like conversation, but others are more macro scope tasks, such as trade or long distant travel. Gamemasters may even find interesting effects or efficient mechanics by changing scope, a chase scene or negotiation may be even be more exciting at a more macro level , while adding a micro scene to trade may make the normally mundane activity seem more real.

Why I am making an RPG?

Community, Game Design No Responses »

Feb 162010

My journey to the world of Game Design has been a long and windy one. I started playing Roleplaying Games in junior high with 1983’s red boxed Basic Set of Dungeons & Dragons. It was great, I played with my best friend Shawn. We would play all the time, even without dice or rules while doing his newspaper route. I still can’t believe he never gave me a cut of his paper money. After I moved I continued to play when I could.

After years in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets chasing my dream of being an test pilot and astronaut, I found out that not only did test pilots not become astronauts without being engineers, but that my eyes weren’t 20/20 and I was therefore unqualified. So I worked and traveled and came home with a new plan, Film.

In 2002, I graduated from SFU with a degree in Film production and job at Electronic Arts as Video Game QA. So now I bounce around the Vancouver video game industry as a game designer and love designing games. So the question becomes, why am I creating a traditional pen and paper RPG as my first major solo work? Especially in what many people consider a dying industry.

My short answer is usually in the vain of, “RPGs are my first love” or “It is a great circle, I have finally returned to my routes”, but these are not complete answers.

Why not video games?

I still love video games. My Xbox 360 get a quite the workout, but develop video games is not easy. Programmers or at least scripters are a necessary part of development. Although I am a decent scripter, I cannot simply sit down and build a game, no problems. Even with 3^rd party solutions, like Unity or Flash, creating a video game becomes more about technical development and less about design.

Why Traditional Roleplaying games?

Traditional Pen & Paper RPGs combine two of my favourite things, game design and story. Since before I played my first game of D&D, I loved to tell stories. I learned Game design from mentors like Tyler Sigman while working on more than five video games titles. I believe that there is still a real Market for RPGs and that many in the community are looking for a Space Science Fiction RPG like Free Spacer. My hope is that many people will play Free Spacer and at the least it will be an incredible demo of my design and storytelling abilities.

Most importantly I have always loved RPGS and I don’t know why it took me so long to get here.

Jobs & Your Project

Community, Game Design No Responses »

Jan 252010

One of the most difficult parts of designing an RPG or doing any other project is the necessity of working another job on the side. Lately I have been working a contract; doing design and project management on a Nintendo DS title and is severely limiting my bandwidth for Free Spacer.

On breaks at work and in the evenings after work I find it incredibly difficult to get into work mode, even to write a blog. It is like changing from 2^nd to 5^th gear, I stall. Fixing this is not easy; working harder isn’t always possible I need to develop another strategy. So what is my problem? Is it a time management issue? Or something else?

There is a lot of information out there on Time management and as I did research and found lots of info on time management for writing. While these experiments seemed like they would be very informative, any long term use of time management techniques could in themselves be quite a time waste. These techniques have not solved the issue, but may have led me to the answer.

Some people work out or go to classes, I myself have been able to do this. The difference seems to be, the schedule, responsibility, and deadline. I am scheduled to be there at a particular time and I feel guilty if I skip it. Is it as simple as scheduling the time and insuring that there is a goal to meet? That is the new plan; I’ll give it a try, schedule it, and get the work done.

Dawn of a Space Roleplaying Game

Game Design No Responses »

Nov 262009

It all began Christmas 2008, I was Game Mastering and modding so much that friends we’re asking, “Why don’t you just make your own game?” I am professional game designer in Vancouver (Ex- EA: Blackbox and Backbone Vancouver) so I understand the consequences of making my own game. Knowing, somewhat, what I was getting into I decided to jump into the void and build Free Spacer.

Now, eleven month later, everything is going to plan. Honest… of course, I didn’t have a plan when I started, except the lofty goal of creating the Science Fiction Roleplaying game, I‘d always wanted. There is a lot more to designing a RPG than a lofty goal.

Currently I am on Stage 7 on my ten stages of game design:

Idea; this is the fun part. Brainstorm and come up with a list. Answer the question, “What do I want in a Game? What do I want in a RPG world?”
Validate; Eliminate the junk and find a core concept. Remember it is a game, not a story. It needs to be the cradle of great things, not the baby. If you want to have babies, Game Master, we all need more Game Masters.
Structure; Create a skeleton with your core concept as the base, design goals as the limbs, and your core mechanic as the spine.
Build; Build up from the core concept toward you design goals. You mechanics should support the needs of your game. Is your game about underwater combat? Parliamentary Scheming? Create game mechanics to do what you want characters to do in your game.
World; Develop a game world or setting that supports your desired Gameplay. Create a vast underwater battlefield for your underwater combat game or a complicated Bureaucracy of intrigue for your Parliamentary Scheming game.
Playtest; Once you believe your game works get people to start trying it.
Repeat stage 4 to 6; Expect to change things, but change them to stem from your core concept and fulfill your design goals, as long as you hold on to that skeleton the strange places solutions take your game can only make it stronger.
Write; It is fine to have a great game, but you need to make it clear, concise, and understandable. Explain it well and you’ll discover holes.
Edit; Yes, fix spelling and grammar, it is embarrassing if you don’t, but make sure everything you need is in the game and nothing that isn’t. You can always make supplements or split the books like D&D. The most important thing is a clear understandable core book.
Layout; You are going to need to layout your book for print or digital distribution. Layout will make it understandable and easy to read as a whole.

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