The gaming community, from twitch streamers to youtube let’s players, is synonymous with video games at large. This has had a number of effects, both on the way that games are made (with features like ‘streamer mode’ which substitute copyrighted songs so that streamers don’t get copyright strikes) and the way games are marketed (with big streamers becoming just as important to get good reviews from as critics). This article would discuss these effects, and more, that streaming has had on the video game industry. Both in terms of the positive and negative sides – and perhaps what this may mean for the future of video games.
I think an interesting point to discuss in the article is the accessibility that streaming provides. For example, someone who may not have the ability to afford the latest console, game, DLC, etc. can watch someone play it for free (more or less) and still enjoy it, even if they're not the one playing it. – LeoPanasyuk3 months ago
You may want to mention how this contributes to a game's popularity. Millions of people have watched Let's Plays of, say, Undertale or Detroit: Become Human, but how many have actually bought and played those games? Likewise, a Let's Play can also damage a game's reputation or lock players into the idea that they can or should only play it a particular way, all of which might be worth exploring. – Petar3 months ago
The RPG controversy of the year was Wizards of the Coast, a Hasbro subsidiary, draft Open Game License changes sent fans and game developers into an uproar. The OGL was a default license established in 2000 that allowed fans to use portions of the Dungeons and Dragons property in their own work. This was framed in similar ways to open software licensing in that it could be used as a foundation to create independent works as long as it was using the specific System Reference Document in doing so. This allowed gamers to develop their own works and even to sell them. The most commercialised version of this was the work of Kobold Press and Green Ronin that developed independent games using the SRD as a base. This has always been a successful space for creative engagement with a beloved property.
On January 4th 2023 a new OGL 1.1 was to be released but an early leak of this content exploded into the zeitgeist with very concerning changes including WOTC ability to claim royalties from sold works and complete control over the content produced. The backlash was huge and fans and content creators both began to rally online and establish a response to the changes. This response included unsubscribing from WOTC’s digital toolset and protesting in social media. Further, the largest third party users (whose income was most threatened by the change) announced plans to step away and redevelop their own games.
WOTC has retracted its plans but the damage is done. But a number of key questions have begun to be raised: Was this a failure to listen to its fandom? Was this merely a cash grab? Has this action doomed WOTC and its aligned products into the future? Has this been the initiative needed to get more producers developing independent game engines? What does fully open sourced mean financially for game developers? How will this shape the next twenty years of gaming? And, significantly, does this mean D&D is dead?
Brecht has implemented in his theatre the "Verfremdungseffekt", which can be translated to the "alienation effect" or "distancing effect." Essentially, by creating interruptions or fissures within the illusion on stage, the audience can achieve a certain distance to the characters and events, allowing for evaluation and critique. During his performances, the audience is presented to some cues that indicates that what they are seeing is an ilusion, that what they are seing is actually an actor playing a scene. This cues can be strange objects, non-connected actions or actors speaking directly to the audience for example. Different of the Theatre of Pleasure, when the audience is emotionally connected to the play, Brecht seeks to create a critical discussion about what is being showed. He redefine it as Epic Theatre.
Is it possible to have the same effect in Video Games where you, as a player, is somehow intensively connected to the gameplay and the character?
A minimum of one or two video game examples must be provided by the author, together with a discussion of how each one employs the technique in question, the player's experience with it, and the degree to which the implementation achieves the objectives that were set out when it was created. Some examples are: The Stanley Parable; Her Story; This War of Mine; Papers, Please; etc. – Samer Darwich4 months ago
In general, the mod (modification) of the game means the process of code editing and changing to add extra flavour on the original game. Usually, the mod makers are game players with sufficient coding or programming knowledge. Each mod can give different experiences to the gameplay and form specific player community. To analyse, how does the mod benefits both game and players? what motivates a player or players to make a mod? Who has the rights on the mod, maker of game company? What is your own opinion towards mod? The article will give insight into creative consumer and new cultural online society. Note: You can focus on specific game or company to give more detail on a specific group of community.
Mods can benefit both the game and players in several ways. They can add new content, features, and gameplay elements that can enhance the overall experience for players. They can also fix bugs and improve performance, making the game more stable and enjoyable to play. In addition, mods can also create new player communities, as players who are interested in specific mods may come together to play and discuss the mod. – sophiakaile495 months ago
Mods can help in different ways one being that people are gaining knowledge on different aspects of a video game,such as how it looks or behaves and is sub-discipline of general modding. – FANLOVE4 months ago
Most mods are pretty modest, I'd say. They might fix a set of bugs or give the player access to overpowered, often game-breaking gear. What fascinate me are the conversion mods, which essentially create a new game out of an existing game. For example, one ambitious modder named Kael (Derek Paxton) changed Civilization III and IV into a completely new game of his own, Fall from Heaven and Fall from Heaven II. The mod had very active online discussion forums. His mod was even included as a scenario in Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword. That conversion mod would be a very rich example for any discussion of creative consumers and online gaming communities. – JamesBKelley4 months ago
Mods can help companies a lot. Look at Sega's relationship with people who make mods and fangames, they encourage it because they know their fans are passionate and talented. Sega hired Christian Whitehead, who created Sonic Mods and fangames to help make a Sonic game. That game is now Segas most successful and critically acclaimed game to date. Mods can also help restore and recover cut content, or previously planned but scrapped content to help enhance a game. – tahaxo4 months ago
Bioshock is a video game franchise centering around the player entering a strange supposedly utopian city falling into disarray as its society breaks apart (Rapture, an underwater city isolated from the rest of the world free from governmental, religious and ethical control, and Columbia, a flying city theocracy embodying and literally worshipping late 18th century American ideals) run by a megalomaniacal idealist with twisted morals (Andrew Ryan, an ultra-individualist, and Zachary Comstock, an ultra-nationalist). Write about the political backdrops of the Bioshock franchise, analyzing what ideology each game is criticizing through narrative and gameplay mechanics and what is being said about them. Analyze the political messages implied by the cities and their inhabitants. What is being said about the political ideologies presented? What caused the downfall of the societies and how is it affected by their political systems?
Gaming in many ways is another medium that requires writers, and yet the approach to story telling in writing is unique and quite different as opposed to traditional storytelling via books. I propose an article that might entertain looking into the deeper facets of story and writing in the gaming industry and the unique approach that is taken in completing a script as opposed to traditional writing. Focus could be placed particularly on discussing the need for adaptability in characters, characterizing empathy and emotion within a character as we follow them while also playing as them, the duality of the protagonist and the gamer etc. which while coming naturally in traditional writing, have to be balanced against what is possible within the given game dynamics
Love the topic! May I suggest profiling Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery as part of the article? I'm an avid player and enjoy a lot of aspects of the game, including story. But I also find that the writing is somewhat lazy, and a lot of my fellow players complain that the story has dragged out way too long (because chapters aren't released every week, so there can be 2-3 weeks that you go without information and get a side quest instead). I think HM lends itself well to analysis. – Stephanie M.3 years ago
I mostly only play video games that have a story too it. I don't game much nowadays due to school, but I always like the first and second Bioshock games. Red dead redemption is good for this too. Just wanted to throw some games to consider. – AbeRamirez3 years ago
If I may, I think that The Last Of Us (part I and part II) could be interesting to analyze in such an article. (Interesting topic, by the way!) Indeed, Part I won numerous prizes and was, among others, acclaimed for the quality and emotional depth of its storytelling, while Part II deeply dived the fans, mostly because of its writing and narrative choices. (Such an analysis may be the theme of an entire article, but perhaps the subject could still be evoked in the article related to the current topic!) – Gavroche3 years ago
Additionally, exploring the impact storytelling has on the gaming experience and how it can shape the player's perception and experience of the game could provide valuable insight for both writers and gamers alike. As the gaming industry continues to evolve and expand, understanding the nuances of storytelling within this medium will become increasingly important for both the development of games and the enjoyment of players. – Beatrix Kondo3 months ago
Outer Worlds, made by Obsidian of Fallout New Vegas acclaim, is a open world RPG where you exist in an alternative universe where capitalism is even more unregulated than it is today.
Within the world of OW however there is little to be said in response to capitalism. In a future where "science" is good on it’s face, marauders commit crimes because crime, and the world itself is limited by the imagination of the writers, what is displayed is a critique of the world not for ideological reasons but for practical and efficiency reasons. That is to say, Outer Worlds can lead the player to see some damning indictments of capitalism, but it will never allow for anything in game aside from a moderate reformism.
And that is a curious line to draw. What indeed can be said about advancement for advancement’s sake when the human cost both in universe and out is seen as only worthwhile if it’s apolitical. Where revolution is on its face dismissed for it’s idealism, but "progress" is revered for making the future better.
The Outer Worlds is made by Obsidian Studios who are well-known for their previous RPG Fallout: New Vegas (2010). This game's fame, I would say, is well received due to the true moral choices the game presents you with - no faction that the player character can choose to side with is ever inherently "good". Because of how the game shows you the consequences of your choices and actions, the theme of centrism may be seen as portrayed in a positive light here - if no faction or ideology is desirable, the game seems to say, why pick one at all? – Tristan8 months ago
The premise is flawed. Ideology is how you understand the world you exist in.
Likewise, the game world is created by people who either don't understand some of the ideologies or are actively hostile to any critique of capital that isn't framed exclusively around its grossest excesses. – Sunni Ago8 months ago
I did a bit of research on ‘The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt’ last year while preparing to write a piece on the Video Game industry and its treatment of minority groups. The Witcher, of course, is written by Andrzej Sapkowski who is very obvious about what types of groups are being discussed, even if allegorically. I picked on the Witcher because it is among many of the power fantasy narratives that come with the genre.
There are currently several iterations of Geralt of Rivia, and similarly, this trend can be seen in The Last of Us and God of War. Our protagonists are fathers first, and the plot follows this innate connection between parent and child.
I’m interested to see where this came from? To what extent is it really a trend, or just a few notable additions to the AAA RPGs?
The Lone Wolf, and Cub Saga 1976, The Last of Us 2013 Until Death do Us Part 2006, Leon the Professional 1994, True Grit 2010, Berserk (after the golden age arc) Resident Evil 2 1998, and honestly God of War 3 2010 (and some of the spin off games). This trope has been popular for years, as the young child is almost always paired with an adult with some type of dark past or they are in situation (like a zombie outbreak) where the child is a liability due to them not being able to defend themselves. This usually forces the adult to have a moral dilemma where they have to decide whether they'll to put themself endanger or abandon the child. This trope is usually paired with some type of redemption arc. But, to answer your first question this trope isn't new. I don't know what was the first story to do this trope is, but I can say it predates its modern 2010's trend. I believe the main reason people are noticing it more often now and potentially the reason we are seeing an increased amount of stories using this trope is because its easy Oscar/Award bait as much of the series I've mentioned have won numerous awards. Not saying that awards are purely the reason this is done. But success is a good incentive for imitators. – Blackcat13011 months ago
Maybe "dadification" is not the appropriate term to use here, given its sexual connotations. – T. Palomino11 months ago
I would argue that this trope is not inherent to video games. It also exists in super hero films like Logan. – Sean Gadus8 months ago
Dads in video games have definitely been around for a while. Heavy Rain, Donkey Kong Country (sorta) and The Walking Dead come to mind. It would be interesting to look back at the exact point that dads become a popular inclusion for the medium. Even looking at games where the father isn't the protagonist, but still exists to fulfill their role as a father to the player character, such as Final Fantasy XV. – GagePatte006 months ago