Jonathan
Degan defines story arc as "What I call Story Arc in a game is the quality
of having the situations and decisions metamorphose during the course of a
single game so that the player has the experience of participating in a story
with a wide sweep". In the Stanley Parable, originally the game seems to
have a rigid plot, but that is because I made the decision to listen to the
narrator. After a few run throughs, it is clear that the Stanley Parable is not
just one story, but instead a collection of stories with diverse endings. There
is however a clear story arc because the gamer does face multiple situations
that pose multiple choices. The user writes Stan,why's stories as their motives
change during the game's progression. The story arc of the Stanley Parable
quickly escalates, as each route you take has its own unique ending. The game
has incredible scope, meaning that the game utilizes the same resources over
and over, but the context hat the resources appear in is frequently changing
(Degan). How the user chooses to respond to the context and use the resources
decides the game's story arc. These choices dictate the course of the game and
so clearly the Stanley Parable has a story arc with user interaction, even if
it's hard to see originally.
These
choices that he user is faced with can be seen as agonizing decisions, or as
Degan puts its, "those difficult decisions which determine whether you,
the player, will come out victorious or blow your best opportunity and hand the
game to your opponent". The Stanley Parable has many agonizing decisions.
The choices you make are immediately followed by consequences that are often
drastic (beating the game, dying, ending the game in various ways, countdown
timers begin). Because it is easy to become confused and frustrated, these
decisions become increasingly agonizing as the story arc is worked out.
http://ktuftsprofessional.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/theme-vs-mechanism/
http://susancinderella.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/game-theory-and-designs/
Stephan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of view on the Stanley Parable Story arc as defined by Jonathan Degan. The video game is something that I have never experienced before. When there are so many options to create your own story board within the realm of a framework in pre programmed game, there are so many ways the game could be played. I like the story arc factor Jonathan Degan says about how the player has the experience of participating in a story with a wide sweep. I think it would be interesting to see how many people followed the narrators directions the first time they played the game because there was little to no explanation of the many different endings on the home screen in the game. When I first wanted to play the game I had no idea what to do so I followed the directions and made it out alive the first time but as I played on and on I realized that I could make my own destiny. This is a great example of decision metamorphose. When the environmental design of the game is the same at the beginning I feel like the player would gradually see the beginning as a new portal and notice different details over and over again.