Archive for November, 2009

Jim Thacker wrote an article over on Jawbone.tv a couple weeks back titled “Participatory Storytelling: A Thousand Authors in Search of a Character,” wherein, he summarizes a roundtable discussion conducted at Power to the Pixel’s “Cross-Media Film Forum.”

The two-peso version is this: How you involve your audience changes your role as an author.

Sweet potato casserole! Wild, right?

Well, it depends.

On the One Hand

Audience as active producers in a narrative is a novel idea. It brings to the virtual world the laws of the real world. It’s a wholly active-reactive ecosystem with a consequence to every decision; small, big, or non-existent.

And so much of what we do here at NB is tethered to that principle.

Full participation exists in the narrative world from the beginning because the real world exists. Instead of wasting energy attempting to repel and maintain separation between the two, their diligent fusion creates significantly more powerful experiences and rewards.

So it isn’t about recreating or transplanting the real world in the virtual one. That’s disingenuous and sure to result in near-immediate rejection, faster than a bear heart in a labradoodle.

But when fun, lush applied gaming worlds connect the audience – be they data entry workers, home insurance or mortgage agents, video game testers, or whoever – in meaningful ways to their tangible world, the result isn’t simply augmented, it’s supplanted.

On the Other Hand

“Know your audience.” And not the superficial demographics. You might as well admit you live by your stereotypes at that point. Instead, truly know them.

Budget the time, spent the money, review your discoveries free of bias because you owe it yourself, and them, to maintain vigilant diligence.

If the audience gets the feeling they’re simply being led through an exhibition, kinda like a second trip through Epcot Center, then you and the narrative world are prone to slow-slicing. Death by a thousand cuts. Whatever you prefer, the whole bird gets carved to pieces.

And, yes, there’s an opportunity to discover while in the most hostile of environments, but our belief is that the workplace is already hostile enough. Why add to it?

There will always exist an element of subterfuge, meaning, people will find ways to get their kicks exploiting or exposing the soft spots in any system. But that’s okay. It’s a behavior that can be rewarded. Some high-profile hackers have found employment within various security organizations doing exactly that.

Remember, fun is not the enemy of work.

After the conclusion of last week’s Symbolic Systems Forum at Stanford, the very real Jai followed up with the very real Byron Reeves on our ruminations. Of particular interest to this Baxter was Mr. Reeves’ emphasis on the importance of gaming elements in modern day work settings.

Color us engaged!

Concerning our, well, concerns Mr. Reeves grappled diligently, offering much appreciated insight into what is an ever-increasingly faceted puzzle.

Illuminating a workforce, transforming industries, and respecting cultural idiosyncrasies requires a conscious and consistent design approach.

And rightfully so. The inherent power of applied gaming lies in the customizable nature of games themselves.

Defining and conveying rules, building safeguards, and designing expressive worlds require approaches inspired by, and designed in tandem with, the natural environment.

Self-regulating by and large, our involvement within it encourages its evolution and, in turn, our own.

But, observing and modifying behaviors are incredibly delicate tasks, ones that benefit from multiple participants working collaboratively, overtly or as disparate parts within a system, to read, react and repair.

As “The Garden” grows and our affiliation with applied gamers strengthens, we can collectively bring into focus our requisite principled approaches.

Thanks, Jai!

Brush off the spats: Baxter-at-Large Jai will be representing NB at this afternoon’s dauntingly named Symbolic Systems Forum. We’ll be lending our ears to Byron Reeves, co-author of Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete, a Tome of Great Interest we touched on in a previous post.

We’re excited to hear Reeves further describe his vision, and discuss with him some of the concerns that’ve emerged among the Baxters, including …

We’re with you on the gameplay bit, but why the focus on full-on virtual worlds? We think the real one can be pretty damn engaging.

How do designers / organizations account for the weight of “skinning” tasks and avoid the diminished efficiency that putting everything “in world” might bring?

When does the worker / player become too engaged? How can game platforms account for the possibility of unhealthy obsession?

… and other ad hominem attacks.

If you’re in the Bay Area, consider sharing an evening of pinot grigio and gentle nodding with Good Sir Reeves and your local Baxter. Details here.

Do you have a game face? A guitar face? A needle-threading face? You bet you do. It’s that contorted, emotional expression you don’t even know you’re pulling because you’re absolutely engaged in something else. And as Robbie Cooper’s fantastic snaps illustrate, your game face may look a bit odd, but don’t going feel embarrassed — because we Baxters think you look beautiful.