THE UNACHIEVABLE UTOPIA Perfect Story-Worlds In Interactive - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

THE UNACHIEVABLE UTOPIA Perfect Story-Worlds In Interactive Narratives eoinmurray68@yahoo.co.uk @EoinMurray68

ABOUT ME • Eoin Murray • Been a student at Bangor University for the past five years • Specialising in Game Narrative • Recently completed a Masters Dissertation on the topic of Utopic Story-Worlds in gaming. • A 1 st Year PhD Student

THE RESEARCH QUESTION “The purpose of this research was to investigate and demonstrate how a story-world that is the opposite of the current dystopian gaming trend can manifest itself .”

HYPOTHESIS • Games demand investment. • No Challenge. • Utopia at the beginning. • Introduce Story-World • Utopia at the end • Equilibrium Restored

CURRENT GAMES Several recent releases of console games have shown • thematic similarity worth exploring; a story-world set in some form of dystopia. Examples being:- Bioshock (Irrational Games 2007) • The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog 2013) • Bloodborne (FromSoftware 2015) • Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios 2015) • And the list goes on … •

WHAT IS UTOPIA? • Thomas More in his text Utopia. (1516) • “ Project of history.” (Quarta & Procida 1996, 163) • The struggle of humanity.

THE CASE STUDY • Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII (2009) • Chosen for its financial and critical success, popularity and use of utopic themes and ideals. • Almost all games within the series have been role- playing games (RPG’s) • Games of this genre usually place a great emphasis on the story.

FINAL FANTASY XIII • Set between two worlds, ‘Cocoon’ and ‘Pulse’. • ‘Cocoon’ is described as a “floating paradise” (Square Enix 2009) • ‘Pulse’ is described as “a place ruled by the brutal struggle for survival” (Square Enix 2009).

THE WORLD OF FFXIII • There exist four kinds of being within the world of FFXIII: • f al’Cie – God like beings • Humans • L’Cie – Humans on a quest • Cie’th – Humans who failed their quest

METHODOLOGY • This project drew from multiple kinds of data • A literature view • Drafting of prior codes • FFXIII coded • Coded data analysed

QUALITATIVE DATA • For the purposes of this project the areas that needed to be investigated were three-fold : • Utopia theory, • Interactivity theory, and • Narrative theory

SCHEMA • The utopic schema. • Crafted from David Rumelhart’s (1980) theory. • First attempts would be akin to a pilot study “that would pre -test codes and, to a degree develop theory” (Jensen 2002, 257).

Utopic Sign Sign Description THE UTOPIC SCHEMA Wide Environment A wide environment symbolises freedom and the idea of exploration to both the player and the protagonists of the game itself. • The utopic schema was vital to the Technology as Panacea Use of technology to aid or solve interpretation of the case study. problems within the story-world. Often shown to be the colour of ‘Cocoon’ White and other utopic beings it indicated a sterile, perfect environment. Face The presence of a humanoid face lacking any real gender identifiers. Advanced Technology Machines with abilities that go far beyond what any technology of today is capable • Utopia “means the allegedly perfect of. Mechanical Being Creatures that show signs of sentience society” (Segal 2012, 5) if the word is despite not being biological. simply defined. Magic Powers that demonstrate god-like abilities allowing for the completion of impossible tasks.

QUANTITATIVE DATA • The utopic schema was applied to the case study. • The quantitative data acting as examples to justify the points. • The different methods intertwined in a cycle.

Expectations Vs Reality The� Utopic� Signs� of� Final� Fantasy� XIII 140 120 114 120 96 Signs 91 100 78 Number�of� 70 80 63 52 60 43 39 34 40 25 20 20 0 Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Game� Chapter

THE GAMES NARRATIVE • Chapters 1 – 3 • Craft the opening & inciting incident of the game. • Chapters 4 – 6 The� Utopic� Signs� of� Final� Fantasy� XIII • Protagonists separate, 140 120 114 focusing on own goals. 120 96 Signs 91 100 • Chapters 7 – 9 78 Number�of� 70 80 63 • Groups come together once 52 60 43 39 more. 34 40 25 20 • Chapters 10 – 11 20 0 • Groups decides on new, final Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� Chap� goal. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Game� Chapter • Chapters 12 – 13 • Defeating final enemy & saving Cocoon

IMMERSION • Henry Jenkins’ (2003, 119) theory of swifter immersion is seen in these patterns. • From chapter four onwards the protagonists separate. • From a narrative standpoint, it’s predictable. • From a gameplay perspective it’s a learning curve. • Chapter five – Hope (Synergist) • Chapter six – Vanille (Saboteur)

THE MULTI-SIGN • A utopic sign which fit the criteria of more than one code. • T he fal’Cie Barthandelus • Fitting three codes … • Mechanical Being • Face • Magic

THE MULTI-SIGN • An increase in the number of multi-signs from chapter eleven on wards. • Increases come when the narrative reaches its third act climax and finale. • The frequency and intensity of utopic signs is directly linked to the movement of the narrative.

Utopian Ideals • Final boss battle. • It is a battle of utopic ideals. • Protagonists Utopian Ideals • The fal’Cie’s Utopian Ideals

THE BATTLE FOR UTOPIA • This clash of utopic ideals is reflected in the narrative intensity. • Utopia has become the cause of the challenges experienced by the player. • Utopia will be cause of the conflict, drama and resolution of the interactive narrative.

HERE IS THAT BATTLE IN ACTION

CAN THE STORY ALWAYS FIT? • The main purpose or goal of a game is to finish it. • From a ludologic perspective it is the ultimate satisfaction. • What effect will this have on the story? • The game demands a happy ending.

CAN THE STORY ALWAYS FIT? • Murray (1997) theorises a ‘ happy ending ’ will inevitably craft an unsatisfactory response. • Klonoa, (1997) • The Last of Us, • and FFXIII. • These endings are far from just happy.

CONSUMPTION THEORY • Some ludological elements fit between with certain games. • The same with narratological elements. • Both effect make up the genre of the game. • Both can enhance, or detract from the experience.

CONCLUSIONS • By creating a clash out of utopian ideals challenging gameplay can be experienced. • Utopic signs discovered throughout the entire game. • Narrative and interactive experience are completely separate yet at the same time completely inseparable . • Consumption Theory

WHAT COMES NEXT? • The Utopia in Dystopia: Character & Story-World Structure • More nuanced research into the genre • Focusing on the construction , presentation and consumption of utopia.

A NEW UTOPIAN SCHEMA • Several kinds of utopic schema which will be created • Similar elements extrapolated. • A broader utopic schema.

REFERENCES Bethesda Game Studios (2015) ‘Fallout 4’. Available at: https:// www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&q=fallout+4 (Accessed: 15 April 2016). • FromSoftware (2015) ‘ Bloodborne ’. Available at: https:// www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&q=bloodborne (Accessed: 15 April 2016). • Irrational Games (2007) ‘Bioshock’. Available at: https:// www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&q=bioshock (Accessed: 15 April 2016). • Jenkins, H. (2003) ‘Game design as narrative architecture’, Response , 44(3), pp. 118 – 130. Available at: • http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/games&narrative.html. Jensen, K. B. (2002) Handbook of Media and Communication Research : Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies . Taylor and Francis. • Namco (1997) ‘ Klonoa ’. Tokyo: Namco . • Naughty Dog (2013) ‘The Last of Us’. Available at: https:// www.google.co.uk/#safe=off&q=the+last+of+us (Accessed: 15 April 2016). • Nintendo EAD (1990) ‘Super Mario World’. Kyoto: Nintendo . • Quarta, C. and Procida, D. (1996) ‘Homo Utopicus : On the Need for Utopia’, Utopian Studies , 7(2), pp. 153 – 166. Available at: http://0- • www.jstor.org.unicat.bangor.ac.uk/stable/20719515?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Homo&searchText=Utopicus:&searchText=On&searchT ext=the&searchText=Need&searchText=for&searchText=Utopia&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=Hom (Accessed: 10 October 2015). Rumelhart, D. E. (1980) ‘“Schemata: the building blocks of cognition”’, Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension: Perspectives from Cognitive • Psychology, Linguistics, Artificial Intelligence and Education , pp. 33 – 58. Segal, H. P. (2012) Utopias: A Brief History from Ancient Writings to Virtual Communities . John Wiley & Sons. Available at: • https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Utopias.html?id=1gQS4Ma-l8wC&pgis=1 (Accessed: 19 April 2016). Square Enix (2009) ‘Final Fantasy XIII’. • Thomas, M. (1516) Utopia . London: Penguin Classis. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=thomas+more+utopia&safe=off&start=10 (Accessed: 21 • April 2016).