August 6th, 2007
The Pilgrimage (The 1st Experiment – part 1)
For awhile now I’ve been wanting to experiment with games by setting up a scenario that would stretch not only the game itself but certain foundational aspects of design in general. Hopefully this blog will be a good place to record my findings so that I can share the results with you all. It is, of course, the proverbial “what if” just to fool around to see what happens but who knows, maybe something interesting will come of the experiments as well. They will all be categorized under The Experiments for quick and easy viewing in the future. Now let’s get to it.
The first experiment, which I’m calling “The Pilgrimage,” comes from an idea that Ernest Adams (yes, that blow hard) gave me at his last talk at GDC 07. In the talk he makes a certain point about gamers as “tourists” and how there really aren’t enough games being made that merely allow us to explore freely without the constant threat of death. I won’t go into the details too much, but he was proposing that (as I understood it) what most people all over the world do for leisure is take on the role of a tourist. So, why is it that so few video games, a somewhat leisure driven activity, actually allow gamers to be tourists? It could be that until we start making games that cater to this “tourist” mentality we will never truly get that holy grail of the “extended audience” to adopt the video game as a leisure activity. Once again, do we see the Wii taking this turn for the better (check out their upcoming SCUBA diving game, for instance)? Ernest gave the example of FarCry where the island retreat is so beautiful to behold, but as soon as you step onto the vacation resort of a tropical island you get shot at and are running for your life. The way the game looks and feels and the actual gameplay work against each other and thus push away so many people who really just want to “see the world.”
So, that lead me to thinking, are there any games that I actually could play the part of a tourist? Where I could try to just explore the world without engaging anything in a combat-driven way just to see the sites, etc. Well, the first one that came to mind was Oblivion (which I have not yet played). They have always claimed that they are the game where you can really do whatever you want to. Follow the main story or just pick some flowers and wander around. Well, I’m going to test that messaging out and see if I can play the game in that specific way. No combat, no hostility (other than running from it), no confrontation. I’m going to be a “tourist” in the land of Cyrodiil to see just how far I can take it. Will the game live up to that characterization that I can do whatever I want to and still enjoy myself? Or will it digress into a shell of a world where I get bored of picking flowers and talking to beggars only to eventually realize that what they really meant was that I can “kill or be killed” any way I like. As some of you may know, The Elder Scrolls does support a sort of side quest that gives you the option of visiting all the important religious sites of the world as a sort of pilgrimage. So, that is where I’ll start. No combat necessary. I’m going to be that pilgrim in the absolute sense and play as a pacifist in a world built for bloodshed. Sounds like a blast!
As I begin this ridiculous journey I am immediately struck by how extreme of a choice this really is. It is obvious that when I think about the concept it is technically the opposite of what I’ve been doing in RPGs throughout my whole life. But once I actually start playing it really sinks in on a whole new level. It goes against everything I’ve been trained to do since Adventure on the 2600. Simple things that we take for granted (including the designers of the game I suppose) are just not true anymore.
Stay tuned to see the bullets fly…
