"Ludorama Article" [DEADLINE: NOV 10]

[droqen]

Wasn't sure in which forum this belonged but putting it here since it's sort of an "idea-expressing" project.

w/ Mer Grazzini.

[droqen]

conversations.

most conversations don't have a strict beginning and end. it started months ago, and it will probably go on after this is published.

poetry: you can skip over difficult passages
games: sometimes you can't


how might books, movies, and poetry be challenging like a videogame?
a poem expects its reader to play along (what does this mean?)
requires first learning how to play along (i.e. how to read poetry, how to not follow the rules of grammar but instead the poem's own rules)

"poems keeps the meaning hidden, they don't point at it" - this is bad! this may be accurate, but it's not an endpoint imo. you don't want to fail to make your point, you want to make your point as well and as beautifully as possible, given restrictions

"even if games demand interaction, you can be a passive player if you're not willing to question the narrative in front of you"
- what does this mean, to question the narrative?

it requires an active reading to get it - get what?

How does including 'difficult poetry' in your games & game designs materially affect the social fabric?
The bigger question, why write difficult poetry? And HOW?

Romanticizing difficulty because it keeps you at a distance from the point of the work? no...

Romanticizing an openness to interpretation because it allows others to create their own experiences & perspectives, their own works, out of it? ok-
but i'm nervous about too much 'ooh the point of it is that it is that it's hard to get'
no, never.

Outer WIlds: branching of experiences from a design level, rather than a story one. [..] every challenge can be approached
from many points and in any order, experiences between players differ a lot. hmm. hmmmm. okay, rather than thinking about the process of creation (i'm interested in the process of creation) why value this as a player? is it because "my experience is different from yours"? we have things to talk about? "i did it this way because i'm X person." what does it say about me. how can i express myself.

NITW "the choices we make, what do they say about us." i'm really not interested in the narrative choices like A-B-C- multiple choice personality quizzes though, i'm more interested in engaging with a system.

not thinking about emotions or thoughts during gameplay but rather design towards creating conversation about the game

personal interpretation

interpretation. interpretation. interpretation. not canon, but poetry. we think and see different things. branching paths don't do as much for me when they're about literally seeing different content - they just make it harder to see the whole work. no doors. what does a game look like when you understand it in its entirety?

Responsibility of being understood

development of a game is a ride. i want you to be along for the ride and to interpret it with me, as an equal. not based on partial understanding.