Contextual Studies - Greg Costikyan Blog Task

Contextual Studies Blog task - I Have No Words & I Must Design


After having a thorough read of Greg Costikyans' ' Have No Words & I Must Design', I found some very interesting points. The first was his idea that 'saying “it has good gameplay” is about a good as saying “that's a good book”. Calling something “good” doesn't help is understand what's good about it, what pleasures it provides, and how to go about doing something else good.' (Page 9, line 9) This is one of the main reasons why I got into Media studies at A levels, as I wanted to go much deeper into a media text than just that it is good. If you are out to create a game or film or even an art piece a lot more is needed from feedback to really understand why the piece was created and how it makes the viewer feel. When creating a game, you need to know how the player is feeling while they are playing it as to gather whether your game is creating the reaction you wanted it to, and to also find out what was right about the game. This is why I enjoy the analysis of media texts as well as artwork as you can really get behind the thoughts and emotions of each piece and also analyse what makes it successful and why.

The second idea I found interesting was his discussion on SimCity and online MUDS and RPGS such as Ultima Online and Everquest. He notes that 'in both types of games, character improvement is a key concept; through play, your character can become more powerful, gaining hit points, skills, spells, equipment, whatever'. (Page 13, Line 24)This is one type of game structure that I find can be the most immersive. The idea of self improvement is one that we strive to do in our real lives, we try to be better than our friends at certain things, and life is a competition. Taking this into a game gives the game competition, keeping the player playing the game and even putting money into it to improve the virtual version of themselves. It also gives the player an opportunity to get completely lost in this virtual world, because as the character is another version of themselves, they feel connected to the game and the story and therefore continue to play. This is one concept which some games could have used to better their gameplay experiences, as games such as 'RAGE', do not give you the option for character customisation, and so you feel completely detached from the story.

Costikyan also claims that 'every so often, the politically correct attack games as being “competitive” and therefore bad. They have winners. They have losers. This is bad; we're supposed to nurture and support others. Why can't we have cooperative games?' (Page 14, Line 37) I completely agree with his argument against this; that games need struggle and competition, otherwise they aren't as enjoyable. The reason why we play games is to challenge ourselves and try to push our skills. Games without this struggle are much less popular, and tend to be very young children's games to encourage working together. However, life is a competition, and having games which encourage cooperation instead of trying to better yourself over others isn't teaching children what life is like, and how to succeed in life and work you have to be better than the competition. Some games do encourage cooperation, but still have elements of competition such as RPGs, where everyone is working towards the same goal, and therefore work together, although the competition of being better than others is still prevalent.

This idea of struggle is also one that is difficult for games designers to get right, as the player wants a challenge, but 'that isn't to say we want them too tough, either. We feel frustrated if, despite our best efforts, we wind up being slogged again and again'. (Page 17, Line 15) This is something I have experienced in games, and this can be the downfall of them in popularity. I found that the 'Final Fantasy' series, VII and XIII in particular, I never completed, as they were far too difficult. You could get totally engrossed in the story and continue playing but because of the turn based combat system, I found that if I couldn't defeat a boss, I would never defeat it. This made such a good game be left in the shelf forever more, just because I was stuck on a certain boss battle. This happened especially with 'Final Fantasy XIII', as the game was beautiful, and the story was engrossing, but once I got stuck on a boss I never completed the game and ended up trading it in. This made such a good game go down in my opinion of it, just because it didn't have different difficulty settings.

Costikyan also quotes Eric Zimmerman, that 'Games are structures of desire'. (Page 17, Line 29) I think this is quite a good way of describing games, as we play games to fill a desire. We play them to escape into another reality, and we have the desire to complete the game and all the goals set for us. But is desire the right word to use? Desire is quite a strong word, and has strong meaning. Desire connotes passion and lust, and as Costikyan explains 'it makes games sound like a whorehouse'. However, we do desire to play and complete games, and the goal becomes important to us, so technically desire could be said to describe the emotion behind games correctly.

One point that Costikyan makes which I have experienced, is that 'a small change in structure breeds a big change in player behaviour'.(Page 20, Line 19) He compares 'Ultima online' to 'Everquest', where in Ultima online you can kill and loot other players, and in Everquest you can't, and players are more likely to work together. He found that in Ultima online, everyone was against each other, whereas in Everquest, 'players frequently stop to help each other out, strike up conversations with random passers-by and in general behave with a degree of social solidarity'. This is something I have experienced in the 'Red Dead Redemption' multiplayer. In the normal mode, after respawn you would immediately be shot at again, and you were constantly on the run from posses of ruthless idiots. Whereas in the friendly mode, players are much more helpful to one another and posses would leave each other alone and do their own thing.

'Games are fantasy.' (Page 23, Line 35) This section also drew my eye, as I was once asked whether games should look totally realistic. But as Costikyan states, games aren't real, 'and the fact that they aren't real is part of the point.' People want realism, but not to the point that it no longer becomes fantasy. If a game is too real, the fantasy of it all is lost and we cannot lose ourselves in something that is too much like reality as it is boring. However there is an extent to how much this is right, as games such as 'The Sims' are made to mimic real life, but the opportunity is there is change things and have fun with it.

Another quote that I strongly agree with is that 'you can learn more about the Roman Military, its changes over the course of the Late Republic and the Empire, and the nature of internal conflict in the Empire, by studying Nofi's game (Imperium Romanum II) than from any six books on the subject'. (Page 24, Line 19) This is something that I have experienced, with games such as Assassins Creed. I managed to learn some Italian from just playing it, and I also learned about how Rome and other places at this time looked and worked. I find this can be a very good way to learn history, as you can really experience things and lose yourself in another time in history and become totally engrossed in it.

'Good visuals provide one form of sensory pleasure; we like pretty games. Audio is important'. (Page 26, Line 30) This quote is also something I feel is an important part of games. I find the visuals have to be good, otherwise there is no possibility of getting engrossed entirely in it. The game has to be nice to look at, otherwise people won't want to look at it, and they won't play it. I also strongly agree that audio is very important in games as to set the mood of the story. 'Alan Wake', uses its music perfectly to create tension in the player, and this makes us feel like we are a character in a film, and the tension is building to something bad that is going to happen. Without good audio, the atmosphere that the game designers want to create is lost.

The final quote that interested me was 'the question of whether or not games are, or should be, or should not be story telling engines is a contentious one - there are those who maintain that every game requires a story, and those that claim that game and story are in direct opposition, and those who say that story is a useful element in some, but not all games.' (Page 27, Line 38) In my opinion, all games have some sort of story, whether it is one that is given to you, or it is one that the player creates themselves out of the game. Even games such as 'Angry Birds' have a narrative in there, it just isn't as present as in games such as 'Fable' or 'Portal'. The story behind the game gives it meaning, and gives the player a reason to continue. Stories can be excellent tools to draw in a player, with games such as 'Alan Wake' relying totally on the story, and having add ons so the player can continue the narrative. These types of games can be totally immersive, just like a good film with the player gaining an attachment to the character and wanting to continue the story.