What's Wrong With the Kids Today?

I think that, as of right now, the demographic that has been effected the most in this nation by the advent and proliferation of the internet as a way of life has been teens. The process of moving from childhood to adulthood is difficult and often times very traumatic. To me, it seemed that in years past journals and diaries played a large role in helping teens vent and express their emotions in a safe environment. Oftentimes there was some sort of locking mechanism on the diary itself, and the key was to be carried in person. In a word: private. This has been a common practice for years. Some of the world's greatest authors have created their best work in this sort of setting.

It seems like this occurrence is waning with the proliferation of the blog. It really seems as if it's almost a polar opposite of the medium of the diary. It is an extroverted form of expression. People can log on and read your most personal thoughts. But it is all voluntary too. So why? There are two factors that I consider. The first is that there is often times a sense of gratification. Fellow bloggers will comment on what you've posted. Often times that can be a source of support. The second is the anonymity. There is a level between you and what you write that gives the sense of detachment. The act of using a handle (as I, Handel, am) gives you a new sense of identity to some degree, however small that may be.

All I know is that if I was 13 now, I sure as hell wouldn't keep a blog. All my writing would still be kept in my little red journal.

Database Narrative, Data's Imparative

Ok...

My last post did a got me thinking a lot about the inherent structure of the DB narrative. We looked at two contrasting images of DB narrative. One, Soft Cinema, played out in very much the same style as a film. The user watched it play out. The act of watching it was personal experience only with regard to the overal presentation. Two separate audiences watching it would have different experiences, and the same audience watching it twice would have a different experience each time. That's about as personalized as it gets. The second, Tracing the Decay of Fiction, has a more personalized effect in that a user is actually inputting commands. These two works are obviously different; one could be shown on a projector in a theatre, and the other could be downloaded and "played" on a personal computer. It would seem, almost, as if they could be considered to be representative of two separate media. And yet they both are examples of the DB narrative.

The one thing that I thought was similar between these two works is the fact that they are apparently lacking in any substantial progression. There doesn't feel like any propulsion from the beginning to... anywhere, really. I believe that (at least) I personnaly feel that I've been conditioned to expecting a more linearized progression. There is some part of me that expects the "Once upon a time..." and the "... and they all lived happily everafter." to be in any dynamic work (by that meaning a work that is not static in the way a painting or a photo is). I do like the idea of changing things up. I like sometimes when music doesn't have a true cadence to draw everything up in a nice little ribbon. I like being left hanging. But I still acknowledge the fact that I am not accustomed to that.

It seems to me that DB narratives have somewhat of a difficulty in providing that sort of alpha and omega. Texas, for example, just seemed to jump into (and eventually out of) a narrative at any given point in the narrative's progression. I didn't really feel like I got anything (narratively speaking) out of it, though I really enjoyed it as a work in its own right. Likewise, while I enjoyed Tracing the Decay of Fiction quite a great deal, I felt like it was more of an interactive brochure, than a fully-fledged narrative.

Fallout is da Bomb (RTSs are fun too)

We've been talking a lot about DB narratives lately. I've been very interested in how DB narratives can apply to the realm of video games. We had mentioned about how video games can be considered a DB narrative in the way that the user is somewhat in charge of the unraveling of the stored story. I was giving this some thought, and I think that for about 80 or 90% of video games this isn't fully true. While it is true that there is some lateral movement possible in most games (such as side quests and what not), it can essentially be boiled down into getting from point A to point B. Point B is a given, and the player really has no choice as to whether they want B to be the end result. There are, however, two types of games (that come directly to memory) which do not necessarily adhere to this.

The first I'd like to mention is real-time strategy (RTS) games. There is no real narrative at all to these games. They're like chess on steroids. You have the goal of beating the enemy into submission, and there is no plot to be unraveled. I think that these games could be considered exempt entirely from the DB "narrative" designation. Just win.

The second is games like Fallout. You have (essentially) a fully open-ended environment to interact with. Do you want something that someone else has? Be a friendly and persuasive negotiator and become well known for your diplomatic abilities... or you can do like I do and just steal it from them when their back is turned. The game will adapt to these sort of decisions, changing the environment to reflect your actions. If you are upset by what someone says about you, you can literally decide to murder everyone in town (grizzly, I know). Beware that in the next town the word of your evil-deeds has most likely spread and your reputation will repulse people. Even this example, though, has a starting point and an end goal.

In this analysis I am looking at games as functioning similar to novels, and if they adhere significantly to that design of a linear narrative it entirely negates their ability to function as a DB narrative. I also believe that recently there have been an increase in non-linear narratives, or at least non-linear narratives with linear sub-narratives incased within. Management/god games like Black and White and the Sims, the GTA series. These could all be seen as possessing a more DB-style narrative...

Right?

Wow, there are a lot of games out there... and I've kinda confused myself thinking about all of them...