Where's the Fun? GENIUS Theory

Role-Playing - Where’s the Fun?

GENIUS theory

I’m starting from the assumption that everyone who role-plays does it to have fun. This leads us straight to the thorny issue of what is fun? I propose that ‘fun’ in a role-playing entertainment consists of six different elements or flavours (none of which are mutually exclusive):

· Gaming

· Exploration

· Narrative

· Immersion

· Unity

· Smiles

Gaming: Pwned

Humanity, indeed all life, is driven to compete - it’s an evolutionary necessity.

Games set up arbitrary rules which create an arena for competition. When playing games, individuals submit to these rules and pit their skills against one another in order to see who triumphs.

Hence much of the fun from gaming comes from besting one’s opponents. Yet, once the game and rules are understood, lots of fun can be gained from an appreciation of the tactics and techniques displayed by the participants. It is especially appealing to the male psyche to analyze and discuss the minutiae of games.

Chess represents a pure form of gaming.

In role-playing, gaming oriented fun springs from competition, tactics and analysis.

That said, role-laying has a somewhat bizarre relationship with gaming - I’ve addressed this further in RPG vs RPE: Art Forms with Elves.

Exploration: What would really happen.

Exploration is the first of the three escapist elements that necessarily exist in all true role-playing games & entertainments.

Exploration is best explained as exploration of the imaginary world in which the story is set.

Exploration is an aspect unique to role-playing, it’s about giving the players the power to investigate the fictional world as if it were real. It’s about building and ‘living in’ a coherent fiction.

Exploration can be a difficult concept for non-role-players to grasp and there is a ‘geek factor’ involved. By geek factor I mean a pre-existing investment in the fictional world - you know the people who talk at length about the Star Wars or Lord of The Rings universes as if they were real. This hints at the potential conflict between exploration and narrative - Star Wars and LOTR are stories following the universal plot structure - they are not intended to be simulated realities.

Exploration oriented play can become quite insular, often meta knowledge of setting becomes a desirable commodity even outside of the game! However, exploration can be hugely rewarding when done well, but it’s all about the individual’s investment in the fictional world.

There is no pure form of exploration - it is always linked to narrative (exploration creates narrative) and immersion (there must be an explorer).

Narrative: Once upon a time…

The earliest known story is the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, which survives today over 5000 years after it was first told in Mesopotamia. Surprisingly the plot structure follows the formula for a Hollywood blockbuster. This is more than mere coincidence, it shows that humanity has a universal need for and appreciation of stories. Intuitively, who doesn't enjoy a good story?

In certain circles, there is much discussion of premise being the foundation of narrative.

However, as Christopher Booker shows in his literary tour de force The Seven Basic Plots, there is in fact only one universal premise - Good vs Evil, Altruism vs Ego; Light vs Dark*.

This is further supported by briefly considering three of what are commonly termed Narrativist role-playing games: Ron Edward’s Sorcerer, Vincent D Baker’s Dogs in the Vineyard and Paul Czege’s My Life with Master.

The heart of Sorcerer’s premise is humanity - essentially how light or dark a character is.

Dogs’ main narrative thrust is how far do you go for your vision of what is right - essentially when do you cross the line into darkness (the genius of this game is that it will often be the drawing of a gun which represents movement into darkness).

In MLWM the characters live under the shadow of the wholly dark master and only by performing enough good acts can they gain the power of light (represented as love) which allows them to overthrow the shackles of darkness.

Narrative enjoyment comes from the fulfilment of the universal plot structure - darkness sowing the seeds of its own destruction to be finally overthrown by light. Of course there are stories in which light does not triumph, the Dark Inversion as Booker calls it. Interestingly these stories have only been written within the last couple of centuries and are less psychologically satisfying since they conflict with our intuitive moral values. Hence Hollywood’s obsession with (the more bankable) happy endings.

This is also the problem with balancing gaming or exploration against narrative - it’s all too possible that the dark powers will ‘win’.

There are countless examples of the pure narrative form: novels, plays, movies...etc.

Immersion: What’s my motivation?

Immersion is of huge importance, it literally is role-playing. Immersion is the final escapist element, alongside exploration and narrative. By immersion I refer to the act of losing oneself in the fictional character one is portraying. At its deepest level, a player feels like they actually become the character, taking on the character’s persona and psyche.

It’s difficult to explain why immersion is fun, but if you’ve ever experienced it you’ll know how exciting it can be. By immersing, a player invests a great deal of energy in their character, which is why it can be very upsetting for a player to lose their character during role-play.

Immersion can conflict with narrative, as it stresses character over and above plot.

Amusingly, immersion is often claimed as a justification for gaming oriented play. Often known as the “My character would…” defence.

I separate immersion from exploration to highlight its importance, but also because it is possible to have exploration oriented play with very little immersion or immersion oriented play with very little exploration.

A pure form of immersion is what the dramatist Keith Johnstone describes as Mask-Play in his book Impro - the actors literally become the masks. Other forms of acting and improvisation also constitute pure immersion, but none so dramatically.

Unity: One for all and all for one!

Unity relates to a feeling of belonging, social acceptance, group cohesion, camaraderie and a sense of shared purpose. In social psychology terms unity can be thought of as in-group identity. This sense of belonging is a basic human need and as such it’s pleasurable when experienced.

I refer primarily to unity between the real people involved in play, although in-character unity can also be fun - indeed this explains the ‘party play’ phenomenon inherent in most role-playing systems.

While it’s true that unity is mainly facilitated by the social contract, group unity itself is still a source of pleasure during role-playing. And if the mechanics encourage unity then the social contract can in turn be strengthened by this.

Gaming and immersion present the greatest potential for clashes with unity.

Merely socializing with friends is a pure form of unity.

Smiles: Cheer up you old bugger it’s the end of the essay :)

Smiles, well what is there to say about smiles? I could start by explaining how they are a universal human conveyance of happiness, since I’m big on human universals today.

What makes each of us happy is hugely subjective, but we all know intuitively when something does. If something during role-play makes you smile then it’s good whether it relates to one of the previous five flavours of fun or not.

Find your own smile and the more you wear it during role-playing the better you’re doing.

Remember, the ultimate point is to have fun and the more fun you have the more you smile!

* This is a vastly simplified synopsis of Booker’s work. I implore anyone with an interest in the narrative form to invest the necessary time to read The Seven Basic Plots as it is the most important book on narrative ever written

JJ Prince

2006

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