Stories & video games : investigating narratives through play

Conclusion

Through the analysis of several video games, we have determined the narratives layers characterized by a narrative duality, which considers the game (designers), the player, and the latter's interaction with the game, and one specific narrativity fashioned along the interaction with a game community, either inside or outside the game.

In order to comprehend the narrative relation between the game, the player and the play, we established our theoretical framework around narrative design and player's agency. Aiming to trace a rather direct link between narratives and gameplay, we investigated Hades' storytelling. It led us to assume that the game's rhetoric is based on the player's repeated interaction. We determined that the gameplay intertwines with the narratives: the act of play create a narrative tension that compels the play to keep playing (the gameplay loop). The story unfolds through the game inherent mechanics, a storytelling through progression.

We then studied further the characteristics of the narrative duality through the prism of the open world design. The purpose was to widen the theoretical framework by examining the narrative conceptualization within a vast possibility space. It allowed us to understand the intrinsic relation between the designers and the player when the latter was put in a free navigable space. Through our own immersion in Sea of Thieves, we explored emergent narratives and concluded that the act of play not only lets the story unfold, but also allows the player to become author of their own. The game's story interlocks with the player's own; players play within the game boundaries and stretch them along their own narrative goals.

Finally, after expanding our framework further with a deep analysis on the avatar, its immersive properties, and its influence regarding the player's perception of the virtual, we focused our interest on the MMORPG, specifically on FFXIV. It expanded our comprehension of emergent narratives, notably through the player's personal experience fashioned within the «endgame.» Most of all, we ascertain the narrative scope entailed by a social environment. Through interactions intertwined between the game and a whole community, players create interpersonal narratives, notably through social emergence. The game reinforces the player in the position of the author, who therefore craft both a personal story and a story that is part of a community whole.

110

The participant observation methodology established for Sea of Thieves and Final Fantasy XIV allowed us to obtain substantial data regarding the virtual world in which players partake in various activities. It strengthened our overall ability to approach the games and understand their whole narrative experience within a freely navigated world. The result of the overall observation confronted to players' own experience sampled from Reddit's and forums posts, provided compelling results. Especially regarding the narratives formed through the social dimension entailed by the community, whether it is inside or outside the games themselves. Although, it must be acknowledged that the data extracted from Reddit and the forums merely represent a fraction of the samples; it supports the analysis at hand without providing much else. Moreover, the collected data essentially concern «positive» shared reaction. In future research it could be relevant to not only drastically increase the number of samples, but also to encompass every kind of experience players may have shared. Cross-referencing the data would then provide more substantial data, for instance on elements that may demonstrate negative impact on the narrative experience.

Furthermore, the investigation on the MMORPG only scratches the surface of its narrative scope, notably regarding the emergent narrative. For one thing, FFXIV is a popular MMORPG among many others: research on a wider range of MMORPG could extend our general comprehension of these virtual worlds. Additionally, the linguistic aspect would surely be one important component to examine. FFXIV and many other MMORPGs host players from different countries, with different spoken language. Thus, the game design takes into account the communication inter-linguistic; FFXIV for instance allow to display the language spoken, and use a system of auto-translation for specific terms. Further research towards linguistic relation to narrative experience might prove insightful. Moreover, the observations mainly focused on English-speaking players. Another avenue would be to question the narrative conceptualization over one's related culture and language.

Ultimately, the overall methodology whose inquiry mostly took the digital ethnography approach, demonstrated the lack of experience in executing it. Also, the whole thesis looks upon the narratives as a whole single unit; in a future work, it should be compelling to focus on specific narrative device, like the sound design, a now-major narrative component. Nevertheless, the entire research for this thesis was conducted in the hope they could contribute, even a little, to the game studies. Stories and narratives in video games are fascinating subjects. Though the work done here is one among many that explored them, they still call for further studies which would deepen our comprehension of this fascinating medium.

111

112

Annex: Sea of Thieves related posts sampled

Source Post URL

Sea of Thieves forums	«A crew of three bested by one pirate!»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/71184/a-crew-of-three-bested-by-one-pirate
Sea of Thieves forums	«A Kraken and Megalodon at the same time!!!»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/64748/a-kraken-and-megaladon-at-the-same-
		time
Sea of Thieves forums	«A little story on how we stole three Chest of Legends»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/77384/a-little-story-on-how-we-stole-three-
		chest-of-legends
Sea of Thieves forums	«Another day on the Sea of Friends»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/134121/another-day-on-the-sea-of-friends
Sea of Thieves forums	«January edition of The Pirate Times - submit your stories!»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/77379/january-edition-of-the-pirate-times-
		submit-your-stories
Reddit	«Brig wasn't social distancing»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/g7
		t7hz/brig_wasnt_social_distancing/
Reddit	«Galley sunk me soloing and told me I suck. I stole their ashen skull in return»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/q0
		iex3/galley_sunk_me_soloig_and_told_me_i_suck_i
		_stole/
Reddit	«Hippity hippity, your ship is now in confetti»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/kr
		9swj/hippity_hippity_your_ship_is_now_in_confetti
		/
Reddit	«I accidentally burned down the ship...with a banana»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/oh
		1rdk/i_accidentally_burned_down_the_ship_with_a
		_banana/
Reddit	«I just wanted shark meat»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/ol
		6yeq/i_just_wanted_shark_meat/
Reddit	«My luckiest spawn/Athena steal...»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/pu
		ikfu/my_luckiest_spawnathena_steal/
Sea of Thieves forums	«My own little ghost story»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/81746/my-own-little-ghost-story

113

Reddit

	«My sloop after dropping the anchor a second too late»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/n6
		6okf/my_sloop_after_dropping_the_anchor_a_secon
		d_too/
Sea of Thieves forums	«Penny Dreadfuls, the Perseverance Rover, and things that make you go hmmm...»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/132312/penny-dreadfuls-the-perseverance-rover-
		and-things-that-make-you-go-hmmm
Reddit	«Probably been done, just made this»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/lly
		j02/probably_been_done_just_made_this/
Reddit	«Shot myself out of cannon in the fog looking for boarts and happen to land on one»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/lw
		wt4c/shot_myself_out_of_cannon_in_the_fog_looki
		ng_for/
Reddit	«So we encountered a flying Megalodon...»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/nc
		owxh/so_we_encountered_a_flying_megalodon/
Sea of Thieves forums	«Tales of Yer Adventures on the High Seas - A place for authors, poets and Storytellers!»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/28295/tales-of-yer-adventures-on-the-high-seas-
		a-place-for-authors-poets-and-storytellers
Sea of Thieves forums	«The folk you meet»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/75529/the-folk-you-meet
Reddit	«These guys sunk my solo sloop while it was docked, so I hitched a ride»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/n9
		5zs3/these_guys_sunk_my_solo_sloop_while_it_wa
		s_docked/
Sea of Thieves forums	«The Tale of how I stole a sloop»	https://www.seaofthieves.com/community/forums/to
		pic/82368/the-tale-how-i-stole-a-sloop
Reddit	«This was unexpected!»	https://www.reddit.com/r/Seaofthieves/comments/hv
		e645/this_was_unexpected/

114

Annex 2: Final Fantasy XIV related posts sampled

Source Post URL
Twitter	@MoshMosh_FFXIV	https://twitter.com/MoshMosh_FFXIV
Reddit	After a year of playing XIV I was finally able to clear an ultimate despite being mute!	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/j92a1u/aft
		er_a_year_of_playing_xiv_i_was_finally_able_to/
Reddit	After 3 long months, our group cleared UCOB! If you guys see this post, I love all of y'all. <3	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/kvmais/aft
		er_3_long_months_our_group_cleared_ucob_if_you
		/
Reddit	"FC Leader bestows a permanent rank on friend who will pass away at any moment"	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/2pxo8k/fc
		_leader_bestows_a_permanent_rank_on_friend_who
		/
Reddit	"FFXIV is the first game to ever make me understand how or why people can spend hours chilling in a main city and enjoy it."	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/opnlzp/ffx
		iv_is_the_first_game_to_ever_make_me/
Reddit	"I know this isn't especially impressive but it's a first for me, cleared the 2 extremes while they were still relevant and I'm super happy"	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/rtr52s/i_k
		now_this_isnt_especially_impressive_but_its_a/
Reddit	I never raided before FFXIV. I am now a triple legend. AMA and my story! With the all-female UwU group, I wanted to share my own experiences as a female raider to hopefully inspire others!	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/ql6yrh/i_n
		ever_raided_before_ffxiv_i_am_now_a_triple/
Reddit	It took ALL DAMN DAY, but finally got my first clear of floor 200 In PotD with a group of strangers turned friends!	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/ltg71x/it_t
		ook_all_damn_day_but_finally_got_my_first/
Reddit	"The Community (for the most part), is one of the reasons why I love this game! There is an ingame band on Chaos called Mosh Mosh and they're always a	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/pxgsg0/th
		e_community_for_the_most_part_is_one_of_the/

115

	fun time! Their twitter is: @MoshMosh_FFXIV!"
FFXIV forums	"Thread: In memory of Codex Vahlda"	https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/210405-
		In-memory-of-Codex-Vahlda
Reddit	"Why I love the FFXIV community: In honor of Miura Kentaro, author of Berserk who passed away recently".	https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/ngsvjq/wh
		y_i_love_the_ffxiv_community_in_honor_of_miura/

116

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