should it be designed?
Rebecca Phillips
BA (Hons) Interior Architecture & Design Final Year
Research Project
The player is the main character, they make the decisions based on their own emotions and they have their own profile.
This page uses secondary sources to analyse and discuss several key reasons why video game designers should not design the player character, primary survey results are used to support or contradict these points.
A persona is a player, in a virtual world. That’s in it. Any separate distinction of character is gone – the player is the character. You’re not role-playing a being, you are a being; you’re not assuming an identity, you are that identity; you’re not projecting a self, you are that self. If you’re killed in a fight, you don’t feel that your character has died, you feel that you have died. There’s no level of indirection, no filtering, no question: You are there (Bartle 2003: 155)
(Williams, J.P. and Smith, J.H., eds., 2007, p174)
Miller (2004) explains that whilst in the game the player is active, they strive for a goal, they are challenged by obstacles and they are personally invested in the outcome, much like the protagonists in linear work
- they are the main character.
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Regarding first person games, Ince states that ‘the sole intention is to give players the impression that they have become the character, or even that it is the players themselves who have entered the game,’ (Ince, S, 2006, p65) He comments that first person games are at the extreme end of the spectrum of immersion.
Only one respondent in the survey specifically chose first person as their preferred perspective. They stated that they make decisions in the game based on how the consequences will affect their progress, which would suggest they do not feel as though they have become the character or are in the game themselves either. Furthermore, of the 43% of respondents that chose First Person Shooter as one of their preferred genres, 68% also make decisions based on how they think it will affect their progress in the game, so even though it is said that the perspective allows for greater immersion, they are detached and thinking strategically rather than emotionally.
Although to feel immersed in a video game the perspective does not have to be first person, for example in the case of MMORPG’s (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), Williams and Smith (2007) state that most players do not role-play as the fictive character but they ‘instead play themselves in another world’ (Williams, J.P. and Smith, J.H., eds., 2007, p174)
As the quote above explains, players do not always have to make decisions in terms of an actual storyline, whilst playing MMORPG’s players all across the world are sat at their individual devices but are together in one space in the gaming world, the character or avatar stands as a representation of themself, the actions and emotions are that of the player therefore any relationships are between the players not the characters. 18% of respondents stated that they make decisions based on how they would act in real life but of those 0% chose MMORPG’s as one of their favourite genres, the 13% of respondents who did choose MMORPG’s all stated that they make decisions based on how the consequences will affect their progress in the game. However the phrasing of the question indicates that making a decision is in terms of a choice that you have to make before continuing with the game as shown in figure 15, rather than how the player chooses to act in a free roaming game, also known as a sandbox, where they are not restricted to the storyline but can explore the world as they wish.
To further argue the case against a designed character, it is stated that ‘if fiction is really an escape from reality, then living it should clearly be better than just observing it.’ (Lebowitz, J. and Klug, C., 2011, p251) It is in linear works that you observe the characters story and their development, as stated previously video games allow the player to be part of the story, as Taylor Kurosaki explains in Video Games: The Movie (2014), the player just needs to be shown what the world looks like and how it functions, then it becomes their reality and they can really immerse themselves into the world.
(WoW - World of Warcraft)
(Rigby, G, 2015)
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The results of the survey show that 45% of respondents chose third person as their preferred perspective but of those only 17% make decisions based on how they think the character would act, therefore being able to see the character does not necessarily create a connection between the character and the player. When a game uses a third person point of view you are able to ‘see the characters movements and facial expressions, but because the character is so well defined visually, it is more difficult for us to identify with it. Thus, it can create a sense of disconnect between the user and the material.’ (Miller, C.H, 2004, p93) As mentioned, first-person perspective allows great immersion for the player, Miller (2004) highlights the fact that you never see what the character looks like and cannot see their reactions but if the player is the main character then this isn’t an issue as they are witness to their own reactions. However, even though during the gameplay the player doesn’t see the player character, in many games they are often shown them in the cut-scenes for example in figure 17. This can also create a sense of disconnect as Lee (2013) explains, ‘one minute you’re playing a game, the next you’re watching a movie. It breaks the immersion, reminding you constantly that you’re consuming a piece of media. Not only that, it strips away any tension and emotion that was built up during the gameplay’.
Lebowitz & Klug (2011) make several key points in regards to the player-character relationship. They believe that no matter how good a predefined character may be, the player ‘should be able to bond much more closely with a generic player-created hero over whom they have complete control’ (Lebowitz, J. and Klug, C., 2011, p250), Ince (2006) reiterates this point by saying that when the player has direct control over the character there is a more substantial connection between them and the feeling that the player character as an extension of them takes place. By creating a character the player is taken through their story rather than creating their own. The survey results show that 32% of respondents prefer to create their character from scratch and 40% prefer to personalise their character which shows that these players like to put their own stamp on a character to distinguish them from other players and as mentioned it also creates a bond as the player spends time customising the character.
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Haden Blackman, interviewed by Nutt (2014), explains that it is a ‘difficult challenge to make somebody care for a character’; he continues to say that it is really easy to get people to dislike a character or enemy but to get them to like them is hard. There is also the fact that no two players will feel the same way towards a character, as Ince (2006) states, ‘the motivations and objectives of the character should never be at odds with those of the player’ (Ince, S, 2006, p64), but if each player views the player character differently it is incredibly difficult to create a character to suit all. Richard Vincent states that, ‘if people don’t identify with the character, they wont play it.’ (Miller, C.H, 2004, p90) There is the risk the designers take in defining a player character that many people will not like them, and as stated by Lebowitz & Klug (2011) the developers need the players to enjoy the story and tell their friends to increase sales. UkyoConvoy (2014) tells their views on the main character in The Last of Us, they say that they just couldn’t stand him and didn’t want to play as him, yet throughout my research the game The Last of Us has repeatedly been referenced as being an example of great storytelling and as having well written characters, therefore reiterating the point that in even the most highly rated games not everybody will like the player character.
37% of survey respondents admitted they have been put off playing a video game because they didn’t like the main character, although this isn’t the majority of respondents it is still a considerable amount and you would assume they would not recommend or purchase a game because of its player character therefore impacting on the reputation of the game. Furthermore, 57% of those respondents prefer to create their character from scratch, compared to the 17% of respondents who have not been put off playing a video game that prefer to create their character from scratch. This indicates that the players who have had issues with the main character would rather they had control, taking away the need for a designed character.
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I gave up on both Uncharted and Uncharted 2 about halfway through each game because I couldn’t stand being around Nathan Drake. Pretty much every rough edge that would make him human got smoothed over, and we’re left with this guy who’s little more than a sense of adventure, infinite energy, and a smirk. Every situation was an opportunity for him to show off how manly he was. “Nathan, we’re surrounded!” someone would yell. To which he’d snarl, “Just give me a big gun, and we’ll be fine.” I’d like to think challenges in games are, you know, challenges, and the protagonists of the tales are not always super confident things will go okay. Because of this cocky hero, the Uncharted games became exercises in running through the motions.
(Steve Heisler, 2013)
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A report published by Populous in September 2014 showed that females account for over half (52%) of people who’ve played some form of video game in the last six months, yet the gaming industry remains male-dominated. Leibl states that there are more male lead characters in games because there are more male gamers, the aforementioned report evidently discounts this, however the rise in female gamers is believed to be due to the development of mobile gaming apps. Scimeca (2013) documents the difference in gaming types; he references Michael Pachter, (video game industry analyst) explaining his ideas. ‘People who play console games and buy dedicated consoles are core gamers. People who play them excessively are hardcore gamers,’ In a 2013 report by the ESA, it is shown that the physical sales of the three highest selling genres of console games in 2012 have a male audience of between 78-85%.
Scimeca (2013) continues to explain that ‘the core industry has been slow to adapt to the idea of a gender diverse audience.’ Jenny Haniver in a report by Gittleson (2014) states that ‘the more we're normalised and shown as protagonists, the more women are going to want to play games.’ Kent Hudson - an independent games developer – told Polson (2013) that he considered allowing the player to choose the gender of the protagonist in his game The Novelist, however every part of the design process would be doubled, including cost so with a small budget it wasn’t viable. Even many AAA games do not account for the gender option of the player character. Leibl states that ‘Ubisoft has no incentive to devoting time to female models/animations because gamers will still buy their game, with or without female characters.’ And Scimeca (2013) comments on FIFA, ‘a sport with countless numbers of female fans, denies women the opportunity to play as a female in Club mode because of the extra work that would entail.’
Leibl believes ‘you need to have a character that fits the story you're telling. In books and movies -- good ones, at least -- the decision to have a male or female lead character is determined by the author for what best suits the narrative.’ 45% of survey respondents agreed by stating that they feel the gender of the player character should be that of what is best suited to the story and 37% decided they have no preference on gender. Additionally, only 8% of female respondents would prefer a female character and 33% of female respondents prefer to be given a character they cannot change. These figures suggest that actually gender is not an important factor to the player, which neither proves or disproves the hypothesis.
Big budget.
‘If good characters add so much appeal to a work of interactive entertainment, how can it be that some immensely popular games don’t have any characters at all?’
(Miller, C.H, 2004, p92)
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Only one respondent stated that they prefer there to be no character. They chose Puzzle, Strategy & Tactics and Fighting as their preferred genres, this suggests that they are not accustomed to storytelling games that have a strong focus on the character and their development, this may be out of choice because they don’t like those games or they have not played them at all. Also, they are detached from any present character as they pay little attention to dialogue and cut scenes and make decisions based on how they think the consequences will affect their progress in the game. However they do state that they have been put off playing a game and would also buy a game because of its character, which indicates that they do consider the character.
By using the first person perspective the player isn’t shown the character’s appearance or expressions during the gameplay which prevents the player from feeling disconnected and allows them to be immersed in the gaming experience, however some games may show the player the character in the cut-scenes which breaks the immersion. Only one respondent specifically stated that they prefer the first person perspective. 32% of respondents would prefer to create their own character from scratch; spending time building this character can create a bond between them, the game designers should give the player the tools to create their character rather than designing a fully rounded character for them. Finally, 37% of respondents have been put off playing a video game because they didn’t like the main character therefore when the game designers create a character they run the risk of it being disliked which can impact on its reputation and sales.