Category: Uncategorized

Location: Bedroom
Device: Laptop
Time: 1 hour

During this session, I played World of Warcraft with my childhood friend named Alyssa. She’s played the game for about seven years and regularly plays it with her guild. Alyssa created a night elf mage and joined my server. She quickly leveled up to five, which was my current standing, and we roamed around one of the towns. Alyssa showed me where to sell items, that I could make my avatar dance, and what dueling between two players is like. We dueled each other briefly. Before playing the game with Alyssa, I didn’t socialize with any of the other avatars.

When I selected the dance command, my undead avatar danced like a punk rock star. He banged his head, made the hand sign synonymous with rock music, and even played the air guitar. He even grabbed his crotch as part of the dance. My friend made her avatar dance as well, which looked very graceful in comparison. The night elf made controlled, flowy movements with her arms. My friend selected a “flirt” command and I couldn’t find the command for my character. I don’t know if that was because my character is male and flirting isn’t part of the male stereotype or if both sexes in the night elf race have that as an option. However, the dances seem to be assigned based on sex and the stereotypes that surround being male or female. I looked up a video on YouTube showing the dances for all of the races. I noticed that most of the male dances involve crotch grabbing and the female dances have flowing movement and/or hip action.

According to Judith Butler’s article on performative acts and gender constitution, “gender is instituted through the stylization of the body” (519). With World of Warcraft, I can stylize my character depending on sex. It almost seems like the player can extend or even create their own identity with the avatar since there are so many options in regards to race and skillset. I can almost make the character my own through customization. Because the avatar’s sex doesn’t impact progression within the game, it seems as though I can institute whatever gender I please. The fact that the dances have distinct movements based on sex implies that the game enforces gender.

Location: Bedroom
Device: Laptop
Time: 1 hour

I spent about five or more minutes forming a character. The hardest part was choosing the race and the skill set. I ultimately decided to be a male undead creature instead of an elf or the wolf one. I selected the hunter skill set since I liked the idea of having a pet. I named my avatar Razeberk and entered the world of Dalaran with a pet spider. I started completing the quests in the undead world while figuring out how to easily move around with a touchpad and a keyboard. It wasn’t too difficult to control my avatar.

I found my role in the game similar to a game I’ve been playing from 2005 called Fate which can be multi-player or single player (I’ve only experienced the latter). Like World of Warcraft, Fate similarly offers either male or female as the avatar’s sex and the option to change facial features. You have the option of choosing a cat or a dog as a pet for the avatar’s companion (you can also change your pet into any creature of your liking depending on what magic fish you feed it). Most of the time you spend playing the game is set in the dungeon. You and your pet basically fight an assortment of creatures, from rats to griffons.

Unlike World of Warcraft, Fate introduces a set goal: you have to reach a certain level and challenge Fate itself in addition to various side quests (I haven’t reached that point yet). It seems like World of Warcraft offers a wide range of quests from collecting herbs to engaging in battle. There doesn’t seem to be an overall goal other than the ones you make for yourself.

So far, it seems like World of Warcraft is an enacting narrative, according to the definitions provided by Henry Jenkins’ article titled Game Design As Narrative Architecture. It focuses more on performance than exposition, since the game-play doesn’t surround a set narrative or follow a sequence of events. It seems like this game offers environmental storytelling. In the world of my avatar, I’m provided with backstory about the Dark Lady and an ongoing war which I am now part of. I’m interested in seeing if there are any embedded narratives concerning some of the characters I’ve interacted with during these quests.

Location: Same as before
Device: Same as before
Time: 50 minutes

I followed Scott Waldron’s (the youtuber I mentioned) walk-through of Zork I and found the skeleton key in the maze. It didn’t even occur to me that I could go up, not just North, West, or South. Without a specific set of commands, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the maze or find the Cyclops Room. I would’ve found myself lost just like the five (or more) other times I tried leaving the maze. In the room, I encountered a cyclops and tried killing him with my sword, which had no effect on the creature except making it angry. Through watching Waldron’s playthrough, I was able to scare the cyclops away by stating “odysseus” instead of trying to kill it multiple times. I probably would have been crushed by the creature without that specific command.

I found Zork frustrating, but not as much as Civilizations. Having an easily accessible manual made my own play-through less challenging than it could have been. The manual provided a historic background behind the game’s structure, which leads me to believe that Zork I has an embedded narrative. I found a pamphlet and a matchbook that gave information about the city described in the manual. They both built on the description of a lost city and enrich that storyline. At the same time, Zork is also an emergent narrative since you create your own story based on how you progress. However, I don’t have the ability to develop my character within the game and I’m restricted to solving one puzzle at a time to reach different locations. Without completing the puzzles, I can’t find the treasures hidden at the various locations and ultimately finish the game. I was able to find a jeweled bracelet, a gem egg, and a bag of coins which was only a few of the times available for collecting.

Location: Bedroom
Time: 1 hour
Device: Laptop

I restarted the game from a previous save point, before the game malfunctioned. During this session, I accidentally entered the bat room for the second time. The bat transported me to a ladder which was a new location for me. The ladder led to familiar areas, which surprised me since I thought that I had explored everything. Even though I’ve drawn a map as an aide for navigating through Zork, I still get a little lost. I often re-view the descriptions of the rooms I’ve entered before.

After referring to the same youtuber I referred to in the first or second session, I realized that I missed a lot rooms and left most of the puzzles unsolved which wasn’t a heartening discovery. I also discovered that he was referring to some notes while easily moving from one specific location to the next. I wonder how much time it takes for the standard individual with some general gaming experience to obtain a familiarity with how to play Zork. I’ve spent a few hours exploring this game with not much more than a basic understanding of how it works.

I noticed that within each of the rooms I entered, there were very specific descriptions. For instance, at the dam, the text describes a control panel with a bolt that has a “small green plastic bubble”. This object seems significant due to its specific description but at the same time, I’m not sure why the bubble would be important. I tried touching it, to no avail. I wasn’t sure how to approach solving the mystery behind its function. The bubble doesn’t offer any hints as to where I could use it or with what, like most of the objects I come across in this game.

 

Location: Bedroom
Device: Computer
Time: 1 hour

I continued from my last save point and received continuous notifications about my lamp getting dimmer. While I was in the maze, I decided to turn it off, which was a bad idea. I was immediately killed by a grue. I returned to a previous save point and kept the lantern on but unfortunately, I ran out of light in the sample place I was before.

Then the game stopped. Zork wouldn’t accept any of my commands. At one point in the game, I left my computer asleep and the Zork webpage open in-between commands. Perhaps that’s why it malfunctioned. When a game malfunctions, is it in a state of pure process as described by the article titled Gamic Action, Four Moments? Does the machine execute an ambience act just like when it pauses? It seems to me that in this game, there’s a state of pure process between each command. Movement within the game only occurs when I give a command.

The picture below shows the moment of confusion I had with the game when it stopped.

Perhaps the game was still at a functional capacity since it responded to my commands with text. At the same time, the game didn’t react to my requests other than calling them illegal commands. I couldn’t save or restore. I don’t think that the game was in a state of rest due to the fact that it reacted to outside stimulus from me as the operator, to an extent. Normally, those commands are accepted within the game and allow progression. I couldn’t make any movements either, which I found frustrating. This could have also occurred due to an internal system error. I haven’t experienced any other technical issues in this game besides what I just described. I hope the game functions without issues in the next two sessions.
 

Location: Bedroom
Device: Laptop
Time: 1 hour

I was able to explore more of the underground area. I checked out a maintenance room and a couple private rooms from the dam lobby. In one of the private rooms, there were four buttons with different colors. I pressed all of them, which was a bad idea. Two of them did nothing but after pressing the yellow one, I flooded both rooms. Later on, I recovered one of the items I lost after dying (a jewel-encrusted egg) and was abducted by a vampire bat.

It’s interesting how I have to constantly sift through a body of information as I play through Zork. In order to prevent myself from getting lost in a world that I can only experience textually and through my own imagination, I have to draw a map. If I could play the game without this visual guide, my interaction with Zork would be different. The action of drawing a guide separates me from the game and simultaneously increases my immersion in the game. My imagination and the way that I draw the map makes my game-play unique.

Within the structure of this game, I have to pay attention to each detail in the text that appears about the rooms / spaces I enter. When I encountered the bat, the body of text mentioned that there was a jade figurine in the room and that the bat had lifted me with its teeth. I was left in a different location, without much sensory perception. I entered the bat room for a second time and realized that I couldn’t reach the object without the bat’s interference. I also didn’t have the option of killing it after I entered the command to enter the room. Why is the figurine included in the description if I can’t access it?
 

Location: Bedroom
Device: Laptop
Time: 1 hour

During my first session, I attempted to draw a map but for this session, I didn’t bother. I got lost in the maze by the troll room and continued going in different directions until something happened. I ran across a polite thief who killed me and took my stuff before I could retaliate. He used a stiletto and acted first. I restarted in the forest with an empty inventory and slowly retrieved the items I lost, which were scattered randomly about. I explored the world below the ground more and explored a dam and an art studio.

Zork seems to be more of a simulation than a narrative. There isn’t a set story mapped out in the game, as described in the chapter on Simulation versus Narrative by Gonzalo Frasca. However, I can’t rule out that Zork isn’t a narrative since there’s a sequence of locations I have to experience before reaching certain parts of the game. For instance, while I played Zork, I encountered a bolted door during the first session and then I came across a gate I couldn’t pass through. These moments hint that I’ll have the option to reach what’s on the other side further along in the game. I believe that Zork is a simulation since there are multiple endings and each player has a slightly different experience of the game. One player may encounter the thief like I did and die, or alternatively survive without a scratch. When I referred to the same Youtube video I mentioned in session one, I watched the youtuber enter three or four commands until the troll we both faced was effectively slain. It took me two commands. If I restarted the game, the number of commands I would have to enter in order to kill the troll would probably change.
 

Location: Bedroom
Device: Computer
Time: 1 hour

It took some time to figure out how to move forward and type out the right commands when I first started playing this game. I looked up a playthrough of Zork on Youtube and referred to it when I got stuck at the beginning. I got confused when I tried to explore outside the house from the forest to the cliffs and couldn’t find my way back to the house. It seems as though my only direct entrance into the world described by the Zork manual is through the white house. Once I slipped into the cellar, I encountered and killed a troll in two commands.

I noticed that the narrator has a sassy response to some of my commands, which presents an interesting interaction between a machine action and an operator action. The screenshot provided below shows that I tried to move downward even though it wasn’t explicitly stated that moving in that direction was an option. That command wasn’t processed, it was prevented by a machine action and shown through text on the screen. Within diegetic space, I’m restricted by the specific descriptions that the game provides. I can either go north or south if stated in the description of a space like a cave.

According to the article titled Gamic Action, Four Moments, the “simplest nondiegetic operator act is pushing Pause. Pausing a game is an action by the operator that sets the entire game into a state of suspended animation” (126). I don’t need to pause the game to leave it in suspended animation, it happens between each command. The diegetic action is the text that appears on the black screen. Since diegetic play only occurs within a game, it’s the sound and the visual experience that plays during the player’s interaction with a game. Is it specifically in the moment or does the word apply to an element that reoccurs throughout the game?

Location: Bedroom

Device: Laptop

Time: 1 hour

Before starting the game, I looked up the manual for Civilizations online and was overwhelmed by the amount of information there was. I briefly read about how to keep a city happy / a major from repeatedly fleeing. It mentioned something about moving my military away from the city. Later on, I found that the advice didn’t seem to work.

I checked out the Civilization 5 version and after I positioned a city (as well as explored the area), I realized that I was isolated on an island again. Instead of starting a new game, I returned to one of the games I previously started. I returned to the same game from session three that involved a Roman tribe and a leader named Giovanni. During this session, I was able to improve my city a couple times by improving its appearance and construction out of three options: Doric columns, Middle Eastern architecture, or a castle-like expansion. I selected the early Greek/Roman look both times.

During the game, I captured a city called Canton until it was reclaimed by the Chinese after a barbarian attack. There was civil disorder in my main city called Bachi a Noi which involved in non-stop notifications about the major fleeing the city. I positioned the soldier units farther away from the city, hoping that the civilians and the major would somehow be happier (with the manual instructions in mind). It didn’t work and I didn’t want to take the time to consult the manual a second time. I received about 26 notifications overall, before barbarians killed most of the soldier units around Bachi a Noi and conquered it. That ended the game.

During these last few sessions, I played different versions of Civilization and discovered very few differences between them. Its core dynamic, according to the chapter from the Challenges for Game Designers reading, is primarily building and territorial acquisition (pg6). In the game, I had to focus on both advancing my civilization and territorial protection (or expansion). I wouldn’t play this game on my own free time mainly because of how slow it was and the pixelated appearance.

Location: Bedroom

Device: Laptop

Time: 1 hour

I started another new game. This time it was Civilization 4; difficulty level: Prince, tribe: French. The leader’s picture was different than it was during my first hour playing this game. However, the figure in the picture had masculine facial features and a grey helmet. This feature in the game seemed to reaffirm the game’s appeal for the male gender.

After I positioned another new city and started exploring the area, my screen presented a quiz over a symbol that represented a particular advancement in the game. My kingly reputation was at stake. I got the question wrong, but I wasn’t really affected by that. I was only irritated. The answers were probably in the manual, which I didn’t know where to find. I assumed that I could access the manual in the game by pressing a certain key, but that never happened. At the beginning of this game, my civilization was titled “Mediocre” which didn’t change.

I noticed for the first time that there were different physical land features: grasslands, forests, mountains, a swamp, jungles, and the artic. They were all part of the island. On the left sidebar, the names for the different locations changed when I moved my units around. I never really bothered to pay attention to it. My soldiers traveled around over rivers and streams with ease but for some reason, they were blocked by pixelated fish. I could move the soldiers around the fish but not over them. I couldn’t take them and feed / improve my civilization, which I found rather odd. They were pretty big.

During the game, I received reports about other civilizations building monuments. I couldn’t help but wonder why I couldn’t build anything. With the right set of advancements, I would probably gain enough knowledge to build something impressive. However, I didn’t know which combinations would yield a world-renown feature like fancy gardens or a Colosseum.

I became uninterested in moving my soldier units around a cut-off island, once again, and decided not to save my progress in this particular version of the game.