In the previous post we talked about what one should focus on when launching an online community for a game. Today, I’d like to cover the first point from that post: How to approach storytelling for a game.
Last week, I reviewed several books and articles on storytelling. From everything I read, I concluded that the most important nuance in game narrative that’s worth paying attention to (and is common for many games) is how you correctly create the story itself. To do this, one needs to understand what drama is and how it unfolds. That is what we’ll discuss today.
So, let’s get started!
Why does a game project need a story?
Basically, a game is a form of entertainment that requires emotional engagement from the player. It is the narrative, complemented by some other dramatic elements of the gameplay, that allows the player to be emotionally involved in the game experience and motivated to invest their time and effort in achieving the goals of the game. Narrative provides context to game mechanics and helps integrate formal elements of the game seamlessly and effectively into the gameplay.
Why does a community manager need to know about storytelling?
In gaming communities, the narrative is very close in importance to what is commonly considered the “community mission.” At the same time, we all know that almost all communication with the community members should be based on the mission, and most activities we run in a community are aimed at achieving its mission in one way or another. Therefore, everything a community manager does when building a gaming community should be connected to the main narrative of a game.
The key element of any narrative is drama
So, our task is to transform a formal (and sometimes quite abstract) game mechanics into a simple and easy to understand experience by leveraging storytelling. To be able to do so, our stories should contain drama. Because drama creates an emotional connection between the player and the game, which motivates the player to invest their energy in the game. To create drama, a story must have characters, conflict, and storyline progress.
Characters
Characters are the agents through whom the storyline is presented. The narrative can have major or minor characters, depending on their influence on the final outcome. The involvement of the main character, the protagonist (more on this later), in the story creates a conflict that moves the storyline. Usually, the protagonist faces an antagonist who hinders the resolution of the conflict. It is important to note here that the antagonist isn’t always another character. External forces or circumstances can also fill this role.
We differentiate characters by what they say, what they do, how they look, and what others say about them. Key questions to ask yourself when working on a character are:
- What are the character’s aspirations? What does the character want?
- What does the character need to achieve their goal?
- How do players see the character? What does the player expect from the character?
Please note that not all characters in the story need to be described in detail.
The main character
The main character (the protagonist) must be interesting and imperfect. They have a goal and some flaws that prevent them from achieving their goal. Moreover, the protagonist usually doesn’t realize what they need to change to achieve the goal (and even that a change is needed).
When working on a protagonist, it’s important to ensure that the player will be able and want to identify themselves with the protagonist and their goals. This is typically achieved through building empathy—an emotional connection between the player, the character, and the character’s goals. To do this correctly, it’s useful to think of the protagonist as an in-game projection of the player’s fears and desires.
The enemy
The enemy (the antagonist) is a character who proactively opposes the protagonist and stops the main character to achieve their goal. Even though we just said “character,” an antagonist isn’t always a real character. As we discussed earlier, an external force, for example, can play the antagonist role too. An antagonist always has a different view of the reality in which the characters exist, as well as their own beliefs that make their actions logical and justifiable from their perspective. The stronger and more convincing the antagonist and their beliefs, the more powerful the protagonist will appear when they defeat the antagonist.
Heart of the drama: the conflict
Without a conflict, there is no drama. A conflict sets the theme of the storyline and helps to unfold it; all events in the story serve to introduce the conflict, or are the consequences of the conflict itself. We also use conflict to fully describe the characters. There are two primary types of conflict:
- Internal conflicts. The protagonist confronts themselves, namely their doubts, fears, moral torments, etc. Typically, this type of conflict unfolds through difficult moral choices, a struggle with fears, doubts, etc., or an internal contradiction.
- External conflicts. In this case, the protagonist confronts another character (interpersonal conflict), an external force, or circumstances. Typically, this type of conflict is revealed through the introduction of different, yet valid, value systems.
A single story can combine several types of conflict. The more powerful and multifaceted the conflict, the more powerful and interesting the story.
How the storyline unfolds: transformation of the protagonist
The drama mounts as the storyline unfolds. First, we introduce the time, place, characters, their relationships, the status quo, goals, etc. Then, an event occurs that overturns the status quo and creates conflict, the story begins to unfold, and the protagonist undergoes a series of trials that force them to change. Then comes the culmination and after it the resolution.
In other words, your storyline should have the following components:
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The starting point. We typically begin the storyline with a premise that describes the protagonist through their positive and negative qualities and sets the context of all further actions.
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Introduction of the goal (need or problem) that the protagonist strives to achieve. Drama arises from the difference between the protagonist’s initial set of characteristics and who they must become to achieve the desired goal or resolve their problem.
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Trials. The storyline unfolds as the protagonist faces obstacles on their way towards their goal. These aren’t just difficulties or setbacks, but situations that force the protagonist to view themselves and the world around them in a new way.
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Culmination. At the point of greatest tension, the protagonist faces the choice of continuing to tilt at windmills (remaining the same, often losing) or acting in accordance with their needs, taking the right but difficult step and going through transformation.
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The final point, where we see the result of the choice made by the protagonist.
This seems to me as a bare minimum of what anyone working with a gaming community needs to know about narrative for a game. If you’re writing the story for the game yourself, please ensure it contains all the elements described above. If someone else is writing the story, use this post as a starting point for your discussion with them. Remember, narrative is what makes a game interesting, understandable, and engaging.