People always think the game as an escape means from the hardship in reality. How-ever, if it is true, why people go to the game, which is consist of many tasks that demand the player to solve? One of the reasons is be-ause the game is more pleasing compared to real life. Although life also gives enjoyment, but game promised a more structured one. The other reason is that game or play is dee-per than just a mere activity. It is our nature, and from it we create our culture, just what Johan Huizinga wrote in his book, Homo Lu-dens (Huizinga, 1949). Because it is our na-ture, the best way to understand why people play, and how to make it better is to look in-side human personality. There are many theories about human personality. One of those is archetype, which is already used thoroughly in narrative.
1.
Archetype in Hero’s Story
Story has been with us since long. However, there are no
track records when the story first emerged, some people speculated that the
story has a history older than the cave painting. We grow and live surrounded
by story, yet one question remains. Why are we not bored with it? Why we always
crave from story even though we are already at modern civilization?
That question always bugs me. Until I heard about the
concept of hero’s journey that first coined by Campbell from his book The Hero
with Thousand Faces. He inspected the similarity of all stories around the
world. Campbell said that all of them
have the same pattern of story’s deliverance, which is now famous as Hero’s
journey. There are many explanations about steps in Hero’s Journey, but there
is another aspect of it, which doesn't get enough attention. It is the
archetype. Even though both archetype and stereotype has a connection to character
creation, each has a different impact. While stereotype gives us a boring
re-occurrence type of character (yet it still sells), archetype gives us more
deep characterization. While stereotype focus on personality that looks at the
outside, archetypes focus on personality inside us. Archetype tells about our
basic personality that is not restricted by race, culture, generation, and
religion. It is something that resides in our most deep and untouched mind,
which unknown to us it has shapes our per-sonality.
The term of archetype itself is surfaced from the famous
psychology, Carl Jung. Carl Jung stated the archetype as a collective
unconscious, a universal thought form or mental images that influenced an
individual’s feeling and action (Jung, 1953). Further, Joseph Campbell added
that archetypes are expressions of the organ of the body, built into the wiring
of every human being. Even though there
are a limitless number of archetypes, but there are several which always occur
in every story. Cristopher Vogler said there are eight most important
archetypes in the story. They are Hero, Herald, Mentor, Threshold Guardian, Shape
shifter, Shadow, Ally, and Trickster (Vogler, 2007).
Back to our question, why people still enjoying the story?
There are so many people that watch a movie more than one time, although they
already remembered all the plots in the movie. It becomes their special one,
something important, something that they turn to when they are in difficult
situations, and something that represents them. I believe the reason behind
this lies in the archetype. Archetype isn’t only a guideline to create an
interesting character, but archetype is the character itself, something which
the audience looks up at the story, pierces through the actor’s skin, as if
they are searching their soul in that character. Although each archetype is
usually represented with a different character, each of these is, in fact, a
part of human’s mind. Here I will explain each of the eight archetypes and
which part of our mind that it represents.
1. Hero
Every time I opened my eyes, I see many
happiness and sadness. Even I never understand what are they, I kept trying to wear these façade, stuck in
whirlpool called Everyday. Only when I shut these eyes, only when I was alone
asking who am I, only in that cold darkness, strangely I felt alive. I’m not
the Happiness, I’m not the Sadness. I’m a being more than that. I am the Self.
In a story, hero works as the window of the audiences.
Through him/her, audiences can feel as if they part of the story. It happens
because people like to direct their conscious mind into something that interest
them whether it is a storybook, movie, games, or maybe just a Facebook status.
If it goes for a long period, it will shape an emotion, which in turn becomes
empathy.
Hero is the most important part of hero’s journey. If hero’s
journey represents a plot of the story, then the hero represents each step of
hero’s journey. A story may have not one of the steps in hero’s journey, but a
hero will always appear in every step. Hero is the physical representative of a
journey in a story, a journey that will change him/her in the end. That is why
growth is the most fundamental element of a hero. Aware or not, this is exactly
what the audiences want. They want the main character (thus the hero) change
throughout the story.
In psychology, the hero symbolizes our self, the conscious
and unconscious mind. Our desire to see the hero changes shows that in the very
nature, we always want to growth to be better. However, every change and
progress has consequences, which in turn creates fear and doubt. To minimalize
these consequences, we create custom, daily life, to suppress the consequences
as possible it can. However, it is also hindrances our self to undergo a
journey to change. To escape that unfulfilled desire, people like to project
themselves into the hero and cheer for his struggles which ironically, that
hero is one and the same they very self.
2. Herald
Sadly, it has been too late. The grip of
everyday has become too strong for me to fight. Every struggle lost its power,
every shout lost its voice, every tear lost its sympathy. When the words give
up already at the tip of my tongue, suddenly I saw a hand reaching to me. Its
fingers encircled my body and pulled me from the snare of Everyday. The process
was too painful to bear, it twisted my mind and body. But at the end, being too
long without an opposition, the tyranny of Everyday lost, and I got my prize,
the freedom to choose.
Herald works as the initiators of the journey. S/he gives
news, motivations, or challenges toward the hero so s/he would start off his
adventure. Without him/her, hero will still lives in his/her never changing
secluded life, unknown from any exciting things outside his/her ordinary.
Herald could appear as a character in the story or can also be an ill condition
in hero’s hometown.
The function of herald is similar as the call within
ourselves. Known as inner call, determination, or commitment, it renders a
willingness to change, to move from our current condition. Sometimes deep in
ourselves, we know what the right things to do, but, unfortunately, the customs
that we hold think it as inappropriate or worse, as a taboo. Stand in the
different side of the cliff, the value and the custom then create a doubt in
ourselves. There are only two ways to escape the doubt, leave behind the value,
or gain the inner call. However, gaining the call is not an easy matter. Just
as a memory, we know that it exists but we do not have a complete instruction
how to make it appears as we please. Just as the mood, when it appears we
cannot control it, we are fully under its influences, for good or ill. One
thing for sure though, when the call within ourselves has come, our life would
not be ever the same again.
3. Mentor
North, south, east, west, only darkness I
saw. No matter how hard I squinted my eyes, there was nothing. I grumbled, what is the point of getting a
freedom to choose if there is nothing to choose to. And then, at the corner I never though
before, at the intersection among the southern of south, the northern of north,
the eastern of east, and the western of west, glinted a white light. Faint yet
warm, it caught my interest. One step, two steps, just like a pirate hearing a
siren’s song, I drawn to the light. Acknowledging me, The light that flicked
slow at first, began to flick faster as if it wanted to say, “follow me, and
you’ll find the truth”.
Known as the wise old man/woman in the Hero with a Thousand
Faces, mentor appears in the story as a character who gives guidance to the
hero. S/he teaches the hero all the things that would help his/her journey.
Also, sometimes s/he gives a magic amulet which will help the hero overcomes an
obstacle along his/her way. S/he is a figure whom hero admires, a figure that
s/he would like to be. When the hero has the mentor at his/her side, s/he feels
secure.
In psychology, mentor works as the ideal. A condition,
value, or personality that is we think as the right. It affects our way of
thinking, which then shapes our action, and in turns our reasoning. The ideal
does not need to be something that accepted by the others, and it must not. The
reason is that when we use it just because it is what most people use than it
would lose its power. It becomes only just a mask, which we wear only to please
the others, to gain their respect, to become generic not unique. Just like the
mentor, who always seen as a crazy person by the community, yet when a hero
accept him/her, s/he would shower the hero with a surprising and majestic gift,
the ideal only needs our approval to be fully worked.
Often comes from the same character who also play as the
herald (for instance Ben Kenobi, Gandalf) shows that the call tends to come
together with the ideal. The ideal shows the self a value that entices him/her,
which when piled up can trigger a call to shape the ideal. However, having the
ideal does not assure the emergence of the call (when it happens the ideal will
diminish into a knowledge) yet the other way works. When someone has the call,
s/he must also gain the ideal.
4. Threshold Guardian
Have found the direction, I walk full of
confidence. However suddenly, my feet felt so heavy. Weird, I’m sure I didn’t
bring anything from my hometown. Feeling confuse, I looked down to my feet. How
shocked I was, found my feet already tangled with thorns. I shake my feet with
hope it could free me. Yet it was futile, the process only hurt myself more.
Panicked, I raised my head to search for help. As if it not enough to burden
me, the horizon that previously stood before me, now replaced with a towering,
sturdy black brick wall. Cannot escape, I started to ask myself. Can I still reach
the light? What if the light already gone? Am I really ready to do this
journey? Is my decision to follow the light correct? Why I do this?
Before the hero escapes from his/her ordinary life, s/he
needs to confront the threshold guardian. Based on the Hero’s journey, the
function of the threshold guardian is as a test of hero’s resolution. To test
whether s/he is ready to go on a journey, to leave behind his/her old self.
Even though standing before the hero yielding a menacing appearance, threshold
guardian should not be treated as an enemy. Some stories show that the hero
managed to pass the threshold guardian not by using physical confrontation, but
by assimilating the threshold guardian into him/her. Moreover, by doing so,
s/he able to turn the threshold guardian to be an ally. For example, in Hobbit,
even though Bilbo Baggins has agreed to join the journey with the band of
dwarves, Thorin, the leader of the band, still cannot accept him. However, by
showing his usefulness, and his determination to help the dwarves, he succeeds
to gain the trust from Thorin.
By focusing on the threshold guardian’s purpose, there are
something inside our mind that have a similar function, namely doubt and fear.
They reside in every option that we must choose. Even though more than often
thought as something that give misery, their very nature is not to cause harm,
yet the opposite, they are helping us so we do not make a premature decision.
They are seatbelt to our mind, annoying yet necessary. Just like the threshold guardian,
if we try to understand them by looking what caused them to appear, what
consequences that they give, rather than halt our progress they will shape our
earlier choice to be a better one.
5. The Shadow
Looking behind, I saw a lurking figure hiding
in the midst of darkness. Even though he tried to conceal his presence, his
foul smell, ugly face, sharp teeth, and his swirling dark pitch of darkness,
darker than starless night sky, cannot pass from my sight. Feeling disgusted, I
clenched my fist, readied my body, so he cannot overtake my soul.
In stories, shadow represents the opposite side of the hero.
He is the dark of light, the chaos of order, the black of white. But one thing
to note, he is anything but bad. The shadow is just the hero with his value. He
is not the yin or yang, but he could become yin if the hero is yang, and yang
if the hero is yin. He succeeds when the hero failed, and failed when the hero
succeeds.
Christopher Vogler said that the shadow works as psychoses
in our mind. It is our buried feeling that we try to suppress. Located at the
very opposite side of the ideal, it is known as the flaw. If doubt and fear
still give us a second chance, the flaw does not. When you fall into it, that
is the end.
Just like the shadow who is the opposite of the hero, flaw
is only a part of ourselves that we regard as bad. However, without it, we will
not undergo a change. If the ideal works by pulling us to it, the flaw works by
pushing us from it.
From what I have said until now, it seems that our mind’s
journey is about the battle of light and darkness. However, in reality, it is
more than that. As the stories that have a twist near at the very end, our
journey also has a twist that will lead us into a catharsis. However, not every
journey of mind reaches this point. It is a state which very delicate and hard
to grasp. No one ever knows how to get to there precisely. However, if the
archetype is indicating the mirror of our mind, then I believe the key to
unlock that state lies in the next three archetypes, which I will describe
next.
6. Shape shifter
To reach my destination, I need to walk over
a long road. But I was not worried, because I believe my feet will bring me to
it. However, how angry I was, knowing that my feet betrayed me. Every time it
moved, it created more and more distance to my light. Cannot trust my feet
anymore, I cut it off. From now on, I’ll leave the rest of the journey to my
hands. But again, how angry I was, knowing my hands betrayed me just like my
feet did. Full of agony, I stabbed my hands. Now I knighted my head to continue
the journey. Silly of me, to trust the head, the place where the liar mouth
dormant. It too, misled me. “Dead to you, o servant of devil” I crushed my
head. Finally, being lost all means to move, I cried.
Vampire, werewolf, tanuki, they are some example of shape
shifter that has re-occur many times throughout stories. Shape shifter famously
known as a character who lives in two different worlds. Shape shifter archetype
is not only shown by change in physic but also in mind. A character that
suddenly changes in personality, or an ally who shifts to become an enemy is
believed as more dangerous than one who transforms only in physic. When s/he
appears, s/he will disrupt the flow of the journey, add a tension to what
already has. Even so, shape shifter has several very important functions. To
the structure of the story, s/he is useful to give a shock and a surprise when
the story gives a sign of turning to cliché or when the audience started to
predict the future of the story. That is why, writer, usually, shows shape
shifter true nature at the middle of the journey when an assumption toward
shape shifter has been completely made. Meanwhile, to the hero, s/he gives a
valuable lesson which makes the hero will not let his/hers guard down as long
the story not yet ended.
In our mind, there exists something that has the same
behavior with shape shifter. It is always trying to get our trust, but when
finally got what it wants, it completely betrayed us. It is no other than the
expectation. Expectation grows with our curiosity about something that unknown
or mysterious to us, ranged from the future to someone feelings. Expectation is
our way to fulfilling the desire to control things around us. Consciously or
unconsciously, when we try to know better about the object of mystery, we tend
to project our expectation to it. “I think it is good, I think it is dangerous,
I think she loves me,” are some of various expectation that we often
created. Just like an addicted, when we
finish projected one expectation, we will feel curious whether our expectation
meet or not. This condition will expose us to a certain fact, which in turn
intrigues us to make another expectation. The cycle will continue on and on
until before we know it, we already attached to the object. From this point on,
continuing our curiosity could be dangerous. Because when we faced with
undesired fact (different then our expectation) it would renders us petrified.
It will create a doubt, first with the object and later to ourselves. A similar condition that the hero faced with
the shape shifter that shifts to threshold guardian. The doubt or the threshold
guardian will show us a harsh truth, which is actually we don’t really know
about the object, that our expectation up to now is wrong, that our expectation
true nature is a shape shifter.
Shape shifter (the representation of expectation) and
threshold guardian (the representation of doubt) always strengthen each other.
They create a sand pit trying to trap the hero (the representation of self),
render the hero to two options. Surrenders and eaten by the antlion, or escapes
by defeating either shape shifter or threshold guardian.
7. Ally
Until now, every oppression I met, I cleared
it with my own strength. Till I stopped, faced with a giant gap before me. It
was so vast that I cannot saw the edge of it. It was so deep that I cannot saw
the bottom of it. Trembled, I started to look around like a lamb lost his herd.
Then I saw someone come to my direction. He looks a lot like me, except above
his nose, instead of eyes, he got a silver wing grows from each of his eye
socket. Through our conversation, he agreed to carry me passing the gap in
exchange I show him the path to the light.
Throughout his/hers journey, the hero will meet many people.
Some, being attracted by the hero’s qualities, decide to follow him/her on his
journey. However, the heavy road that the hero walks on, made many of them
shivered, and forfeited their earlier intention. Only a certain person who
keeps his/hers will, gained the trust from the hero as his/hers ally (allies).
An ally in the story is the person who has the same cause as the hero. However,
different than follower who walks behind the hero, an ally walks directly
beside him/her. S/he helps the hero when the hero meets a tough obstacle.
His/her uniqueness which the hero lacks, make the hero can depend on him/her.
By so creates mutual dependence between them. While the hero leads his ally
through the journey, the ally supports the hero at nearby. An ally does not
must have to be a human. Some story brought an ally in the shape different from
the hero. Momotaro, a famous folktale from Japan, introduced a dog, bird and
monkey as allies for Momotaro. The way an ally helps the hero is not only by
physical means. Aware or not, the ally also helps the hero in psychic matter.
S/he often makes the journey to be more enjoyable, cheers up the hero when s/he
feels down, and at the very least s/he shows that the hero is not alone in
his/her journey.
Inside
our mind, ally represents the relief. Relief provides the other values or means
that are not directly related to our ideal yet still accepted. Being as an
alternative, it normally dormant, only awaken when we face a doubt. It helps us
by giving another perspective without sacrificing our ideal.
There are two reasons why our mind creates a relief.
Firstly, relief is our way to justify our cause. By creating relief, when there
is a doubt about our ideal or our value, relief will act as a proof that we are
on the right path. Secondly, because human is a social being. From the time of
Adam and Eve, we cannot be separated with the other person. Even for the most
introvert people, they still need the company of other persons. It is still
mysterious whether our needs for others come as the result of our interaction
or the cause of interaction itself. Whatever it is, it already resides in the deeper
of ourselves. This need also come in our mind. Does not want to be left alone,
our mind is always trying to search (and sometimes creates) another value that
can accompany its value. When our mind got this other value, it shaped into a
relief. Which then every time we interact with another person, our mind will
compare his/her value with our relief. If they similar, we started to see the
other person as likeable, as a friend.
Ally (the representation of the relief) is the one who will
help the hero (the representation of the self) to pass the threshold guardian
(the representation of the doubt). As long as the hero wants to believe an
ally, s/he will always dash to join the hero’s struggle.
8. Trickster
Able to fly, now I believe I can reach the
light faster. Or better, maybe I can even surpass the light. My thought was
full of arrogance when a flock of birds came across me. They fly so elegant,
every flap of their wings made a wonderful sound, just like a harp being played
by the most skillful musician. Wondered where they were going, I followed them.
However, when I was at their very center, they stopped to move their wings and
replaced their earlier coordinated flight with a random fast glide, trying to
crush each other! Every time they crushed they produced an eerie shriek, just
like a banshee’s. I was scared, it was so chaos. I closed my eyes and put my
hands covering my ears, hoping it was just a dream. The time I opened my eyes,
to my surprise, instead surrounded by a pack of birds, I was surrounded by
thunderous clouds! Terrified, I can’t move until one of the thunders struck me,
and forced me to fall, fall, and continue to fall, into the deepest abyss of
the earth.
Comical, funny, yet full of deceit are traits of the
trickster. Famous examples of the trickster are clown and jester. Often being
regarded as a mad man, s/he is a high skilled strategist who can turn the flow
of every situation. S/he is the type of character who likes to make the enemy unguarded
before stabs him/her to death, just like Loki, the Norse god who caused many
problems to other gods. Things which trickster hates so much are stagnancy and
seriousness. If s/he meets those two, s/he will use all his/her wits to bring
them down. No one can control the trickster. S/he is the master of his self.
However, when the hero able to befriend with the trickster, s/he will be one of
the most useful company the hero has ever got. By provides laughter, the
trickster could relieve the hero’s tense, making the hero can solve the problem
with a clear mind. Even though s/he often changes the hero (or the other
characters), s/he him/herself, usually, remains the same throughout the
story.
Trickster symbolizes something very important in our mind.
Something that is we often thought as a burden, yet actually a very valuable
one. It is the reality. Even though we sometimes try to suppress the reality,
just as trickster who no one able to control, the reality will always come up.
It would be better if we do not try to suppress the reality so much because it
turns out has a powerful function. When we are too obsessed with something,
throwing all of our expectations to it, reality will comes out and confronts
all our expectations. Not by using magical yet unproven methods, but by
chaining all the simple facts, it succeeds in making us take a several step
back, analyzing everything that we have done. Only by doing so, we will be able
to get a better understanding of it. In the end, It is not rare we laugh with
ourselves when we realize how dumb our expectations is. Just like the never
changing trickster, we would never able to shape the reality. When we felt like
we just changed our fate, beware, cause maybe it was only the trick that the
reality played on us, while it chuckled from afar.
Although sometimes annoying, but by using his smartness the
trickster (the representation of the reality) are able to help the hero (the
representation of the self) reveals the shape shifter’s (the representation of
the expectation) true face.
The Cycle of Archetypes
Just as the sun that is the center of our galaxy, the hero
through his journey also becomes the center that is surrounded by the other
archetypes. Based on that, we can further group archetypes by its function into
three.
1. The Avatar
Cannot be argued more, the hero plays as the Avatar of
ourselves. S/he is the shape that we put on when we started the journey, the
bringer of questions that we hope answered at the end of the journey.
2. The Guide
Consisted of the herald, the mentor, and the shadow, their
functions are to drive us to the path of journey. While the herald calls us,
the mentor pulls us and the shadow pushes us. Even though often depicted as the
right and wrong or as the final results, the mentor and the shadow are only
stimulants for us to do the journey, no more no less. They could be the
results, but by thinking so, it means disrespecting their noble task.
3. The Catalyst
The rest archetypes, the threshold guardian, the shape
shifter, the ally, and the trickster are functioning as the catalyst. They are
the one who help the hero to change. By the cycle of the creation of
expectation and doubt, the shape shifter and threshold guardian raise new
questions to the journey that the hero walks on. Questions that are the hero
will answer with the help of the ally and trickster. They help the hero to
analyze the question from other perspectives that hero never thought before.
Doing so, not only lead to freedom from the burden of questions, but also the revelations
of the hero true self. The revelation that is brought by a new herald, shows us
a new journey to walk on.
It creates a wonder, if doing the journey only will create
another journey, does our journey has an end? Will it be over? Personally, I do
not know. However, I believe, just like the hero Menealus, who never gives up
force the information from the sea god Proteus, we also need to keep walking on
our journey. After all, what is the point of reaching the end if it leaves us
with nothing more interesting to do?
All of the eight archetypes, with each part of mind that
they represent, showed us not only the adventure of Luke Skywalker or the
journey of Bilbo Baggins. More than that, they told us our very own story,
which aware or not, already being written. A story where we as the hero is
called by the news brought by the herald, driven by the light of the mentor and
the darkness of the shadow, confronted by the towering threshold guardian and
the confusing shape shifter, and helped by the trusted ally and the silly
trickster. A story which if we survive till the end, if we reach at the last
page before our ink dried, maybe, just like the last part of the hero’s
journey, we could be the master of two world, the present and the future, and
gain the freedom to live.
Fig.
1 The Cycle of Archetypes
2.
Curiosity and Emotion
“Curiouser and curiouser," surprised Alice when she saw
her body began to grow big, larger enough that even her head hit the roof. A
phrase that perfectly fits with the story of Alice in Wonderland, a story full
of strange yet interesting situation that intrigue more and more our curiosity.
And yes, without the feeling of curiosity, Alice would never eat the troubling
cake, and so do we, as readers, will not continue to turn the next pages.
Curiosity itself is strange. It could drive us to do a certain activity without
the concern of the external value, something that we, as a proud rational
being, should never think. However, we always experienced it. When we curious
about something, what we care about is the thing itself, which we want to know
more about it. Curiosity is quite similar with the reason we play. When we
play, we only did it because we found that the play is fun, and it is worth to
do, even though we already know it will only waste our time (I believe there
are a lot of people object what I have just said, but let’s just accept it,
whatever the benefit the play gives to you, it actually less than the other
more important activities would give).
Without the feeling of curiosity, or the reason that makes us play, we
will feel the activity just as a chore, work, or order. By knowing more about
it, I believe we could make a more engaging play or specifically, game. So
without further ado, let’s jump into the rabbit hole.
Another face of the reality, the relief, the
doubt, and the expectation
Previously, I talked about the important of the battle among
the reality, the relief, the doubt, and the expectation in our life journey. They
work as the catalyst, which their battles fill the journey the hero walks on,
and help the hero to change. Not only found in life journey, they can also
found inside game. The game does not need to have a deep story telling to
include them. Even chess also has inside it.
The mechanic behind chess is fascinating. To get the goal of
the game, player can do nearly unlimited ways. In every turn, the player is given
of choices which pawns that player will move and to which place. Looks simple,
but in the eye of a professional chess player, every placement of pawns is
complicated, because at the same turn player also needs to consider what the
effect the action gives, and what the action player will need to do next based
on the opponent’s response. Although the player has given with many options
with their own ends, in the end the player will only choose one option that player
believes could give more benefits to him/her. If the option that player took
fails him/her, player will try to consider another option that will give a
better result. Looking at that, we can see the condition the chess player meet
every turn is, in fact, the battle among the reality, the relief, the doubt,
and the expectation. The option (consist of what pawns player will move, to
which place, a play style, and the rest of consideration player built) the
player takes resembles the expectation, where player put his/her hope to the strategy
player created. As long as this strategy meets his/her interest, player would
not consider the other strategies. However, when the option starts to fail
him/her, player will be faced with a question whether the option player took is
actually the right one, or in the other words, player meets the doubt. This
doubt will open the player’s eyes about the real current situation. What pawn
left in the board, what the position of each pawn, what the opponent trying to
do, how the situation will progress from now on, and many more. This condition
is when a player is engulfed with the reality. The condition that is previously
was covered by the player’s expectation. From now on, player’s expectation will
start to decrease and player will try to consider the other approaches. When player
found it, player finally meet with the relief, the other option that player did
not care less before. After that, the cycle will be back again, with the player
now puts an expectation towards the new option.
Fig. 2 The cycle of doubt, reality, relief, and
expectation
Novelty Seeking and Specific Curiosity
Based on the concept previously described, we can see there
are two activities resulted from the relation among the reality, the relief, the
doubt, and the expectation. First, when we blocked by the doubt and bitten our
lips at the face of the reality, it will drive us searching many available
options. The other one, by gaining the relief and creating the expectation, it
will lead us to focus on one option, and try as hard as we can to gain many
benefits from that option. At one side, it is an external activity, while the
other is an internal activity. These two activities are similar with the two
types of curiosity, novelty seeking and specific curiosity (Berlyne, 1962).
Novelty seeking is a state inside the individual that drive
the one to search for stimulation occasioned by novelty, complexity,
uncertainty, or conflict, irrespective of specific questions or problems.
Specific curiosity on the other hands is the ori-entation toward investigating
specific objects, events, and problems to understand them and be challenged by
them (Peterson, 2004). While novelty seeking usually leads us to search of many
activities that interest us, specific curiosity makes us focus on only one
activity, to master or to know it better. From that, we can see that novelty
seeking similar with the activity lead by the doubt and the reality (external)
and specific curiosity with the activity comes from the relief and the
expectation (internal).
Even though in his description Peterson said that novelty
seeking comes without a specific question or problem, honestly I believe he did
not mean there is no reason behind the novelty seeking. Every time we did an
activity, surely there must be some questions or problems that drive us even
though in the end we could forget about that because we are too immersed with
the activity. The drive could range from an important to a trivial one that
even we do not aware of it. For novelty seeking, the thing that drive us I
believe is the trivial one, either a problem in our current situation that we
felt as boring or a question whether there is something that could interest us.
In my opinion, what he means by without a specific question or problem is the
problem/question that caused novelty seeking is something that irrelevant with
our daily life. Something that even if we do not get the answer would not give
a great deal to our life. It is different when we try many recipes because our
boss told us to prepare a delicious dinner for an important guest with when we
do it because we are curious with the limit of our skill (or the taste of
dishes themselves). The same thing happens with play, which is an activity
without material interest, and no profit can be gained from it (Huizinga,
1955). Although nowadays there are professional players who are being paid for
becoming the best, in the very essence the drive that presses him/her to go
forward, to make an effective strategy, or even to exploit the play is his/her
curiosity. Money or fame, only act as a secondary drive, other ways s/he will
feel it not as play again, only a chore. Even so, it’s quite hard to
differentiate which drive that leads to curiosity and which doesn’t. So I think
it is for the best if we treat the drive not as a binary value, but as
continuous, with every value leads to a certain proportion of curiosity. This
drive, which leads one to explore his/her surrounding, to see another option,
is shaped by the doubt and the reality. The doubt gives a problem, which will
be enhanced by the reality into a question. Just as when we play chess, when
our strategy does not give the expected result, and lead us to question whether
our selected option is the right one.
Specific curiosity, based on what Peterson said, will lead
us to a challenge. Challenge usually related to a problem, something that
actually we never hope for when we have found a solution. When we have found
the relief (an option that we thought as the best one) and we have created the
expectation (what we want to achieve by using this option) we felt that we just
released from previous problem, a problem of which option is the right one, and
the condition would be better after this. However, by adopting an option, it gives
us another new problem. The problem of how to use this option, how to master it,
so it could give the expectation as we wanted. This problem, or should I say,
this challenge, will help us to know more about the option we take.
More about curiosity, through their optimal stimulation
theory, Spielberg and Starr’s (1994) said there are two aspects contribute to
the transition between diverse curiosity (novelty seeking) and specific
curiosity. They are a person level of curiosity and anxiety toward the
available options in the environment. When the curiosity higher than the
anxiety, a person tends to explore every option in his/her environment (novelty
seeking). However, when the curiosity is lower than the anxiety, one tends to
disengage from many available options and focus on to a cer-tain option
(specific curiosity) in order to maintain the simulation to a manageable level.
While the curiosity is related to the number of options that a person take at
the time, the anxiety is related to the total load of options in a person’s
brain at a time. To control the number of option that a person can choose at
the time is quite difficult, because if we give limited options when a person
expected more, it will make the person feel being chained, stripped from his/her
freedom. However, if we give many options when a person can only take a number
of options it will lead him/her to stress. One of the solutions to this is by
giving a reason to the person why he needs to take many options and to take a
limited number of options at a certain time. By showing a person the doubt and
the reality, it will increase his/her curiosity about the other options besides
the option that s/he currently hold on, and when the curiosity is greater than
his anxiety (when at that time came only from the load of the option s/he
holds) s/he will do the novelty seeking. When his/her anxiety from thinking
every available option already piled up, greater than the curiosity, it will
make the person forfeits the novelty seeking. However, by doing so, not only
the player forfeits the novelty seeking, but also the activity itself. The
other way is, by decreasing the person curiosity by showing him/her the relief
and ex-pectation, it will lead him/her to specific curiosity.
As from what have explained above, we can see that the
reality, the relief, the doubt, and the expectation work as the drive toward
curiosity. The doubt and the reality increase curiosity and when it is greater
than the anxiety it will drive to novelty seeking. On the other hands, the
relief and the expectation decrease the curiosity and when it is lower than
anxiety it will drive to specific curiosity. However, in the end, what we would
gain from the curiosity?
The Law of Emotion
Every curiosity will give two kinds of results, the desired,
or the undesired one. When we felt curious with a certain book cover and we
decided to read it, in the end we would get either the story is interesting as
what we desire based on the pretty picture of the book cover or it is actually
a boring and dull book, something that is opposed with our desire. Both of the
results will be accompanied with feelings or emotions. When matched with our
desire, we will feel happy, proud, or excited. However, when it did not match,
we will feel, sad, disappointed, or even angry. That explains why every time a
good play is over, rather than gives a bland expression, a player would shout a
triumph, or if s/he unlucky, a curse. Emotion itself is quite hard to
understand. Many game designers try to know how to produce a certain emotion
from their game yet only a few succeed. Even though now we know that emotion
resulted by curiosity, but it still in a big picture. We need to make it more
specific. One of the ways that we could do is to learn how the emotion behaves.
One of the theories that explain it is the law of emotion (Frijda, 1988). Here,
I will des-cribe some of the laws that related to what we talk about.
The law of situational meaning stated that an emotion would
be produced when a person perceives a meaning behind the situation. It means
the cause of emotion is a subjective matter. The same situation could elicit
different emotion based on how s/he sees the situation. Further, on the law of
concern, Frijda said that what makes the difference in perceiving a situation
is the concern of the person. If a person does not see the situation as
something important, however great the situation it will not produce an emotion
to that person. But in the other hands, if the person has a concern toward the
situation (it can in the form of hope or fear) s/he will produce an emotion
that related to his/her concern. Also, the situation does not necessary to
something that already happened. In the law of apparent reality, Frijda said
that the most important is the person treats the situation as real, even though
it is not ma-nifested yet, such as the future.
From those three laws, we can see people will always
appraise the situation (has happened or not yet) with their concern as
reference. The concern will work as the drive of the emotion, and the situation
will work as the consideration of which emo-tion to produce. This finding
conforms with what we stated before, which if the situation matches with the
concern, it will give positive emotions and vice versa.
In the game, because our action is limited and shaped by the
goal of the game, so everything that we do is subjected by the goal. When we
decided what action that we will do, it is usually based on how we perceived
the current state in the game. Also, we will try to select an action that we
feel appropriate in the current situation that would make us closer to the goal
of the game. So in the game, the goal works as our concern, and the state of
the game works as the situation. One thing to note, the game state must
accommodate both wanted (suitable with the goal) and unwanted one (not suitable
with the goal). Also, the player must be able to change the game state with
their meaningful action. By meaningful, I mean the action value should depend
on the situation. If an action gives positive effect regardless the current
situation, the player will surely abuse that action, which lead that they are
not taking consideration of the game current situation. For example, in chess,
moving a pawn is the allowed action in the game. However, the value of moving
the pawn depends on the situation. If the player moves the pawn to check
his/her opponent, the action is considered as one that will bring the player to
his/her goal. In the other hands, if the player still keeps marching forward
even though his/her king is in danger, it was an unwise action, and surely will
bring the player farther with his/her goal.
Fig. 3 Situation can change through meaningful
action
Previously, it was stated that the doubt and the reality
will create novelty seeking while the relief and the expectation will lead to
the specific curiosity. Also, the reality will follow the doubt and the
expectation will follow relief. The reality, the relief, the doubt, and the
expectation are situations that we assess based on our goal. The difference
between them is while the doubt and the relief shows a current situation, the
reality and the expectation show a probable situation that will happen if there
is no change in the current situation. The change itself is shaped by the use
of a certain action.
Fig.4 (a) The
doubt will lead to worse situation as predicted by the reality if there is no
change happens in situation. (b) The
relief will lead to better situation as predicted by the expectation if there
is no change happens in situation.
However, why we need to provide unwanted situation if it
will only give the player negative emotions? Why we do not just stick with the
desired situation, a situation that conforms to the goal? The answer can be
found from the rest of the law of emotion. The law of change said that the
elicitation of emotion does not depend entirely by the value of the situation.
Of course desired situation will give positive emotions, and also true for
undesired situation, which will give negative emotions. However, the most
important is the actual or expected change of the desired or undesired
situation. If the new situation better than the last, it will elicit positive
emotions. However, when the new situation is worse than previous one, it will
create negative emotions. That means if the situation is worse than the last
even though it conforms to the desire, it still gives negative emotions. The
other way around also works, when the new situation better than the last, even
it still doesn’t fit with our desire, it will give positive emotions. Continued
by the law of habituation, being exposed by the same situation for a longer
time could decrease the impact it gives to the emotion. Unless we get a
situation with greater/lesser value towards our concern, pleasure will gradually
wear off, and hardship will lose it poignancy. Change hap-pens because there is
a difference in the value between situations, with each situation value is
obtained by making a relation with a frame reference, as the law of comparative
feeling stated. This frame reference could come from many sources, such as
fate, expectation, condition of other, desire and many more. Before, it was
stated that being exposed with the same situation could decrease the effect it
gives to the emotion. In that kind of situation, we became used to with the
situation, so it will not give effect as big as it gives for the first time.
The law of hedonic asymmetry stated that the time that is required for us to
get accustomed depend on the type of emotion. Negative emotions usually last
quite long before we get used to it, or worse, it never happen. In contrast,
positive emotions depend so much on the change. Without a change, positive
emotions will surely disappear overtime with an exposure to the same situation
over and over. In the other words, if there are no changes in the situation,
the time that is needed for us to dissipate negative emotions is longer than
positive emotions. Some people believe that time will heal emotion. However,
Frijda disagrees with that. Based on the law of conservation of emotional
momentum, an emotion will persist inside someone until there are another
situation that modifies the emotion, whether it is the same situation that
diminishes the emotional value or a different situation that brings a change in
emotional value.
From all of those, there is one important keyword. It is
change. Without a change in the situation around him/her, a person will lose
his/her current emotion or retain his/her emotion (however, I found that it was
impossible. Even though the situation around us did not change, but because our
senses always receive a new stimulus every second and treat it as something
different than the previous, it makes us perceive the same situation as a
totally new situation). It answers our previous question. If we only give a
desired situation (which gives positive emotions at first), the player will get
used to it, and the emotion will decrease and before long it will disappear. Of
course, we can still always give a better situation than the previous, so there
is a change that leads to increase in positive emotions. However, the problem
is, to always do it is extremely difficult. Because before we know it, the
difference that we need to give has already increased sharply. Thus, makes our
effort grow exponentially. Worse, if the concern is something that has a static
value, it will decrease the playtime. It happens because we must always give
the player a better situation where a better situation means closer to the
goal. That is why, in a play or game a change between desired and undesired
situation must happen alternately.
Fig. 5 (a) A graph
where play only provides desired situation. (b) A graph where play provides
both desired and undesired situation alternately.
Now,
let’s combine what we got so far. To refresh, here what we already knew:
1.
The doubt and the reality drive people to
novelty seeking, while the relief and the expectation drive to specific
curiosity.
2.
The doubt and the relief show a current situation.
3.
The reality and the expectation show a probable
situation that will happen if there are no changes in the current situation.
4.
If curiosity greater than anxiety, novelty
seeking will happen.
5.
The other way around, if curiosity lesser than
anxiety, specific curiosity will occur.
6.
Situation can be changed via action.
7.
Every situation has its value regarding how
good/bad it fulfills a person’s concern.
8.
Change in the situation is the primary cause of
emotion elicitation.
9.
Positive emotions tend to disappear if
continuously come from the same situation for a longer time while negative
emotions sustain.
Now, let’s map all of them into the previous graph. Because
the graph has a repeated of increase and decrease state, for clarity, we will
only inspect one increase and one decrease state (one mountain).
Fig. 6 Graph with only one increase and one decrease
state (one mountain)
Here we can see a person who at [A] will meet with the
relief, find the action that solves his/her problem. Meeting the relief is a
desired situation, because relief will help the person closer to his/her goal
and give positive emotions to the person. From here until [B], the person will
always create the expectation, hoping a better situation than the current.
Throughout this process, the person will only care about the action that s/he
found when s/he met the relief or in the other words, s/he will in the state of
specific curiosity. In this state, a person’s curiosity decrease, and also by
thinking only one action at the time make the anxiety level go down too (even
so, the decrease speed of the curiosity is faster than the anxiety which makes
the level of curiosity still lower than anxiety). As long as the new situations
(every point between [A] and [B]) meet his/her expectation, they will give
him/her positive emo-tions. Engulfs with the positive emotions for a longer
time, the increase of emotion will start to drop until it stop. Not feeling
with another positive emotions, the person will arrive at [B], where s/he meets
the doubt. At this situation, the person will start questioning the action that
s/he has done till now. Thus, makes his/her curiosity will start to increase.
From this situation, the person will get negative emotions and consider the
other options, even though s/he is still progressing with the current action,
which makes his/her anxiety start to rise. Also, from here s/he will see the reality
that his/her current action actually not good enough, and s/he needs to find a
better one. That reality leads him/her to do the novelty seeking. Until the
person finds the correct action, s/he will get negative emotions as shown by a
decrease in trend. Finally, if the person finds the right action, s/he will
arrive at [C] and meet the relief again. Next, the cycle will be repeated again
and again until the person arrives at his/her concern.
So far we feel optimistic a person will surely get his/her
concern. However, what if s/he never find the relief, which will raise his/her
emotion? Does his emotion will continue falling until hit the value of minus
infinity? What is the emotion with the value minus infinity anyway? The answer
to this question can be found in the other two laws of emotion, the law of the
greatest gain and the law of lightest load. The law of greatest gain stated
that people will always seek an option or select an action that maximize
emotional gain (positive emotions). In contrast, the law of lightest load
stated that when making a choice, people will always choose one which has
minimum emotional lost (negative emotions). It is quite similar with the
economy, where people will always compare options in the term of their gain and
lost, and try to find the one that gives a greater result. So even in the
hardest situation and there are no escape, people will always try to search
other options in the hope the new situation, although does not release him/her
from the harsh situation, can lighten the negative emotions that s/he will get.
Also, even though the person did not find another better options, from the law
of habituation we knew that in time, the person will get accustomed with the
bad situation, and the emotional load will start to decrease until it stop
declining. Although the law of hedonic asymmetry said that in order that to
happen it will take a very long time, at least it will not reach a minus
infinity value. By combining this into our graph, we get the below picture.
Fig. 7 Graph shows people always try to minimize
emotional load in a difficult situation
So now we understand how curiosity happens in people’s mind.
However, what we gain by knowing this? How will it impact to our concern, to
game design? Well, I always believe a game or a play first and foremost should
facilitate how people behave. However immerse it is, it is only a tool that
people use to gain a certain need. It must not dictate how people should
behave. They are not a lab rat in a skinner box experiment. By respecting our
players as a human, I believe that they will not only feel fun but also won’t
regret anything when they decided to put down the joystick in their hands.
However, if that so, why bother creating a game or play?
Doesn’t our real life already works and accommodates it? Game or play has the
same power as the story, where it can cut the boring part and jump directly to
the interesting one. Imagine how dull it would be if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
decided to put the everyday life of Sherlock Holmes, including the day when
there are no case. Game or play can bring order to the chaos of our daily life
and shape it into a more structured way as what we hope. That is why the job of
game designer is not to shape the behavior of the player, but to highlight the
interesting part of our life and present it in an astonishing way.
Christopher Peterson (2004) said that a curiosity should be
generated, sus-tained, and integrated. We already knew that curiosity can be
generated by pre-senting a situation that a person concerns and giving him
options to manipulate the situation that s/he can choose. However how about the
sustained and integrated? Sustained means that a person’s curiosity should be
maintained through his/her activity so it will not disappear. If a person lost
his/her curiosity, it will lead him/her to quit the activity. In our graph, it
means another mountain must be created after a person finished one. However, the
next mountain must lead the player closer to the goal. The purpose is not only
to create a progressive experience, but also to integrate the previous
curiosity with the next. By doing so, when the player creates another
curiosity, he does not do that by totally dropping the previous curiosity. A
person gains the next curiosity by looking to the previous curiosity’s
weaknesses and strengths and using them as the requirements for the selected
option for the next curiosity.
Fig. 8 The desired graph
Curiosity always related to madness. Doing the thing that a
normal person would not dare to do, doing the thing that only gives a trivial
result. Despite always trying to deny it, every person must have experience it.
Whether small or big, whether in reality or fiction. If you’re still unsure,
here I give a part of the talk between Alice and Cheshire Cat to prove it,
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,”
Alice remarked.
“Oh,
you can’t help that,” said the Cheshire Cat: ” we are mad here. I’m mad, you’re
mad”.
“How
do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You
must be,” said the Cheshire Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
3.
Post-Nihilism and Goals in Video Games
Other than the cycle of expectation, doubt, reality, and
relief, there is something else that we can learn from archetype in story. It
is the relation between mentor and shadow. Previously, I said that mentor and
shadow work to drive moving forward. Without them, the hero in the story will
not have a willingness to do an adventure. In our life, mentor and shadow is
the representation of good and bad, right and wrong, positive and negative, all
the things that work in contrast, with each is lo-cated at the opposite side of
the spectrum and always fight with each other. In a story, usually, at the end
of it we will see either mentor won over shadow or the opposite (most of the
time it was the former). Similarly, in our life we always believe or being told
that the right would eventually win in the end. If this is the nature of the
interaction of mentor and shadow, the right and wrong, where they always fight
between themselves and in the end there is only one which become a winner, this
create a question. Is it true?
Our life shares one similar element with a story. It is the
duration. In the story, usually, it covers a certain number of pages, or a
certain amount of time. In our life, it is our lifespan. However, different
than a story, in our life we rarely found that the right won. Maybe some people
do not agree with this. They believe that you will get it if you stick with the
right. The problem in here is not how to do it, it is whether it possible or
not. Win is one of the output conditions that, usually, come from a type of
confrontation. If it is an output, it means it is the end. There is nothing
beyond it. Na da. That is why, the triumph of the right, which the hero fights
for it, always comes at the end of the book, or before credits screen rolls. Do
we get this when we died? Do we really extinguish what we thing wrong in our
last breath? We do not. Then, what about this? What if, we can eliminate all
wrong before our life span runs out? For instance, we successfully reduce the
rate of crime in our country to zero. Is not that a win? Sadly, even if it
comes true, we still do not win. The wrong still lingers somewhere without our
knowing. It lingers in our mind. You still think the wrong is the opposite of
your right, and you will make sure it will not appear again. It still exists.
Without we forget the wrong, we will never make the right win.
Can we do that? It is difficult. Because when we take one
thing as right, at the same time we also acknowledge the wrong. Throughout our
life, we tend to strengthen our faith to the right, which, usually, also
consist enhancing our hatred to the wrong. This habit works continuously until
we found it was hard to try to explain why the wrong is wrong. It just already
crystalized in our mind. Suddenly forgetting about it is proof to be difficult.
However, it is possible, but with a cost. To forget the wrong, first we need to
forget why it is wrong in the first place. The problem is, what makes it wrong
is because it lies in the opposite from the right. If wrong disappear, then
what makes the right is right? It lost its frame of reference. This makes to
forget the wrong is wrong; we also need to forget that the right is right. It
will throw us outside the boundary of the spectrum right and wrong. Not sure
what we fighting for up to now, not sure which is right and which is wrong, we enter
nihilism.
Nihilism
Nihilism is not a belief that there isn’t right or wrong, a
world without order. Nihilism, based on Nietzsche, is an event, a situation
where there is no highest value, there is no actual right . This situation
happens because our world is always cha-nging, always growing. Our value that
we keep is actually a fiction that we des-perately hope to exist. Something
that we get from the other world, the world where there is a totality, and we
try to impose it to our ceaseless real world. Doing this only put us in vain,
and eventually will lead us to nihilism, a situation that Nietzsche put as a
situation when the highest value devaluates themselves. Maybe this is why we
like to read fiction, watch a movie, or play a game. It is only in those “other
world” we get an affirmation about our value. We are just trying to escape the
nihilism.
Nihilism creates disbelief toward value to maintain order.
This makes there is no universal right or wrong, everything is right and the
same time wrong. Everything is the same and is allowed. As a situation, it
means that it is not only what people believe. It is a fact, which will happen
to us. That is why, Nietzsche believes to overcome nihilism it is not
sufficient to change what the nihilists believe. Try to make them hold a
certain highest value, the right, when they already seen its incapability, is
just like asking them to become an ignorance.
Post Nihilism
However, nihilism is not a totally bad thing. It is a
situation that is required if people want to know the truth. So the question
is, how we move forward from ni-hilism. To do this, Nietzsche said that what we
need is reevaluate the value. Value should become a product of life that
depends on itself, not on dictates from “outside”. Value depends on the
situation, not control the situation. We allowed up-holding a value as long as
it makes sense for our current situation.
Nietzsche argues value should applicable for our life. So
the one who should create it is the people who live the life. Life itself comes
in a various shape. There is our individual life, social life, and many more.
From each life, there is a certain value that regulates within it. A value can
be similar or can be different depend on which life we belong to. However, this
does not mean that value is relative. This is because when we happen to be in
one life, we see value from its perspective while we can only see something as
relative if only we are outside to what we measure, a position where we can see
all things at the same time. It is
absolute, and yet it only becomes absolute in that life. This makes value is
actually exist. There is right and there is wrong. However, for the same thing
(or event), the value can varies, depend on which life it is located. Also, the
one who must make the judgment is the people who belong in that life. So we are
allowed to use or even make a value when it only impact on us personally, but
when we with other people we must reevaluate our value by considering the other
people.
Post nihilism is different than pre nihilism, where we just
blindly following what we thought right and wrong, despite our current
situation. It is also different from nihilism where there is no value. In post
nihilism, we become the master of value, not the slave. In turns, it will help
us to see the nature of value, what it actually gives us.
Why then the value, right and wrong, exist? When it comes to
reasoning about right and wrong, people tend to think them solitary from each
other, where the right will give them a benefit while the wrong will give them
punishment. However, I believe beyond that, there is a bigger advantage that we
can get when both the right and wrong exist. This advantage strangely is not
related with either the right or wrong. It located outside the spectrum, and
yet it impact only to oneself. In our reality, this advantage comes in the form
of a sense of progression. Without the right and wrong, we do not have a
purpose to continue living, because everything is similar, there is nothing
that we can pursue. We will feel that we just circling around without moving an
inch in our life. I believe the scariest for human is the feeling of boredom, a
feeling that we get when everything is never changing. To escape the boredom we
must take a value. So, in my opinion,
post nihilism is a state where people uphold a value not for labeling things
around them with either right or wrong and blindly following it, but to get the
advantage that they can only achieve when both right and wrong exist.
Goals in Video Games
Surprisingly, the advantage of right and wrong is something
that we, game developer always trying to create. However, it is slightly
different from our real life. In the game, right and wrong is related with
goals. When goals in the game are created, the reason is not to make the player
get the right, which is winning the game, or to avoid the wrong, which is
losing the game. It is the other thing. If for our reality it is what I said
earlier as sense of progression, in the game it comes in the form of enjoyment.
To get this enjoyment, player does not have a choice other than play. This is a
grand rule that every game designer obeys. Goals only exist to give player
enjoyment. When the goals do not give a pleasure, they must be ruled out. Even
so, because every player has variety of skills, to entertain every player is
difficult. That is why normally in the game the player is allowed to adjust the
diff-iculty.
Difficulty selection feature works brilliantly to help
player to get the goals without losing the enjoyment. Let’s take competitive
games for example. In most of competitive games, player is allowed to adjust to
almost all of the aspects of the game, from time limit to enemy level (from
adjusting computer skill or selecting other player who s/he want to compete
with). This works well with player goal (to become better) without sacrificing
his/her enjoyment (s/he can cope with his/her current skill). However, this is
not valid for every type games. For single player story driven game, I argue
this feature will not work well with player goal and enjoyment.
For single player story driven games, the goals is to know
what will happen next, and finally see the ending. For the enjoyment, it comes
from the feeling of immerse through the story. Although by letting player
select the difficulty of the game (which is usually comes in the selection of
easy, normal, or hard) can help the player to cope with the game which is
giving them a bigger opportunity to reach the goal, it actually can break the
enjoyment, the feeling of immerse. That is why game designer, usually, place
the difficulty selection at the start of the game, and player must stick with
it until the end of the game. The problem is, human is a creature that is
easily to adapt. Given time, something that feels challenging will lose it
charm, and we will get used to it. Our skill will surpass the challenge and
what left is a dull experience, where game feels very easy, and we become just
like an audience rather than a player. This in turns will also break our
immersion. Knowing it, many game de-signers let the player change the
difficulty at fly. Believing it will help them to con-trol the difficulty
according to their skill, this decision creates the same problem. Changing the
difficulty inside the game, usually, happens when the game was felt too easy or
too difficult. In order to do this, player needs to pause the game and go to
the difficulty setting. Which means there is a delay through game progression
that the player spends for an activity that unrelated to the narrative. This
will increases the chance the player loss the immersion.
The relation between challenge (or difficulty) and skill is
best explained by flow theory (Csikszenmihalyi, 1990). In flow theory, we see
that when challenge and skill create a pattern of flow channel it will make the
player feel the experience of flow, which is being immersed in the activity.
This theory teach us that to make the game balance between player skill and
challenge provided in game, things that should be considered are:
1. Define the challenge
The challenge that provided in game should have a value that
can be measured by character’s action. A task to deplete enemy’s health where
the game does not provide an action to punch, shoot, or other things to complete
the task is not a good challenge.
2. Define the player skill
Player skill is different from character skill. By player
skill, I mean the ability that the player has in the real world that will be
translated by game through character’s action. It could be motoric ability such
as rapidly press various button or logic thinking ability such as finding the
solution of a puzzle. Also, not least important is to determine the maximum
skill the player can have. Although human always growing, but it needs time.
Rush it through game time, which considered small compared to player lifetime,
will only stress the player.
3. Map the challenge and skill
The rest is to connect the challenge with the appropriate
skill. Although there is many guides to do this, I believe this activity is
more art than science. The best good solution that I have encountered is to do
much playtesting with different type of player.
Fig. 9 Flow graph
The pattern at flow graph shows that there is a set of
challenge that only appropriate for a certain skill. Usually, this pattern is
plotted with the story in single player story driven game, where player is
assumed to have a higher skill in later story. However, because most of this
type of game takes a longer time to finish many players will not complete it in
a single play. Moreover, with the increase of the number of game that player
plays at the same time, it increases the chance there will be decrease in
player skill. Because previously I said giving the feature of difficulty
selection in the game could break the immersion, we are left with a dynamic
difficulty feature, which has two important things in order to work:
1. Measure the player’s current skill
Game should measure player current skill and bring the
suitable challenge. In the game, challenge is represented by game element that
can be manipulated by character’s action.
Character’s action is coming from game translates player’s action to a bit
of information. Then, to know the player’s current skill can be measured by how
well s/he delivers the input. In the past, it is something that is hard to do,
but nowadays, with the rise of analytic tools, it is not impossible to do. By
reading the input information, such as the time between button pressed or the
decision the player made, game can measure a player’s current skill.
2. Remember the player’s previous skill
Other than knows the player’s current skill, game should
interpret it based on player’s previous skill. If player’s current skill is
higher than previous skill, that means player is growing as the game wanted.
However, if the opposite happens, game should lower the difficulty by giving an
easier challenge while helping the player to gain his/her previous higher
skill.
However, using dynamic difficulty has a drawback. This feature will make there is no
progression through the game, which is what single player story driven game is
all about. This is caused by the game will adjust to player skill, and there is
a chance where player will feel the earlier section of the game is harder than
the current caused by the decrease in player’s skill and there is sudden
increase of difficulty because player regain his/her skill. Fortunately, like I
said before, in single player story driven game, player’s skill is already
plotted with game progression. So what game should do is only read player’s
current skill and compared it to the designed player skill from game
progression. If player’s current skill is higher than what it should be, then
the game can increase the overall game difficulty. However, when the opposite
happens, game does not need to lower its difficulty. What it should need is to
pause the game progression and focus help the player get the suitable skill.
There are many ways to do this. However, what I found
interesting is the dying system in Herc’s adventure (LucasArts, 1997). In
Herc’s adventure, every time player dies, player is thrown to the underworld
where player needs to fight Hades’s underlings before player can continue their
game. This underworld is not only worked as a mini games, but can also help the
player to improve his/her skill without sacrificing the game progression.
Moreover, the developer makes this feature still related to game narrative so
that it will not break player’s immersion.
By using similar concept with Herc’s Adventure (halt the
game progress to train the player in a special place), and combined with
reading player’s current skill (and use this information and the designed skill
to plot the difficulty trends of special place) it will help the player to cope
with game difficulty. Also, this concept can be used as interactive game
tutorial too. Game designer has long known that giving an interactive type of
tutorial is better than a writing one. However, this type of tutorial is only
found at the earlier game, and after it was over, when player forget about some
element of the game, the only thing player can rely is only the written summary
of tutorial (and only if it provided).
This system, together with the ability of the game to
dynamically increase the difficulty (if player’s current skill is higher than
the designed one) I believe will help the player to work on the game goal
without forgetting the advantage that it provided, the enjoyment. Or in the
philosophy words, the state of post nihilism.
4.
Archetypes, Life, and Games
There are eight archetypes that we found through a story.
More than just a personality, they also depict how life and game work.
We as a human in life, or the player in the game are what
the hero represents. We are the one who start the journey, do the journey, and
end the journey. In our jo-urney, we are the actor, not just a mere audience.
The herald in life works as a gate to our life journey. A
journey we have already started since we born to this world. Similar to the
life, in the game herald appears when we start the game, or even before that,
when we take an interest to the game.
Mentor and shadow appear as the right and wrong, the value
that we uphold. Their interaction creates what in the theory of flow known as
challenges. To app-rehend this value, we need the ability to evaluate it, a
skill. A pre-nihilism state we encounter if the challenge to achieve the right
is greater than our skill to apprehend it. This pre-nihilism state will create
an anxiety to us. However, when the challenge is too low compared to our skill,
a situation where we cannot even feel the dread from the wrong, it make we lost
the wrong (which is not long after that the right will also followed). Not sure
what is right and what is wrong, we ended up in nihilism state. Feeling
everything is the same, we easily get boredom. After circling around in
nihilism, people will consider using value again. However, different than
pre-nihilism, people will use the value that suitable for their life, their
skill, and become a master rather than a servant. This state is known as
post-nihilism, which gives an advantage to people, being immersed in the flow
channel through their lifetime.
In life, the shape shifter works as expectation, the
threshold guardian as doubt, the trickster as reality, and the ally as relief.
Together they fill our journey in our lifetime. Expectation will help as to
focus only to our current solution, and drive as to specific curiosity until we
meet doubt. Doubt opens our eyes that our solution is not good enough and makes
us see the reality. The reality encourages us to do novelty seeking, looking
from many available solutions. After a certain time, we will get the best
solution, the relief, and start to build expectation toward it.
Fig. 10 Life/game from archetypes perspective and its
components.
Whether archetypes in people define life, or life defines
archetype is still unknown. One thing for sure is, game, as a product crafted
by human, is influenced heavily by people’s archetype. So, it is not an
exaggerated if game is the best representation of our life, and our answer how
to make it better.
REFERENCES
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihalyi. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
New York: HarperCollins.
Frijda, N.H. (1988). The Law of Emotion. American Psychologist. 43(5), 349-358.
Huizinga, J. (1949). Homo Ludens A Study of The Play Element In Culture. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
Nihilism.
URL: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9593.pdf
[2 October 2014].
Peterson, C. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2004). Curiosity. In: Character Strengths
and Virtues. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, pp. 125-141.
Vogler, C. (2007). The Writer’s Journey Mythic Structure for Writers Third Edition.
Laurel Canyon: Michael Wiese Productions.
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