“THAT's NOT HOW IT SHOULD END!”: the EFFECT of READER/PLAYER RESPONSE on the DEVELOPMENT of NARRATIVE Lynda Clark a Thesis
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“THAT’S NOT HOW IT SHOULD END!”: THE EFFECT OF READER/PLAYER RESPONSE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF NARRATIVE Lynda Clark A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2018 This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights. 2 Abstract When the final instalment of the videogame series Mass Effect was released in March 2012, many fans used online forums to express displeasure at the game’s ending. A surprising number suggested that Victorian writers such as Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were far more attentive and responsive to their audience’s preferences than modern authors or videogame writers. This thesis, in part, seeks to explore the veracity of this idea through a creative-critical comparison of key examples of Victorian serial fiction and modern episodic videogames, and through the creation of an interactive novella. The creative-critical element of the thesis is produced in two formats which examine how serial texts may be considered ‘interactive’ due to the unique opportunity they provide for readers to influence the act of textual production; the extent to which videogames may be considered serial due to their structure, content, and modes of delivery; the controversies surrounding consumption of serials and videogames; and how techniques relating to characterisation, character death and endings operate within serial and interactive forms. Focussing primarily on Great Expectations, selected Sherlock Holmes stories, and the Mass Effect and Life is Strange videogame series, the role of writer and reader as collaborative participants in the creation of narrative content is examined in particular in relation to the tropes of the magic trick, the telepathic exchange and the detective duo. The creative component of the thesis puts some of these findings into practice by offering a story in which the reader-player gradually comes to realise the effect of their interventions in the narrative. Created using the authoring tool ChoiceScript, Writers Are Not Strangers plays with ideas of co-operation and control, and authorship and agency. Using a modular structure and quality-based salience (text dependent on previous user choices) this multi-branching, multiple-ended text attempts to craft a story in response to its reader, while never fully giving over control. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank: My PhD supervisors, Professor Phil Leonard and Associate Professor Sarah Jackson for their boundless support, enthusiasm for and constructive criticism of what has proved to be a highly unusual project. The M3C Doctoral Partnership and the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding not only my PhD study, but also a wide variety of invaluable conference activities, events, training and placements. In addition, the entire M3C team, but particularly Susanna Ison, Samantha Offiler, Professor Paul Grainge and Professor Sharon Monteith. My fellow M3C and NTU researchers for their support and advice, both academic and otherwise, particularly Richard Bromhall, Dr Jo Dixon and Dr Becky Cullen. Iain Simons, Professor James Newman, Chloe Smith, Dr Louise Chamberlain and all of the team at the National Videogame Arcade for their support during my placement and the further opportunities it afforded me. Ian Cooke and Stella Wisdom of the British Library for their support in taking my research forward post-PhD, and Sophia Coney and Fran Foster, for making it possible for me to undertake the project. The Commonwealth Foundation, particularly Emma D’Costa, Janet Steel, James Tennant and Will Forrester for giving me a confidence boost in my writing, and Sagnik Datta, Jenny Bennett-Tuionetoa, Efua Traore and Kevin Jared Hosein for a wonderful week of laughter. Lynnea Glasser, Emily Short, Liza Daly, Yoko Taro, Brendan Patrick Hennessey, Hanon Ondricek, Porpentine, Bioware’s development team and all the makers, readers and players of ChoiceScript, Twine and Ink, all of whom have provided inspiration for my work in a hundred different ways. My family, for keeping me grounded with questions like: ‘What is it you do again?’ and ‘When are you going to finish studying and get a job?’ but also for their support (without them, I would have neither central heating nor an MA). My friends, particularly Fran Young, Dr Sam Kirwan and Chris Sharp, for finding multiple polite variations of ‘That sounds nice’ when I blab on at them about my work. The school-friend’s parent who told me aged eleven I was a dreamer who would never amount to anything and has fuelled my determination with spite ever since. And finally, my incredible husband, Ant Clark for being my first sounding board, my biggest cheerleader and only occasionally glazing over when I talk about my research. Also: coffee. 4 Contents How to use this thesis 7 List of Illustrations and Other Media 8 List of Characters 9 1.0 Untroduction In which I consider how stories and games fit together 1.1 That’s Not How It Should Begin 10 1.2 Begin Again 13 1.3 Just a Series of Interlocking Shapes 16 1.3.1 Eastern Blocks 19 1.4 A False Separation 25 1.5 Puzzling Parallel Minecarts 31 1.5.1 (a) Beneath the Tarpaulin 32 1.5.1 (b) The Wall 33 1.5.1.1 Inside the Minecarts 34 1.6 The Writing on the Wall 35 2.0 Videogames and the Victorian Serial In which the key similarities between the two forms are sketched 2.1 Strange and Dangerous 37 2.2 Your Cruel Device 40 2.2.1 Consuming Structures and Themes 44 2.3 A Disreputable Society 42 2.4 Essential Mysteries 68 2.4.1 Life is Strange and Great Expectations: Sensationalism as Serial Selling-Point 54 2.5 On Parallel Tracks 72 3.0 The Roles We Play In which some of the approaches adopted by readers and writers are explored 3.1 Real Fictional Characters 73 3.2 Fictional Dickenses 75 3.3 It’s a Kind of Magic 82 3.3.1 A(n) (Un)Welcome Interruption 86 3.4 Everyone’s a Detective 88 3.5 Everyone’s a Magician 97 3.6 Everyone’s a Telepath 104 5 4.0 The Beginning of the End In which the complicated nature of endings is examined 4.1 A New Challenger Appears 107 4.2 Artificial and Arbitrary 108 4.2.1 Meanwhile, by the Waterfall 114 4.3 Reports of Their Death Were Greatly Exaggerated 115 4.4 The Right Death 127 4.5 Mass Effect and Creatures Such As We: Interactive Fiction as Writer Response 133 4.5.1 Everyone I Know Goes Away in the End 137 4.6 That Awful Abyss, That Dreadful Chasm 139 5.0 A Reflection of Sorts In which the creative portion of this thesis is discussed in relation to everything else 5.1 Like Looking in Three Mirrors 141 5.2 The Game is Abook 143 5.3 Slip Slidin’ Away 155 5.4 All Good Things Must Come to an 161 5.4.1 (a) The Critical-Creative Ending 162 5.4.1 (b) Your Ending 163 5.4.1 (c) The Creative-Critical Ending 166 5.4.1 (d) The Unending Ending 168 Glossary i Bibliography vii Appendices (Volume 2) Appendix A Cliffhangers in Great Expectations Appendix B Writers Are Not Strangers Design Document Appendix C Writers Are Not Strangers Design Maps Appendix D Offline version of Writers Are Not Strangers (Volume 3) Appendix E Full code documentation for Writers Are Not Strangers 6 How to use this thesis As you may have guessed, this is not a conventional thesis. There are both offline and online versions. You are currently reading the offline version. While its non- linear structure is maintained, the ‘invisotext’ used in the online version cannot be replicated, so instead, pale grey text is used for these sections. (Like this). You may wish to trace over these sections with a pen, or read the PDF version on an electronic device so you can highlight the text colour to make it easier to read. Although this version could be read from beginning to end, in order to maintain a little of the feel of a hypertext, some sections may seem disordered if approached in this way. The preferred order of reading is given on the contents page, and directions are also given at the end of each section. Words that appear in bold may be found in the Glossary. For the full experience, however, please visit the online version, available at https://thatsnothowitshouldend.wordpress.com/. When accessing the website for the first time, Wordpress will require the creation of a Wordpress account and an access request (instructions will be provided on the login page). Please complete these steps in order to access all content. This text is only half of the thesis. The accompanying creative work (Writers Are Not Strangers) which makes up the rest of the thesis can be read before or after this text. An offline version is available in Appendix C, but this is provided for reference only and contains some shortened and simplified sequences for clarity. You can find the online version at: https://dashingdon.com/play/lclark10000/writers-are-not-strangers- alpha/mygame/ . For best results, use Firefox web browser and a desk top or lap top device.