The Late Modern Hero's Quest for Meaning Norman
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UPPSALA UNIVERSITY Institution of Theology Social Sciences of Religion E, 30 hp Spring 2012 Instructor: Önver Cetrez & Valerie DeMarinis Grading Teacher: Önver Cetrez & Valerie DeMarinis The Late Modern Hero’s Quest for Meaning – A case study on the psychological construction of meaning and play, ritualization, and, quests in video games in late modern Sweden. Fredrik Norman 850503-7534 [email protected] Abstract This essay focuses on two cases studies that include two game designers’ views of mean- ing-making construction in games and an analysis of their corresponding games. This is placed in relation to the late modern Sweden context. The study examines how the de- signers conceive purposeful play by employing a multi-disciplinary approach consisting of Pruyser’s three-world model, Bell’s ritualization framework, and, Howard’s quest the- ory. Such a study is relevant due to the new ways meaning-making is actively produced within games and contributes to the understanding of meaning-making in late modern Sweden. The two designers work at DICE and Starbreeze Studios and were interviewed using a semi-structured methodology. The data is analyzed with a qualitative narrative technique applying an inductive theoretical lens to analyze the data thematically. Both respondents illustrate patterns of meaning-making in their construction of games where functionality is central and vital to produce purposeful play. The construction of illusion- istic game worlds encloses on feelings of authenticity to the world’s structure. Realistic, autistic, and, object symbolism operate to mold the world structure and are connected to the designers’ genre. The designer from DICE promotes realistic worlds and the designer from Starbreeze Studios autistic representations. Ritualized practice within the world focuses on combat differentiation techniques to legitimize violent practice. The designers’ realistic world construction makes combat plausible within its border and autistic worlds are empowered by back-stories. Opposition is seen as essential in both cases. The corre- sponding game shows similar tendencies except that many of the quest themes are intact although the designers themselves consider the games to use less of the mythological formulae. Characters, themes, and, allegorical imagery was used to amplify the sense of dialectic oppositions and logical opposition where the enemy is always darker. However, the hero and heroes are considerably grimmer compared to the stereotypical hero. Mean- ing is maintained through non-allegorical quests where the player and hero are motivated by functionality linked to opposition or emotional elements. An anti-heroic concept is employed to construct a practical and credible hero-character that has ambivalent attrib- utes and convincing behavior. An alteration to dark-light symbolism can also be seen in one of the cases. In relation to other studies, this essay has broaden the spectrum of the psychology of religion in terms of fields for meaning strategies; confirming ritualized strategies in video games; displayed altered ways of using mythological symbols in the Swedish context; presented cultural differences in hero structures that might be based on the Swedish context. Key words: illusionistic world; ritualization; quest theory; case study; meaning-making; purposeful play; hero; video game design; archetypal symbolism; late modern Sweden. 2 Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 5 1.1. Purpose statement and aims.....................................................................................6 1.2. Research questions .................................................................................................. 7 1.3. Limitations............................................................................................................... 7 1.4. Previous studies..................................................................................................... 10 1.4.1 Research overview.......................................................................................... 10 1.4.2 Review of related literature............................................................................. 13 1.4.3 Critical reflections on research review ........................................................... 20 1.5. Method and Material ............................................................................................. 22 Chapter 2 Theory .............................................................................................................. 24 2.1. Presentation of theory............................................................................................ 24 2.1.1 Pruyser and the illusionistic world.................................................................. 25 2.1.2 Ritual theory and ritualization ........................................................................ 27 2.1.3 Quests and quest theory .................................................................................. 29 2.2. Framework............................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 3 Method.............................................................................................................. 41 3.1 Research methodology ........................................................................................... 41 3.2 What is a case study?.............................................................................................. 42 3.2.1 Operationalizing the cases .............................................................................. 43 3.3 Case profiles........................................................................................................... 43 3.3.1 Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment ........................................................ 43 3.3.1.1 Battlefield Bad Company ........................................................................ 44 3.3.2 Starbreeze Studios........................................................................................... 45 3.3.2.1 The Darkness ........................................................................................... 45 3.4 Data collection........................................................................................................ 46 3.5 Data analysis and coding process........................................................................... 47 3.6 Ethical considerations............................................................................................. 47 3.7 Validity and reliability considerations.................................................................... 48 Chapter 4 Empirical data and analysis.............................................................................. 50 4.1 Presentation of Empirical Data............................................................................... 50 4.1.1 Case I: "Mark’s” experiences as a lead designer at DICE .............................. 50 4.1.2 Case II: “Steven’s” experiences as a game play designer at Starbreeze Studios ................................................................................................................................. 57 4.2 Empirical data analysis........................................................................................... 65 4.2.1 Case I: “Mark’s” experiences as a lead designer at DICE................................... 65 4.2.1.1 Constructing an expression of meaning-making: the illusionistic world..... 66 4.2.1.2 Maintaining meaning: the ritualization processes and quests of the illusionistic world .................................................................................................... 68 4.2.1.3 Influences of the construction process: cultural aspects .............................. 72 4.2.2 Case II: “Steven’s” experiences as a game play designer at Starbreeze Studios. 73 4.2.2.1 Constructing an expression of meaning-making: the illusionistic world..... 73 4.2.2.2 Maintaining meaning: the ritualization processes and quests of the illusionistic world .................................................................................................... 76 4.2.2.3 Influences of the construction process: cultural aspects .............................. 80 5 Game analysis ................................................................................................................ 82 5.1 Battlefield Bad Company ........................................................................................ 82 5.1.1 “Bad Company” - The four squad members................................................... 82 5.1.2 The Legionnaire: the shadow.......................................................................... 85 3 5.1.3 The Gold as the herald.................................................................................... 90 5.2 The Darkness .......................................................................................................... 94 5.2.1 The bombing of St. Mary’s orphanage ........................................................... 94 5.2.2 Jenny’s assassination ...................................................................................... 96 5.2.3 The Battle with The Darkness and Uncle Paulie .......................................... 102 6.