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Sometimes It's Just Games: Creating Video Essays to Teach Ethnographic

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DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE “IT’S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES; SOMETIMES IT’S JUST GAMES:” CREATING VIDEO ESSAYS TO TEACH ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS TO TABLETOP GAME DESIGNERS A Project Report Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Anthropology San José State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Master of the Arts By Jamieson Mockel May 2020 DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE i © 2020 Jamieson C. Mockel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE ii The Undersigned Graduate Committee Approves the Project Report Titled “IT’S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES; SOMETIMES IT’S JUST GAMES:” CREATING VIDEO ESSAYS TO TEACH ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS TO TABLETOP GAME DESIGNERS By Jamieson C. Mockel APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY ______________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Jan English-Lueck Date ______________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Roberto Gonzalez Date ______________________________________________________________________________ Dr. Stephanie Coopman Date DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE iii ABSTRACT For this project, I created a series of video lectures to distribute on YouTube to teach basic ethnographic methods to tabletop game designers to supplement their game design processes. I developed my research methods using a communities of practice lens, uncovering how game designers leverage a combination of personal experiences, professional skills, and social relationships in their practices. Due to the social nature of playing tabletop games, their development is often a communal process of play, feedback collection, and iteration based on playtester experiences and reactions. In the San Francisco Bay Area, tabletop game designers attend public events where players test their prototype games. Playtesters then share their reactions and opinions about changes that the designer can make to their prototypes. For this project, I joined a community of designers as a researcher and an aspiring designer. I created my own games, playtested with other designers, and observed the testing and iterative processes that designers utilize. After I conducted research on the ways that designers develop and iterate games, I created my video lecture series based on the data I collected about designers and their methods. My videos focused on three primary ethnographic methods that I determined designers could learn quickly and that would supplement their existing design processes and practices. These methods include participant observation, focus groups, and community building. I discuss my reasons for selecting these methods and how designers can implement each of these methods into their playtesting and iteration techniques. I conclude by exploring the challenges of distributing content on video sharing platforms like YouTube and suggest ways that researchers can use video essays to disseminate their findings for a wider audience. DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a great deal of gratitude to many people who have helped me both with this project and during my entire graduate career. First and foremost, I want to express my undying love and commitment to Chelsea Halliwell, my spouse, partner in all things, and fellow nerd, whose brilliance and empathy helped me through this project in more ways than I can possibly recount here. Thank you to my committee chair and advisor, Dr. Jan English-Lueck, who let me undertake a project I was passionate about, guided me throughout my graduate career, and provided support and compassion when I needed it the most. Thank you as well to my committee, Dr. Roberto Gonzalez and Dr. Stephanie Coopman, who encouraged me throughout the long writing process and took time from their busy schedules (and during a global pandemic) to provide me with valuable feedback that improved this report in countless ways. Dr. Charles Darrah and Dr. John Marlovits guided me during the initial stages of this project and made sure I could get the credits I needed to graduate, and I am grateful to them for lending their expertise. Dr. A.J. Faas gave me my first research job as a graduate student and gave me the opportunity to test my ethnographic methods in the field, and the rest of the San José State University Anthropology Department have been among the friendliest and most supportive group of people I have had the pleasure to know. Thank you to my classmates who worked with me, challenged me intellectually, and put up with my silly jokes and loquacious nature. To my parents, Diane and Ken Mockel, who have helped me in every conceivable way and who instilled in me a compassion for others and a fascination with all things, I would like to say: Thanks for letting me be myself. My friends mean the world to me – I like to call them my logical kin – and my life would be greatly diminished without them: thank you Alisha, Brieann, Casey C., Casey M., Jack, Jorge, Larry, Miki, Steve, and the many other lovely people who have entered and improved my life. I love you all. DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE v To my informants and game designer friends: thank you for letting me join your community and play your games, and for giving me feedback on my own designs. This project literally could not have happened without your generosity and openness. Finally, thank you to Sam, my dear friend and codesigner, with whom I spent countless hours designing, talking, and living games, both throughout this project and in our 20 years of friendship. Sorry to anyone else I missed – it’s nothing personal, but I only have so much space! DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 – Rolling the Dice: Introduction…………………………………………………….1 1.1 Project Overview and Goals……………………………………………………………….1 1.2 Brief Description of the Community………………………………………………………3 1.3 Attending Playtesting Events………………………………………………………………7 1.4 Project Deliverables………………………………………………………………………..9 1.5 Project Significance and Areas of Inquiry………………………………………………..10 1.6 Report Map……………………………………………………………………………….12 Chapter 2 – A Pack of Cards: Tabletop Games and the Bay Area Design Community…...14 2.1 What are Tabletop Games?................................................................................................14 2.2 Why Game Design Matters: The Social Significance of Tabletop Games………………18 2.3 The Anthropological Significance of Tabletop Games…………………………………..20 2.4 Project Background and Social Context………………………………………………….21 2.5 The Cast of Characters: Board Game Designers…………………………………………23 2.6 How are Tabletop Games Designed?.................................................................................27 2.7 Setting the Scene: Playtesting Events……………………………………………………29 Chapter 3 – Joining the Party: Methodologies for Studying Tabletop Game Designers…..36 3.1 Entering the Bay Area Tabletop Game Design Community……………………………..36 3.2 Playtesting and Iteration………………………………………………………………….38 3.3 Learning Design from Designers………………………………………………………...42 3.4 Uncovering Communities of Practice……………………………………………………50 3.5 Becoming a Designer…………………………………………………………………….68 3.6 Working with a Collaborator…………………………………………………………….70 3.7 Playtesting with the Community…………………………………………………………71 Chapter 4 – Assessing the Board: What Designers Look for in Game Prototypes…………73 4.1 The Elements of Good Game Designs…………………………………………………...73 Chapter 5 – Playing my Hand: Creating the Anthroview YouTube Series………………...88 5.1 Bringing It All Together: Turning My Data into Practical Suggestions for Designers…..88 5.2 Creating the Video on Participant Observation Methods….……………………………..90 5.3 Creating the Video on Focus Group Methods……………………………………………99 5.4 Creating the Video on Community Building……………………………………………107 5.5 Why I Created Videos for YouTube………………………………………………….…112 5.6 About the Critical Lens Series on YouTube………………………………………….…113 DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE vii 5.7 About the Video Series Anthropology for Game Designers……………………………114 5.8 YouTube as a Platform for Tabletop Design Advice…………………………………...116 5.9 The Challenges of Using YouTube to Disseminate Findings…………………………..117 Chapter 6 – Endgame State: Conclusion…………………………………………………….120 6.1 Summary…………….…………………………………………………………………..120 6.2 Limitations and Challenges……….……………………………………………………..122 6.3 Applications….………………………………………………………………………….124 References Cited...……………………………………………………………………………..127 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………..132 Appendix A – Interview Questions…………………………………………………………132 Appendix B – Technical Information for Creating Videos…………………………………133 Appendix C – Video Transcripts with Timestamps……………………………………..….137 Endnotes……………………………………………………………………………………….215 DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE viii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1 89 Key ethnographic concepts that my videos were based on Figure 1 106 Example of using index cards as visual aids for playtesters Figure 2 115 A title card from one of my videos Figure 3 115 A ‘talking head’ shot from one of my videos Figure 4 116 A slide from one of my videos DocuSign Envelope ID: 839DEE2A-59F5-4D0B-B2B6-B2CE283022CE 1 Chapter 1 – Rolling the Dice: Introduction 1.1 Project Overview and Goals The goal of my project was to offer tabletop game designers useful techniques and practices
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