ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE AND AGENCY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE GAMES by Lindsey Joyce APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ___________________________________________ Monica Evans, Chair ___________________________________________ Kim Knight ___________________________________________ Roger Malina ___________________________________________ Miguel Sicart ___________________________________________ Frederick Turner Copyright 2017 Lindsey Joyce All Rights Reserved For my spouse, who lent strength and love in equal measure. For my children, who inspired me through moments of doubt. For my parents, who had faith when I lacked it. For my sister, who never doubted and always listened. For my friends, who understood and forgave. For McKinley, who gave unwavering companionship. and For Bach, who wrote the melodies that kept me writing. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE AND AGENCY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE GAMES by LINDSEY JOYCE, BA, MA DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS May 2017 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have stood on the shoulders of giants. This text is proof of it. Somehow, I was lucky enough to assemble the Dream Team of committees. Without them, none of this would be possible. Over the last several years, this committee has guided and supported me in ways I am still discovering. This text is a testament to them and stands as physical evidence of the enormous debt I owe, but can never hope to repay. I must first thank the chair of my committee, Dr. Monica Evans, who in the Fall of 2014 changed the direction and focus of my research with the simple question “Why are you here?” Though I could only guess at the answer then, Dr. Evans gave me her time, her patience, her respect, and her trust while I figured it out. Beyond that, she modeled the type of scholar and human I hope to be. I must also thank the other members of my committee: Dr. Frederick Turner who indulged me in long conversations about video games and narrative that I will treasure forever and which have been recalled in this text more than once; Dr. Kimberly Knight who never let me be comfortable with where I was, but instead continually willed me to be better and made me want to put it the work it would take; Dr. Roger Malina who changed the ways I think about media and publishing and academia, and whose stories about his own journey reminded me that missteps can be overcome with work and the right attitude; and Dr. Miguel Sicart whose books challenged my assumptions about video games in ways that ripple throughout this text and who was kind enough to speak to me about soccer in a shuttle van in New Jersey and, subsequently, spark the confidence it would take to ask him to join this committee. I must also acknowledge my spouse and children who sacrificed so much, without complaint, while I pursued my degree. For every, “I’m sorry, I can’t right now” or “maybe in a minute,” or v “I wish I could, sweetie” I uttered over the last several years, I was consistently met with support and unwavering understanding. Together, they are my heart and deserve my everything. Finally, I owe incomparable gratitude to my parents. Despite all my growing pains and all the stumbling blocks, they never once doubted my ability or the depth of my will. They have given their faith, fully and unfailingly, and I have leaned on it when there was little else to lean on. I know they will be as thankful as I am when I can finally take the next step. February 2017 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE AND AGENCY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE GAMES Lindsey Joyce, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Dallas, 2017 Supervising Professor: Monica Evans Digital interactive games, or video games as they are more commonly called, have the substantial potential to involve players in the act of story creation. Though not all video games contain a narrative with which the player can interact, many do. These games, known as digital interactive narrative games, purposefully embed a narrative structure and allow a player to interact with narrative elements to produce a unique story product. Thus, while not all games should be considered narrative media, this text deals with those that can. To begin, this text addresses the counterproductive argument that suggest videogames are not a narrative form of media. Instead, this text posits that, if we acknowledge that digital games have narrative potential and that many game developers want to incorporate narratives into games, we can proceed with inquiries about how digital games support story creation. While some Game Studies scholars argue that the inclusion of a narrative limits a player’s agency, this text suggests that such arguments misrepresent how narrative structures lead to the creation of stories and how those narrative structures support numerous type of player agency. As such, this text examines narrative theory and its structures to show how those structures map vii to digital interactive narrative games. Next, this text engages with social agency theory to consider new ways of understanding the states and types of agency players possess in digital interactive narrative games. Based on these analyses, a set of evaluative criteria is generated to aid in the assessment of narrative and agency in digital interactive narrative games. These criteria are tested and applied in a series of three case studies of four digital interactive narrative games: Mass Effect 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Kentucky Route Zero, and The Banner Saga. Two primary conclusions are drawn in this text. The first is that players of digital interactive narrative games act as agents who perform as the narrator agent and the character agent found in traditional, non-procedural, narrative mediums. The second is that agency is not static in games, nor is agency of a single type. Rather, there are different types of agency a player can possess and maintain, and these occur at different times and to different degrees. The level of agency a player maintains will always be in flux; as the player interacts with the game, its rules, and its procedures, the player also interacts, mediates, and negotiates agency within the world the game creates. Similarly, the types of agency the player may experience are numerous. Given the focus of this text, two kinds of agency are directly considered: narrative agency and ludic agency. By neither oversimplifying the understanding of narrative nor of agency, this text establishes new ways and methods for understanding and analyzing digital interactive narrative games and the ways in which these games are and can be designed to contain a well-formed narrative while also establishing ways for the player to intervene and participate in the creation of a story. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...……………………………………………………………………..V ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………….VII LIST OF TABLES ...…………………………………………………………………………….XI INTRODUTION ...………………………………………………………………………………..1 PART ONE: THEORIES OF NARRATIVE AND AGENCY FOR DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE GAMES CHAPTER 1: METHODOLOGY FOR CHAPTERS 2 AND 3 ………………………………... 9 CHAPTER 2: AGENTS IN SPACE AND TIME: FUNDAMENTALS OF NARRATIVE DESIGN …………………………………………………………………………………………15 CHAPTER 3: PROCEDURALLY CONSTITUTED AND SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED AGENCY: AGENCY THEORY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE GAMES …………………….66 PART TWO: THE ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE AND AGENCY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE GAMES AUTHOR’S NOTE CONCERNING CHAPTERS 5-7 ………………………………………..100 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY FOR CHAPTERS 5-9 …………………………………….102 CHAPTER 5: CREATING COLLABORATIVE CRITERIA FOR THE ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE AND AGENCY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE ………………112 CHAPTER 6: ASSESSING MASS EFFECT 2 AND THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM USING COLLABORATIVE CRITERIA FOR NARRATIVE AND AGENCY IN DIGITAL INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE ………………………………………………………………..131 CHAPTER 7: KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: OR, HOW NOT TO GET LOST IN THE BRANCHING NARRATIVE SYSTEM ………………………………………………………175 CHAPTER 8: THE COLLABORATIVE CRITERIA CHRONICLES: AN ANALYSIS OF AGENCY AND NARRATIVE IN THE BANNER SAGA …………………………………….189 CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS …………………………………………………...219 ix CHAPTER 10: FINAL THOUGHTS AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS ………………...238 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………...248 BIGRAPHICAL SKETCH …………………………………………………………………….262 CURRICULUM VITAE x LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Summary of Criteria ......................................................................................................135 Table 2. Analysis of Drama Management Criteria ......................................................................142 Table 3. Analysis of Narrative Experience Criteria .....................................................................150 Table 4. Analysis of Ludic Agency Criteria ................................................................................157 Table 5. Analysis of Narrative Agency Criteria ..........................................................................165 Table 6. Analysis of Character Development Criteria .................................................................170 Table 7. Amended Summary of Criteria ......................................................................................192 Table 8. Analysis of Drama Management in The Banner Saga ..................................................197 Table 9. Analysis of Narrative Experience in The Banner Saga .................................................203