Why Death Matters

Home , Experience point, Lisbeth Klastrup

Why Death Matters:

Player Experience in Online Worlds

Lisbeth Klastrup slides at: www.klastrup.dk

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The talk • what is an online world? • how to analyse online worlds • death, death, Death and Death • how to analyse Death • ”death” and the gamesystem • a catalogue of death... • player experiences with death • the function of death • death and worldness

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Framework

2003 ph.d. thesis: Towards a Poetics of Virtual Worlds: Multi-User Textuality and the Emergence of Story • ”reading about” =>”participating in” • ”text” => system producing multiple texts • game => gameworld • not just player vs world (PvE) =>both player to player and player vs world

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup What is an online world?

An online world is a persistent online representation, which enables synchroneous communication between users and between users and the world, within the framework of a space designed as a navigable universe.

The spatiality of the online world cannot be perceived in its totality.

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The online world compared to a single- player or online fps game • networked • character info saved on central server • persistent • character changes individually over time • world changes over time • many players (+64) • gameelement is only an (influential) part of the experience of being in the world

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup A poetics of online worlds

• Poetics = rules and ”laws” of a general nature • What creates the experience of a specific worlds ”worldness” /literariness • A vocabulary of interaction forms, agents, performative and communicative possibilities

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup ”Worldness” the combination of a specific fictional frame, gamesystem & design, the possibilities for communication and interaction, the player’s ”lived story” in the world, and the social interaction in and about the world...... creates a player’s experience of the particular worldness of an online (game)world

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup ”texts about” Ù worldness

...a world is defined not only by what is inside but about all the ”paratexts”, which surround it, incl. the stories players tell about the world

EverQuest: 19,2 million hits World of Warcraft: 60,7 million hits worldwide

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup To analyse a world..

• the world as ”tool”, software

• aesthetics & univers (generel fortolkningsramme) • structure & sociality (gamesystem, identity design, agents, forms of interaction) • Phases of experience (”lived life”)

Shameless commercial!: Klastrup: "EverQuest som en ny tids fiktion - kommunikation og interaktion i en online verden" i Digitale Verdener - de nye mediers æstetik og design, Gyldendal 2004

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The world as interpretative frame

• genre (”sci-fi”, fantasy etc) • backstory • ”geography”, physics • visual style • music

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Eve Online

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup EVE Online – the worlds largest game universe! Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The Death (Stories) Project

• Exploring how a particular feature impacts the experience of worldness

• The interplay between cultural context, world design, game mechanics and players’ experiences with their characters

• Partly comparative studies: general traits?

• What kind(s) of death do players tell stories about?

• Guidelines for improved world & story-generating design?

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The particular appeal of death

[the] power of death to either galvanize or corrode social systems and to either stimulate or neutralize the social participation of their members … (Kearl: Endings: A Sociology of Death and Dying, p. 9) the way a given culture/society talks about and handles death a defining characteristic of that culture and its social system

gamesystem Ù community Ù culture

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Worlds I’m looking at

• EverQuest • World of Warcraft • Lineage II • Dark Age of Camelot • Ultima Online • City of Heroes • Star Wars Galaxies • Eve Online • Anarchy Online

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup ”Texts” I’m looking at

• faqs • player forums, guild websites, player-produced material (machinima etc) • gamesystem & game functions • what players say “in game”, interviews • the death-stories survey • literature on the sociology of death • + first-hand experience...

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup death, death, Death & Death

• death as function & in-game mechanics » as result of malfunction (bug, dead server etc) » death in battle/duel (killed by system,NPC or other players) » as voluntarily chosen player strategy » NPC death (NPC killed by player) » (involuntary) suicide • death of character as (social) event in the life of a player & hir character(s) = the experience of one particular death

• Death as symbolic event • Death of a player • Death of a world

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Death as malfunction

The worst thing about any online RPG is that you tend to die for really dumb reasons, i.e. you suffer a power outage, you lag a lot, you get dropped from the server because a mouse is loose in the Globalcenter router again, etc. Death sucks..[..]

Player at http://mu.ranter.net/asheron/betacombat1.html, 2001

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Game design: designers vs players?

Designers wish for balance: • overcomable obstacles & possibility of progression vs exitement knowing there is punishment for doing ”wrong” • enforce & encourage character care

Players wish for easy play??: • ”bad” deaths as design flaws • penalty ok, but only if reasonably balanced

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Death & game balance

As with other games, avatar death must be accompanied by a disincentive of some kind, or players won’t care if they die. The trick is to find a disincentive that is appropriately proportional to the likelihood of their dying – to put it in simpler terms, it’s a balance problem.

(Rollings & Adams Game Architecture and Design,, pp. 525)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Death death penalty

• a contested area • necessary gameplay function? • must provide challenge, but must not disencourage player • generally bound to space & performance • displacement and ”stat” punishment • death = resurrection (”permadeath” a rarity)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Death & game balance II

…some of the more primitive and tedious aspects of the real world that players don’t want to experience act, unfortunately, to set up some of the more advanced and ejoyable aspects that they do want to experience.

(Bartle, Designing Virtual Worlds, p. 386)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Too much death = too little money

Because game play must appeal to both longtime gamers and newcomers, makers of games like EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies and the coming Middle-Earth Online (based on "The Lord of the Rings"), have chosen softer death penalties to avoid scaring off less experienced players

(New York Times, March 2004)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup WoW’s death penalty argument

Q: This death penalty isn't harsh enough One of the fundamental philosophies we have had throughout the development of World of Warcraft is to avoid overly frustrating elements used in other MMORPGs and make the game FUN. Of course, we realize that one cannot take this philosophy too far, since we also want players to respect the world, which is why things like falling damage, death penalties, and other elements exist. If players do not feel like they are overcoming obstacles, then the game does not feel rewarding enough.

World of Warcraft FAQ

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The Newbie Fix From http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/faq/

What happens when your character dies? • Death systems in online RPG games are often maligned, criticized, scorned, and outright hated. However, they fulfill a critical aspect of games that is almost always overlooked by the player: having something bad happen when your character dies imparts a sense of tension and excitement. There is simply no excitement in adventuring through a world where loss of life is meaningless - a game with no or little penalty for death will soon be fully explored, and become boring.

• In Camelot, we will balance the good of excitement and tension with the bad of having a death penalty. There is no death penalty for characters under 6th level.

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Gamesystem & structure

”You are dead!” (a preliminary catalogue of the staging of death)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup A (preliminary) catalogue of death

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Eve Online

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup EverQuest

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup City of Heroes

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup World of Warcraft

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup World of Warcraft

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Dark Age of Camelot

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Ultima Online

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Star Wars Galaxies

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Anarchy Online

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Result: death ”anatomised”

• The Death Event itself (+ sound!) • ”Displacement” (or other death penalty) • Corpse run (re-fitting) • Diff. between high & low-level death • Visual marker of death visible to oneself and other players • Resurrection possible by other players or ”gadgets” • Long-term (high-lvl) effects: Experience point loss, ressurection sickness, group jail etc

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Cultural & symbolic function of death

• Liminal phase (return to life, not death!, city-wilderness) • Visual symbols of death (death remediated) • ”Hero” death as known from literature • Shared experience

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Liminal phase

Van Gennep: Rites of passage: from seperation to incorporation – a transition, ”in between places”

Whoever passes from one to the other finds himself physically and magically-religously in a special situation for a certain length of time: he wavers between two worlds.

(Van Gennep, Rites of Passage, p. 18)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup ”Between two worlds”

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Visual symbols of death

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup WoW, anden spillers lig Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup WoW, Dalaran gallows Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Skeletons, undead, zombies...

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup A Christian Death Version?

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Shared experience => formation of community ”Respawn” ”Death penalty” ”Death loop” ”Corpserun” ”Consent/drag” ”Rez”, ”Rez sickness” ”XP loss” ”XP debt”

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The two faces of death

• Trivialisation • Glorious battlestories

I asked: Is death trivial or non-trivial? Trivial : 15 Non-trivial: 8 Depends on the situation: 10 Hmmm. Well, I think it depends on the personality of the player, but generally I believe it bothers players a lot more than they let on. Therefore it is a non-trivial event. (S15, female player, 46-50, US)

..haven't player M59 for a while, but I liked hte way it handled death. Much better than EQ anyway. Or Underlight, where you are reduced to a kind of ghost and have be re-corporealized, or anything at all besides forcing me to sit there for several minutes holding the arrow key down to cover the same ground, just to finally end up sneaking into a battlefield and colecting my dropped possessions. WIth a good chance fo getting killed again and needign to do it all over.

To me, that ain't fun. Maybe I am strange. But it feels like work.

[B, Smith at Terra Nova, October 13th, 2003. Verbatim quote]

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup “ The more men die, agreed Graham, “the easier it becomes to die. Death becomes cheaper and cheaper. It becomes a matter of the everyday.”

Cannadine, D. (1981): “War and Death: Grief and Mourning in Modern Britain”, quoting a soldier’s war writings (S. Graham, A Private in Guards (London, 1919)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup “Death in DAoC, like in any other MMORPG, occurs often. For some it isn't as often, but for others, it can occur more often than times you breathe while alive.”

player at http://www.wclegacy.com/sectionentry.php?contentid=49

“I'm writing because I am certain that this is a typical 'death experience' in World of Warcraft - 99.999% of deaths are utterly unremarkable. This death story is therefore typical. The other death stories you receive will most likely be atypcial. Do not attempt to generalize from these 'death stories' to create any sort of academic paper. They're edge-case nonsense that doesn't reflect the simple fact that there's no story here - for the typical player, it's just a game and character death is a non-event. ”

(S38, male, US, 26-30 age group)

Has anybody here seen my corpse?

So there it is. Death. Exciting, thrilling, funny, and heroic. - conclusion to story about dragon fight in SWG. (S4, male player, 31-35, UK)

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup World of Warcraft: after a PvP battle, Alliance-Horde Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup A Romantic Notion of Death

To die young, clean, ardent; to die swiftly, in perfect health; to die saving others from death, or worse – disgrace – to die scaling heights; to die and carry with you into fuller, ampler life beyond, untainted hopes and aspirations, unembittered memories, all the freshness and gladness of May – is not that cause for joy rather than sorrow”

Cannadine, D. (1981): “War and Death: Grief and Mourning in Modern Britain”, quoting from H.A. Vachell’s The Hill (1937), hero Henry Desmond dying while fighting for his country

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup What creates a hero? Klapp: “..in a mobile society where status is insecure, identities are uncertain, and people do not know each other well ..[social typing] provides us with a convenient precis of the one with whom we wish to deal”

(Klapp: Heroes, Villains, Fools, p.4)

The function of heroes: to demonstrate exemplary behaviour and show us how to do things better...

• Winners • Splendid performers • Heroes of social acceptability • Independent spirits • Group servants (Klapp: Heroes, Villains, Fools. 1962)

“And it was pretty bad... when i swam up the tunnel, to our location after the GM got rid of faydedar, I gasped. The guides said it was worse than anything they've seen, but I had no idea how bad it was. Benik and DArion's bodies were EVERYWHERE. Itlains' was EVERYWHERE. I followed the corpses, darion's corpse was next to benik's every corpse, several near the water, more on land, more on the ramp-- their bodies were in pairs. I imagined maybe darion following benik trying to escape .... it broke my heart... and i see one more corpse far away... a single one of darion on the bridge far up leading to the huts. When I surveyed the melee deaths, I saw there were only a handful of melees. Like maybe 5 or 6? Anyway, I'll go back. I'll go back every time one of you needs him. And we'll be a LOT more prepared.“ (story found on public guild site) Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Social engagement

Be prepared to die. YES DIE! Often times, as much as half a raid can be killed when attempting a difficult monster. This is part of the process of obtaining things for everyone. One day, those same people will die against some mob to help you. Raids are not about gaining, or even keeping experience. They are about seeing new places, getting nice items, and most importantly, having fun. It is not uncommon to die a few times on plane raids. Whining about it will get you nowhere.

[Thousand Suns Raid Bible, http://www.naturesong.com/Tsuns/bible.html ]

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Survey: Player Story I Now to the story.[…] Everytime I died I would repeat "Doesnt matter guys, keep it up. Me dying is only costing you xp because well kill slower. Now lets dance!". Oh, by the way, I was the ONLY one dying, becuase I was highest level, and drew an exorberant amount of aggro to me.

Kinda says it all about my death stories. As long as we reach our goal I dont care if Im killed. Or how many times Im killed. If we dont reach our objective, when everyone was clearly set up to succeed, well then that is my MOST annoying death. Everytime. Male, high-lvl, 28 years

My Life for the Horde

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Are we dealing with Death by dying online? Aries (1974) Stages: ”tamed death”, ”la mort de soi”, ”thy Death”, ”forbidden death”

Mellor (1993) Death is generally present in our culture, but absent as something we talk about in our close community. Death is something we must deal with and make meaning of alone.

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup The function of death & Death • ”death” plays an important part in creating gamebalance • death is generally implemented in much the same way across worlds (why?) • ”death” is part of the daily grind which players share...death also gives you the opportunity to become a hero and give something to the group • visual symbols of death as we know it from culture remind us that ”death” exists as a possibility and is part of life in the world • ”dying” in online worlds is not about ”getting used to” real Death –but the way death in certain situation function in online worlds might be seen as a ”re- socialisation” of death

Södertörn högskola 17.maj © Lisbeth Klastrup Death and worldness • Designers explanation/justification of death important indicators of their general thoughts on the worlds game mechanics and the players imagined experience of this • A particular ”implementation” of death is shared by players, a feeling of world community potentially rising from sharing the ”grind” of dying • death helps create and shape relations between players (especially in the strong social groups to which they might belong) • ”heroic deaths” generate good stories – but player stories are also about bugs and trivial death • death not only a ”gamesystem” featur, but an integrated part of the culture of a world; by way of the visual symbolic of it and through the way it shapes a given player culture • ”likenesses” in death penalty across worlds might indicate that designers draw on existing conventions on how to die in online worlds, liminal phase part of this (inspired by the rendering of death in popular movies?)

Contact info: [email protected] Slides at: www.klastrup.dk