Essential Elements of Narrative and Agency in Digital Interactive Narrative Games

277 Pages·2017·1.07 MB·English

by  Joyce, Lindsey

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