gdc 2014 competitive storytelling
DESCRIPTION
Why would you want to develop narrative in a multiplayer competitive game? In this talk, Christina Norman will show how establishing characters, setting and world can increase player engagement and enjoyment in PvP games. Drawing on examples from League of Legends and other multiplayer competitive games, she will describe effective techniques for communicating narrative without disrupting gameplay. She will also share insights gained from narrative development in League of Legends. Takeaway Attendees will gain an understanding of how narrative development can improve player enjoyment in PvP games. Techniques for developing narrative will be discussed that are effective in PvP, co-op and single-player games. Intended Audience This talk is directed at narrative designers and all game developers with an interest in player experience. While all examples are drawn from PvP games, the techniques discussed and insights shared are relevant to both co-op and single-player game development.TRANSCRIPT
COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER
PRESENTED BY CHRISTINA NORMAN Twitter: @truffle League of Legends: kitae Link to full slides at end of presentation
STORYTELLING
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ON THE INTERNETS
INTRODUCTION
WHO AM I? ‣ Game Designer & Writer @ Riot Games ‣ Previously Game Designer & Programmer @ BioWare ‣ Worked on League of Legends & Mass Effect 1, 2, 3
AGENDA
WHY HOW NEXT WHY
TLDR; Familiar techniques, it’s all about how you use them
STORY INSPIRES PLAYERS
AND HELPS THEM IMMERSE
SETTING
CHARACTER
NARRATIVE
“It’s what she’d want. And you know it.”
CHARACTER
SETTING
NARRATIVE
STORY ALIGNS DEVELOPERS
SO WE CAN CREATE AN AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE
COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER GAMES
HAVE STORIES TOO
SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN
IS A POWERFUL TECHNIQUE
MULTIPLAYER ONLY GAMES
ARE BECOMING MORE COMMON
THEIR STORIES
ARE HARDER TO TELL
TRANSMEDIA
CAN WORK – BUT ISN’T PART OF PLAY
VIDEOS COMICS BOOKS
WHAT IF STORY COULD BE PART OF COMPETITIVE PLAY?
COMMON CONCERNS ‣ Story disrupts gameplay
‣ Players don’t want or care about stories
IT CAN - LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW
It doesn’t have to
They will if you tell the right stories
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS COMPETITIVE GAMEPLAY
<<< LCS VIDEO GOES HERE >>>
Imagine awesome #LCS gameplay or just watch the #LCS. It’s awesome.
www.lolesports.com
AGENDA
WHY HOW NEXT
1. NEVER IRRITATING
2. NO PAUSING OR DELAYS
3. NO DISTRACTIONS
4. NO CONFLICTING GOALS
GROUND RULES
FOR COMPETITIVE STORYTELLING
MULTIPLAYER FIRST
DISTRACTIONS CAN KILL
SUPPORT TEAMPLAY
PLAYERS OPT IN
4 TECHNIQUES
• Ambient NPC Voice-over
• PC Voice-over
• Story Objectives
• Story Events
TECHNIQUE: AMBIENT NPC VOICE-OVER
“Can the reapers be stopped, Shepard?”
GOOD FOR ‣ Tone ‣ SeOng ‣ Character ‣ NarraQve
OVERVIEW
TECHNIQUE: AMBIENT NPC VOICE-OVER
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Tone mismatch
‣ Relevance to gameplay
‣ DistracQons can kill
CHALLENGES
CASE STUDY: LOL SHOPKEEPER
GOALS ‣ Establish world ‣ Establish champions ‣ Lighten tone
EXAMPLE
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS HAS 118 PLAYABLE CHARACTERS EACH HAS RELATIONSHIPS AND BACKSTORY
CASE STUDY: LOL SHOPKEEPER
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Tone mismatch ‣ Relevance to gameplay
‣ DistracQons can kill
KEY TAKEAWAY
“Priceless! Now, hand over the gold.”
APPROACH
Suppor8ve humorous tone
Speaks in response to player shopping ac8vi8es, crea8ng ceremony
Non-‐combat area
Create characters that work with exis8ng gameplay and pacing
CASE STUDY: LOL SHOPKEEPER
“You look just like your sister… wait… I’m not supposed to talk about that.”
RESULTS
ONE LINE Tons of engagement
4 TECHNIQUES
• Ambient NPC Voice-over
• PC Voice-over
• Story Objectives
• Story Events
PC VOICE-OVER
“I’ve got to keep moving.”
GOOD FOR ‣ Confirming player acQon ‣ DirecQng player ‣ SeOng ‣ Main Character
OVERVIEW
PC VOICE-OVER
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Tone mismatch ‣ Relevance to gameplay ‣ DistracQons can kill
CHALLENGES
Iden8cal to NPC voice-‐over
CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE EXAMPLE
CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE
“Oh, sweet Jesus, look at all these guns!”
SCRIPTED
APPROACH
CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE
“Can somebody help me? Damsel in distress over here.”
GAMEPLAY ALERT
APPROACH
CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE
“Oh shit! Look at ya. Let me help you up.
GAMEPLAY CEREMONY
APPROACH
CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Tone mismatch ‣ Relevance to gameplay ‣ DistracQons can kill
KEY TAKEAWAY
APPROACH
Wrote to gameplay tone
Characters and players have the same goals
Lines draw aEen8on to relevant gameplay
Observe gameplay, write lines in character to highlight relevant informa8on
CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE
RESULTS ‣ Players learn about characters
naturally through play ‣ Players develop character
preferences despite no gameplay impact
RESULTS
4 TECHNIQUES
• Ambient NPC Voice-over
• PC Voice-over
• Narrative Objectives
• Story Events
TECHNIQUE: NARRATIVE OBJECTIVE OVERVIEW
GOOD FOR ‣ MoQvaQng players ‣ SeOng up gameplay ‣ Moving the story forward
Lol! Another EZ delivery
quest…
NEW QUEST! ‣ Take the ring to Mt. Doom
TECHNIQUE: NARRATIVE OBJECTIVE
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Goals can feel repeQQve
‣ Team goals can feel impersonal
‣ Individual goals can disrupt teamplay
CHALLENGES
CASE STUDY: THE HUNT IS ON
GOALS ‣ Experience narraQve
resoluQon through gameplay ‣ PosiQve experience for both
teams
EXAMPLE
CHARACTER MOTIVATION EXPRESSED IN GAME
HUNT TO GET TROPHIES
APPROACH
HUNT TO EVOLVE
INTERSECTING BACKSTORY APPROACH
FIGHT WITHOUT A CLEAR VICTOR
NARRATIVE RESOLUTION
KILL QUEST TRIGGERED LATE GAME
APPROACH
The Hunt Is On! Kha’zix must kill Rengar first to become the ulQmate predator (assists count). “I have grown and adapted since I took his eye. Now I will have feast on him.” – Kha’zix
The Hunt Is On! Rengar must kill Kha’zix to become the ulQmate hunter (assists count). “He is my greatest prize. The one beast who escaped me. I must have his head.” -‐ Rengar
THEMATIC REWARD
FULL EVOLUTION
APPROACH
ULTIMATE TROPHY
CASE STUDY: THE HUNT IS ON
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Goals can feel repeQQve ‣ Team goals can feel impersonal ‣ Individual goals can disrupt teamplay
KEY TAKEAWAYS
APPROACH
Rare (probably too rare)
Specific to Kha’zix and Rengar
Trigger during team fight phase of game
Rewards must impact gameplay Theme increases value of gameplay rewards
FEW PLAYERS WILL EXPERIENCE THIS RESULTS
BUT SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASES REACH
4 TECHNIQUES
• Ambient NPC Voice-over
• PC Voice-over
• Story Objectives
• Story Events
TECHNIQUE: STORY EVENT
GOOD FOR ‣ Player parQcipaQon in narraQve progress
OVERVIEW
TECHNIQUE: STORY EVENT
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Goal changes can disrupt compeQQve play
‣ Not all team members may want to parQcipate
CHALLENGES
GOALS ‣ Establish Freljord region ‣ High player parQcipaQon ‣ Increase understanding of facQonal affiliaQon ‣ Measure results
CHOOSE YOUR TRIBE EXAMPLE
TRANSMEDIA APPROACH
PROSE AND ILLUSTRATION
TRANSMEDIA APPROACH
WEBSITE
TRANSMEDIA APPROACH
NARRATIVE VIDEO
EARN ONE ICON BY WINNING TEN GAMES
CHALLENGE ALIGNED WITH FRELJORD THEMES
PROVISIONAL ICON PERMANENT ICON
EVENT THEMATIC ALIGNMENT ‣ Players pick tribes ‣ MulQple victories required ‣ Failure is possible
FRELJORD THEMES ‣ Champions picking tribes ‣ War spans many bafles ‣ Harsh, brutal, environment
APPROACH
CASE STUDY: CHOOSE YOUR TRIBE
MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣ Goal changes can disrupt compeQQve play ‣ Not all team members may want to parQcipate
KEY TAKEAWAY
APPROACH
Layer meta-‐progression on exis8ng goals
Par8cipa8on is op8onal and gameplay is unchanged
Preserved compe88ve play but event didn’t feel truly in-‐game. Opportunity to improve through in-‐game ceremony.
PLAYER PARTICIPATION
HIGH LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION
PARTICIPATION METRIC ‣ Measured all players who
won ten games during the event
RESULTS
PLAYER COMPREHENSION
COMPREHENSION INCREASED AND WAS RETAINED
COMPREHENSION METRIC ‣ Survey of random players to measure knowledge of champion facQonal affiliaQon ‣ Measured before event, ager event, and six months ager even ‣ Comprehension increased and was retained
RESULTS
AGENDA
WHY HOW NEXT
1. NEVER IRRITATING
2. NO PAUSING
3. NO DISTRACTIONS
4. NO CONFLICTING GOALS
WE’VE TALKED ABOUT GROUND RULES
FOR COMPETITIVE STORYTELLING
MULTIPLAYER FIRST
DISTRACTIONS KILL
SUPPORT TEAMPLAY
PLAYERS OPT IN
WE’VE EXPLORED TECHNIQUES
AMBIENT VOICE-OVER PLAYER VOICE-OVER
STORY OBJECTIVES STORY EVENTS AND BEST PRACTICES
NEXT STEPS ARE A CHALLENGE
TELL STORIES IN GAME
YOU KNOW PLAYERS WILL LOVE
“MY FAVORITE CHARACTER HAS A SISTER? I HAVE TO PLAY HER!”
LET PLAYERS PROGRESS NARRATIVE
THROUGH GAMEPLAY
“I KILLED RENGAR AND GOT MY 4th EVOLUTION POINT!”
LET PLAYERS EXPRESS THEMSELVES
THROUGH STORY
“I’VE ALWAYS HAD A SOFT SPOT FOR VILLAINS. FROSTGUARD ALL THE WAY.”
BRING NEW TECHNIQUES
???
???
??? ??? ???
TO COMPETITIVE PLAY
WHAT STORIES WILL YOUR GAMEPLAY INSPIRE?
COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER
PRESENTED BY CHRISTINA NORMAN Twitter: @truffle League of Legends: kitae
STORYTELLING
hfp://www.riotgames.com/careers Help us tell stories:
Full Slides: hfp://bit.ly/CompeQQveStorytelling