Worldbuilding - Governing Systems

It's election season, and so I thought it might be nice to forget about government and turn to world building...oh...wait.

Well, like it or not, some system of governance is a vital part of any world, and with some luck, it can even be fun. You've seen it play out in many stories. The dystopian government that needs to be defied, the evil Empire (or New Order), the tribal council, the council of mages, the corrupt governor, the evil king, the kind king being manipulated....the list goes on. But the society of your story includes many more dynamics than simply the government. It is the rules of society in which your character must move and act. Who has the power, is your character on the side of the power or do they oppose the current system? Is part of their journey learning how terrible the seemingly good system is? Are they going to struggle with their feelings about the world and conclude that the current system is actually a net positive?

Is your character a kid at school, and the system of government the other kids? Is your character on a interstellar ship subject to the rules of an AI? Here are some questions you might want to ask when designing the governing system of your world.

1. Who is in power, and how are they chosen? (e.g. assigned, elected, last-person-standing, prettiest toenails)
2. How does the government/society provide for the needs of its members? (In a schoolyard story, the needs of the members may mean acceptance. In an epic fantasy, it may mean the entire economy with levels of production and commerce.)
3. How much agency does your character (and the general populace) have over their own life? (Can they choose any path in life, or are they cast in a certain role? Are they "Chosen" and therefore bound to a certain path, or are they free to become what they want? How does someone choose what job they will have in life?
4. What is the social stratification? Are there wealthy and poor classes? Are there inherited roles? How easy is it to cross or intermingle between strata? How strong are class bonds?
5. What role does religion play in your society? Religion has been a large part of all earth societies. Do your characters have religion at all? If so, what do they believe, what are they allowed to believe?

Another way to look at government is to note who cares about who? In order to make things simple, you can look at these two divisions. The individual and the tribe. When I say tribe, I mean the people that an individual cares about beyond themselves.

How does your character provide for their own needs in their society? How do they interact with their tribe? Does the society incentivise working with others like in many oriental cultures, or are people supposed to stand on their own two feet like in the USA? How far does their tribe extend? Is it their immediate family or housemates? Is it extended family? Is it their group of friends or co-workers? Who is their tribe, and how far would your character go to help them?

How does the overall government treat the tribes? Does it encourage family units? Does it encourage extended family units? Does it discourage or outlaw ties to blood relations?

In the USA, this year is a big deal for government. Maybe you feel like you don't have any control over what is happening. Maybe you feel like you do have a say. Either way, when you are creating a world and a story, you have complete control....what kind of government system is that?

LTUE 2016 Panel - Education In Culture

This is one of the panels that I probably feel most comfortable with as far as the subject matter goes. It’s also more interesting to me than some of the others. But I’ll be moderating rather than participating on this one. So if for some reason you want to hear more of my thoughts on this subject, you’ll have to search me out and talk to me outside of the panel.

Seed Questions

Q - What kinds of education are there, besides the modern school system—e.g., apprenticeships?
A - When talking about education systems, there are two primary types. Formal, and informal. Formal education is when the teacher(s) and student(s) both understand the relationship. It’s usually structured in a way that the student knows that they should be learning and the teacher knows they should be teaching. Apprenticeships fall into this category, as does the modern school system.

Informal education occurs outside of a structured environment. It’s not necessarily designed, and the lessons are not necessarily planned. It could take place at the spur of the moment when a parent shows their child how to clean a window, or when a child teaches their friend how to fold paper footballs.

Self directed education is when there is no teacher. The school of hard knocks is another term for this. This could be formalized, and even used as part of a formal education.

On wikipedia’s page about education I also found Indigenous Education. I think that’s just our way of saying that other, older education from cultures that have been overtaken or displaced should be included. From what I can tell, it’s less about the system and more about the content. Though using older methods is certainly a way to educate children about their heritage and culture.

Breaking down formal education, you could probably look at scale. One teacher to one student. One teacher to many students. One student to many teachers. Or many students to many teachers.

Then we look at how the students interact with each other. Do we have various age and skill levels together like in the Little House On The Prairie days, or do we separate students by skill or age? Do we have teachers with many students at lower levels with teacher pairing off as the students become more advanced?

Then we have the question of specialization. Do the teachers need to teach specific skills, or do they teach a group of skills. In the USA, we teach broad skills and then focus our students into specific fields. What if your society didn’t rely on specialization as much and you just needed to learn “how to live”.

Learning methods are varied and a system could be designed around all of them.

As for a list of educational systems, I have none, but I can come up with one.

• Work based learning is essentially apprenticeship.
• Familial systems where learning is passed directly from parents to children.
• Tribe based learning, where there is not as much specialization and a child can learn from any and all adults.
• Classroom based learning where the students go and sit and learn away from their ultimate career field (though there could be some practical experience involved).
• Uploaded Learning a la the matrix. This could also be done magically with spirit visions or the like.
• Competitive learning - not just competitive like one student wants to be better than the others. This is a system where the students are pitted directly against each other with a stiff penalty for those who perform poorly. These penalties could include death, ostracism, relegation to a lower class, etc.
• Computer Learning - systems where the student is expected to learn on their own via computer guided programs.
• Maze Learning - Students are put into a maze or other puzzle environment and expected to learn their way out.
• Direct Replacement Learning - Where a master directly trains their replacement. This is not necessarily the apprenticeship system, though there are similarities.
• Forced Amnesiatic Learning - Putting students into a system where they know little or nothing of the outside experience in order to let them learn various lessons experientially and understand the consequences of actions that they wouldn’t otherwise take.
• Tutors - individuals that come into the home to formally educate the student.
• The Boy Scout System - Students are given a list of objectives and told, “You don’t need to achieve these, but you’ll be better if you do and you’ll be the best if you achieve this highest objective.”

Q - What are the advantages and disadvantages are there?
A - There are advantages and disadvantages to every system. If there were no advantages, then a system would never have developed. Formal systems tend to have the advantage that they can teach a larger number of students, but they often sacrifice flexibility since they are often designed to reach more students. Informal systems can give great insight and really connect the learner to the subject matter, but they are often limited by when the teacher and student are together, the teacher’s expertise, and the lack of a formal assessment.

But let’s look at a specific example - Apprenticeship:

Advantages - Apprentices are trained by masters in their specific field. This means that they will get to know their vocation very well. Apprentices are also often trained by carrying out the basic necessary duties of a master (e.g. an apprentice blacksmith would make nails and help maintain furnace temperatures). By carrying out these duties, the apprentice would gain a far deeper understanding than if they had simply been told or read about the procedures. A master trains his or her successor, this allows for long term planning. Apprentices usually work closely with a single master in small groups, and over many years. This means that the teacher(master) will be well acquainted with the needs and learning style of their student (apprentice).

Disadvantages - Cost. A huge disadvantage of apprentices is that they are not an asset, they are a liability. An apprentice comes to their master with little or no training. The master often provides room and board, which costs money. In today’s society, the duties that an apprentice performs (like making nails) is much cheaper when performed by a machine or factory. The master has to take time to teach and train their apprentice, which means that the master isn’t able to focus on their own job %100 of the time. And the apprentice makes mistakes. Lots of mistakes. Even the best apprentice will make mistakes that often cost the master money or time correcting. And finally, the master is only able to take on a limited number of apprentices meaning that less workers come into the field via the apprenticeship method.

Q -How do those systems affect culture?

A - This question is huge. Compensation for teachers is important. Both social and monetary. The system of education will govern compensation. Better compensation will attract more teachers. More teachers can lead to a larger pool of understanding, pedagogy, and curriculum designs. In theory, this knowledge will enhance the learning experience for more students. More students learning means that the basic level of understanding increases. Increased basic understanding leads to more people being educated and literate. More literate students means a better transfer of knowledge. A better transfer of knowledge means that skills are more easily obtained. Easier skill learning means that a society will have students changing from one career field to another more often. Options for a better career often means a higher chance for a better lifestyle for more people. Better lifestyles for more people means higher expectations. Etc. etc. etc.

Thoughts:

Since I’m moderating this panel, my thoughts here will be a list of questions that I’d like to ask the panelists if there is an opening in the discussion.

• How are teachers treated by society and what effect does that have on education and culture?
• How are students treated by society, and to what effect?
• Is graduation a rite of passage, or is it a rare honor bestowed on only a few who care to pursue it?
•  Are teachers seen as wise leaders or babysitters?
• What kind of person needs to learn how to teach? A skilled laborer training an apprentice, or someone who is dedicated to teaching and doesn’t practice the skill themselves?
• Every method of education comes from the culture it is found in, and affects that culture. Larger societies will probably find ways to educate larger groups in a way that best serves their society. We have a culture that needed to produce workers that would sit in offices 8 hours a day, so we created schools that trained our students to do just that. What does your culture want from it’s average citizen?
• Are there different classes or levels of people? If so, how would that affect education? Are there different education systems for each class?
• Formal education of some sort is probably going to be found in every culture. What kind of society fosters formal education? What kind of society fosters informal education?

Do you have some questions you’d like to ask? Come to the panel, or leave a comment here. I’ll check for comments up until a bit before the panel at 1:00 on Friday.

LTUE 2016 Panel - Indie Game Development

Seed Questions

Q - Please introduce yourself and some of the games that you have designed.
A - My name is Derrick Duncan. The first game I designed is called Tiles, though I have sold it under the name “Dragon Tiles” or “The Dragon’s Tiles”. It’s a game I designed as a world building tool. It’s the game that people play in story. There is an expansion to it that’s a bit more in depth and modern. I also designed a game called Zombie Siege, and I’m currently working on a game called Hedge Wizard and then Renown. These are all games with a fantastic element, made for people who play games. I’ve also got a game called Family Spotlight which is a customizable trivia game that you can make about your family, work group, etc. Last year I found a business partner, Richard Hart, and created the business Royale Family Games. I’m the lead designer, and we’re mostly focused on games that strengthen family by helping you get to know each other. All of my older games are under review so that we can revise and re-release them, or not, depending on the needs of the business.

Q - How are indie game development and traditional development different?
A - I don’t know much about the Traditional Game development process, but I imagine that the actual development of the games is pretty much the same. Make a game that you think has value to an audience. Look at what you think will be fun or engaging, and iterate on the basic premise. Though I think there will be a few differences. The designing itself is probably not that different. Some of the differences come in marketing, funding, scope, audience, and iteration. I’ll touch on that below the Q&A section.

Q - What is the process that you use to develop games?
A - From start to finish, here you go. First thing I do is jot a note down about the game idea that I have. Usually it starts with a mechanic, but sometimes theme. Then I let it sit. If I keep making notes for the next few days, then I know that it’s something with enough staying power to keep me interested in more development. Then I start to identify some of the obstacles I see. For example, if I’m making a game about dragons, dragons have been done a lot. How do I keep it interesting? If I’m making a game for children, how do I make the game simple enough that they can play without their parents but so that the game is still interesting? I want to make a card game that has an RPG style combat system that uses basic attacks, blocks, and movement. There are a number of obstacles that come with that game.

In my notes by this point, I usually have some basic gameplay mechanics. I decide on the idea, and then I work out a method. For example, in my game Renown, I wanted to give the players a feeling that the world was changing and growing around them. In other words, I wanted them to be playing in a world that reacted to their actions, but was not directly under their control. That’s the idea. Then I got to work on a method. I created a “council” system that let various settlements grow and change without player input. Then I worked out a system that let the player influence, but not outright control, that growth. I write these down as Idea:Method. For the method I am talking about mechanics and game components. Am I going to want cards, dice, etc. Important game elements.

Now I sketch out the rules as well as I can. I follow a system I pieced together from alanemrich.com and as many other places as I could find. Tasty Minstrel games also had some good resources, although their website is under construction, so I don’t know what you’ll find. Anyway, I try to make up some rules, so I can start playing. I try to keep to the basics, but it doesn’t always work.

By this point, I usually put together a prototype. I’ve drawn pictures, I’ve made cards out of  3x5 index cards. Whatever is needed for me to actually see how my idea is working. I get the most basic prototype together. I need to see if the game is actually fun.  I should note that I don’t usually consider how the game will do in the market at this point. I’m creating something, not selling it. That’s probably something that you should consider, but I don’t.

After I get feedback from my first playthrough (often with my very patient wife), I look at what works and what doesn’t. I look at all the extra stuff that I thought was cool, but is really unrealistic. I trim my game down to the basics again. I cut the fat.

Then I test again. I use the same prototype, I just revise the rules. Then I do it over and over again. I play with the same prototype until I feel like it doesn’t fit the game anymore. Then I revise the prototype and test again.

At this point, I get frustrated. I thought my game was done, but it’s not. Now, for the first time, I have a partner who will be running tests and giving me feedback which I will address. I’ve never had that before. It will be nice.

The revision process takes place as I test the game at different levels. I play it myself. I tell others how to play it. I get others to play it with just the rules and I don’t even watch, just get feedback. All of these are useful at every stage.

Q - To get them to market?

A - To get a game to the market, I’ve only sold games face to face. I’ve done the Farmers Market a few times. I went to Dragon’s Keep and talked to some players there. Though I sold the game through Dragon’s Keep and let them take their cut because they were kind enough to let me harass their customers. Mostly I’m in the testing phase. I want to get a feel for how people will react to the game.

I’m working on the marketing end with my business partner now, but art is important. You may not be able to judge how good a game is by looking at it, but the better looking your game is, the more likely it will attract some attention. My goal with my current prototype is to keep the art from distracting the player from the game. We’ll hire an artist to take the art to the next level and draw players in.

Thoughts:

Some of the differences between indie and traditional development come in marketing, funding, scope, audience, and iteration.

Indie marketing is based on finding a market. You’re looking for your audience and trying to get people to notice you. Traditional development, I imagine, focuses a bit more on tapping into known markets. It gives Indie developers a bit more flexibility, but traditional developers more stability. If Fantasy Flight Games put out a game, they’d have certain people who would buy it no matter what. If an indie developer put out a game, the only person who would buy it no matter what is the developer’s parents. Both indie and traditional developers have to work to market their games, but they use different tactics. “Hey, look at me,” as opposed to, “Hey, here’s my new thing.”

Traditional game design probably uses a more defined iteration process as well. A bigger team for testing and refinement, more testers, etc.

Funding is probably different as well. A traditional, or established indie developer has money from a previous project to put into marketing. They can afford to put in a bit more money up front, whereas a new indie developer will need to tap into investors, crowdfunding (which is another type of investor), or other source of tapping directly into the customers.

Scope in traditional development is also probably a big difference. As an indie designer, I can afford to target a smaller group. I don’t have a large company to support. As a traditional developer, I’ve got to find the idea that will appeal to the broadest audience possible. Either way, designing a game just to make money is probably a bad idea. Traditional developers have more money to put into their game, but they have more to lose if they fail. Indie designers don’t have a lot to lose, but they can’t tap into the same resources (artists, testers, prototypes, economy of scale, etc.)

I’m sure there’s more to say on this subject. If you’re going to be at LTUE, be sure to come to the panel and ask us some questions.

LTUE 2016 Panel - Tropes in Games

Hey all! I'll be on a few panels at LTUE 2016. I'm always excited to have a chance to share my ideas and hear what the professionals have to say. As I prepare for these panels, I'm trying to gather my own thoughts so I'll be putting up a few blog posts that talk about some of my current thoughts on the issue. Here's my thoughts on the first panel I'll be on.

Tropes in Games

Seed Questions

Q - Is there such thing as an original story in a medium known for the heavy use of certain tropes?

A - In standard deck of playing cards, there are 52 cards. The number of combinations of those 52 cards is 52! (the ! means factorial). That’s 8.06 x 10^67 or 80658175170943878571660636856403766975289505440883277824000000000000 combinations. (thanks to vsauce and this other site for that info). There are 26,000 tropes entries on TV tropes.org. Combining those, we get 26,000! The “!” in that sentence stands for both factorial and amazement. There are functionally an infinite combination of ideas/tropes. You can make any idea interesting by combining it with another idea that it’s not always combined with. You can also use it well by presenting it well. Romeo and Juliet is wonderful and heart wrenching when I watch or read it now, just as it was when I first saw it. Perhaps even more-so. It’s all in the presentation. As for original stories, yes. I think there is such a thing as an original story. But you have to either study every single trope out there or stumble upon something that no one else has ever done. It’s probably not as hard as you think if you are just aware as you go into your story. A better way to approach the question is to ask, will your audience (whether that’s you and your friends, or a larger fan base) be troped out on a certain trope?

Q - Can often used storylines still be useful/compelling?

A - See above.

Q - Tell us about some of your favorite tropes.

A - Some of my favorite tropes in gaming are - The hero’s journey, The evil empire (I actually like the reverse of this which is the evil rebellion), and the Smart/Sensitive bruiser.

Thoughts

• First thought: What are tropes?
• In the sense we see it used with games, tropes are themes, events, ideas, etc. that are used over and over in a medium. Another name, is a convention, though not exactly a cliche. The popular website, TV Tropes.org has a great definition. “Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations.”
• What aren’t tropes?
• Tropes aren’t cliches. Tropes aren’t formulas for success or failure. Tropes are not rules.
• What are tropes again?
• Ok. So tropes (as used in game and storytelling) are shorthand tools that let the writer tell the audience something without telling them the whole thing. In other mediums we use them as well. Ever draw an little “m” in the sky to indicate a bird? Tropes (I prefer the word convention) are a method of symbolic communication. When you see a little “m” in a picture you don’t think…”Huh, that’s weird. I wonder why there are a bunch of “m”s hanging out up there.” You think. “Oh, birds.” You know they’re not actually birds. You know the artist didn’t get out their magnifying glass out and paint every last detail of the bird in with a single hair brush. You just accept that they are birds and move on with the picture.
• So, tropes are symbols. If you’ve ever heard of the phrase “Cultural Literacy”, then you’ll see why they are useful in culture.
• Why do tropes exist/where do they come from?
• Tropes are formed when someone gets an idea across so well that it sticks in our collective consciousness. Here’s one at random, the Red Filter of Doom. Someone once thought, “Hey, I want to indicate that this scene is super intense and maybe a bit dangerous. Maybe I should give everything a red tint.” It worked well enough that someone else thought of it when they wanted to create a similar feel. Now when someone wants to invoke a similar feeling, the Red Filter of Doom is a tool they can use.
• What’s the difference between a trope and a cliche?
• A cliche has become trite or commonplace through overuse. Dictionary.com
• Calling something a trope or a cliche is often a function of personal exposure. If you’ve seen something done so much that it doesn’t elicit the intended emotional response, then it’s cliche to you. When enough of society has the same “blah” reaction to it, then it’s a cliche. Critics, reviewers, agents, or fans and students of a certain medium will probably think something is cliche long before those of us who have limited exposure.
• Different types of tropes:
• It is important to note that there are game mechanic tropes in games, art tropes, story tropes, and probably more. I’m assuming that the panel for LTUE is more focused on story tropes.
• What are some common tropes?
• Game mechanics:
• The Cooperative board game.
• Roll to move/Race to the finish (like candyland, monopoly, Jumanji, Zathura, etc.) - This game mechanic is pretty much used for kids games because it’s almost purely random. It’s also super easy to make a game like this. It’s a simple mechanic so most successful games that use it also include other mechanics (Chutes and ladders, etc.)
• Resource gathering
• Worker Placement
• Story:
• Meet in the Tavern.
• The evil advisor trying to take over the kingdom.
• Overturned wagon
• vengeful child
• Bad guy who hates the world because the world treated them poorly as a child/adult/scorned lover/etc.
• Anything in the Hero’s journey (old sage, young man leaving home, etc.)
• Anything from a fairy tale, especially one that’s Disney has made a movie out of.
• Art
• Epic fantasy style
• 8-bit style
• small body with a big head
• star wars
• What’s an example of a trope turned cliche that might still work for some people?
• I really like cover based shooters. I was around way back in 2006 when Gears of War came out. I thought it was a novel game mechanic. I loved it in 2007 when Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was released. Some people are tired of that mechanic. I still like it, but I don’t play a lot of shooters. I might get tired of it if I spent more time playing video games. The alternative is games that allow you to just stand or crouch behind something that blocks line of sight and puts an obstacle in the enemy’s path/line of fire. A cover based mechanic allows the designer to say, “When in this position, the player will take no damage or damage is reduced by X amount.” Plus it allows some cool “TAKE COVER” animations.
• Why are tropes useful?
• This guy said it well - Giving your audience tools that they are familiar with let them understand the game/story/message more quickly. Tropes let you tell a particular type of story without laying all the boring ground work. If you think of it, establishing an intellectual property is a process of creating tropes in your audience’s mind and then using them to tell a story. Tropes are shorthand exposition. If you watch star wars, no one has to tell you what the force is. If you watch star trek, no one has to explain teleporters or warp drive to you. They’re part of our culture. Now look at the characters. In the first episode of Star Trek TNG we are introduced to Data. He’s an android that wants to be human. In a later episode he starts to dream and we learn about his creator’s goals for him. Later still, he finds an emotion chip that allows him to experience emotions. When we finally see Data in Star Trek Generations, we don’t have to explain all the back story. The audience understands that emotions are new for him and fans will already have a rich understanding of who he is, so when he whistles and sings about “life-forms” during a scan, we can enjoy the moment in a way that we never could have in episode 1 of TNG.
• Using tropes to establish a base understanding of your world, a character, a plot event, etc. Is a great way to use tropes. Then, since your audience understands the basics you can move on to more enticing details that set your story, character, setting, etc. apart.
• When can tropes fail?
• Tropes can fail if your audience doesn’t know them well enough and you’re relying on the trope to fill in certain gaps in their knowledge.
• Tropes can fail if they are overused. There’s a sweet spot.
• Tropes can fail if they reinforce social messages or go against  social themes that you don’t want reinforced or go against. One of my professors often said that a story either reinforces the status quo or breaks it.