Thanks for the welcomes.
Quara-Xuan, thanks for getting me updated. I followed you on Twitter, because of your interactions with Mr. Administrator there. It wasn't clear to me at the time what Demosthenes was: a fictional character, a real character, a real player, a fictional player, a GM proxy, or what. The interaction I have in mind is already linked to from Mr. Administrator's section on the Character page:
https://twitter.com/YouHaveFailedUs/sta ... 7078853632That character page cites the tweet as an example of No Social Skills on "their" part, but there are additional levels of significance in that interaction. When I noticed it, I saw a more active narrative playing out than many of the more puzzle-like and script-driven interactions I'd seen in the past. There was a power struggle of sorts, a questioning of the authority's strategy.
As such, I saw an opportunity to jump into the storyline, by answering Mr. Administrator's direct question."@DemosthenesWall WHAT TERMS DO THEY BETTER RELATE TO?"
This implies that there might be *better* methods of relating, however rhetorical Mr. Administrator meant to be while asking the question. If there are *better* terms, there are *worse* ones, which might make them, "A BAD IDEA." Who's to judge?
Well, Robert McKee's analysis of persuasion leads to one right answer: persuade with story, not with threats! The threats, after all, are already part of the story, and AverageJoe is dealing with quite enough terror as it is, so much so that it's hard for me to watch some of his videos.
So, I answered Mr. Administrator's question with this video from McKee:
https://twitter.com/screenstorming/stat ... 4806026241And I referenced McKee's key point: "coercion backfires, b/c ppl... eventually see through the ruse and see they've been mishandled."
Who the Hell is Robert McKee, and what does he have to do with this story -- I mean, this game? Well, a character based on McKee was featured in Charlie Kaufman's film, Adaptation.
Here's the iconic scene, in my mind, anyway:
"Adaptation." (2002) -- Screenplay Seminar Scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHVqxD8PNq8The description on that video sums it up well:
[ This scene from 2002's "Adaptation." very well incorporates all clichés of the writing (or any creative) process: the urgent desire to express oneself, the inconfidence appearing when evaluating one's own work, and the apparently self-confident and emotionally strong "outside world": ]
The creative process involved in being a writer who is in turn writing one's self into a story is a key theme in Adaptation:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/F ... Adaptation"All this plays against the raging existential crisis running incessantly through Charlie's mind. The theme of "adaptation" gains a triple meaning throughout the film, referring not only to Charlie's attempt to adapt Orleans' novel, but also to the evolutionary marvel of orchids, and also to Charlie's own attempt to evolve, to "learn how to live in the world"."
But Adaptation came out a decade ago, and dramatic methods have now evolved into the vast potential of alternate reality games, which put storywriting privileges into the hands of players. And after all, "all the world is a stage, and the men and women merely players," right? I wonder if Shakespeare could have imagined his players co-creating alternate reality games!
And so, the cracks in the wall...
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 12:50 am
HOW DID YOU KNOW???