Interview planning for "Living Epic" online course

[Roger Travis]

The only mystery is which of the several wonderful possibilities for an interview will be the one this time around!

This is the place to put the questions you'd like to ask a bard.

Update: Very cool news to share! On 2/26 (updated, postponed from 2/24) I'll be talking to Chris Pierson and Meghan Rodberg of the Turbine Inc. The Lord of the Rings Online team! Chris is the Loremaster of the game, and Meghan is the senior community manager. Feel free to pose specific questions about MMO's and about the transition from literature to game!

[Andrea]

My questions for Mod. 2 on Aristeia.

1. How is aristeia (excellence, greatness, virtue, etc.) is defined within the world of your game(s)?
How is it influenced directly by game developers? The story and characters of the game? Game mechanics and scoring systems? Society as a whole? Players themselves, and player communities?

2. How do you balance a player's ability to stand out from other players in the community through her/his own aristeia (as in skill) and her/his character's ability to stand out from others in the game (like NPCs) as a hero through its aristeia?
In other words, how do you make sure I as a new/bad player can't just log in to my boyfriend's account and pwn with his level 80, while still maintaining the awesomeness of being level 80?

3. How do you handle conflicts between aristeia (as in "skilled greatness") and aristeia (as in "moral greatness")?
There is bound to be conflict, especially in fighting games, and in a society that often views video games as corrosive to morals and ethics. Do you try to explore the conflict, minimize it, just ignore it, or something else?

[Samantha Lee]

1. How do you think the expression of values and morals in video games affect the player? Do you think it does? How far do you take your responsibility in the expression of "good" morals?

2. How do you make "level grinding" more interesting? How involved is the animation with "level grinding"?

3. How do you decide what actions are important enough to be "level ground"? That is, why is building a fire a skill that can be ground in RS, but not running?

4. Can you derive joy from reciting the battle scenes? Are the battle scenes a way for you to be more lax in your song singing?

5. How often do you do the battle scenes? What cues does the audience need to give in order to indulge in the battle scenes?

[Robert La Perla]

To the Lord of the Rings Online Staff!!

1.) As game designers is it difficult to make a balance within the length of the Leveling process? As in a length that does not discourage people versus it being too quick which in turn might discourage other players.

2.) In all MMO's that I have played there are generally some quests that stand out from other ones, what is the importance of making some quests boring such as just killing bears for their pelts rather than a quest which is directly influenced by the Lore of the world.

3.) In reference to my question above, in your opinion would it possibly take away from the game experience if all of the quest lines were large and had to do with the Lore directly, and the "smaller picture" quests which do not affect the world at large (i.e. where the goal is to find a family heirloom for some NPC in a forest or something similar) were taken out

[Clinton Lester]

Module 2 Questions:

1. When creating a game event, how you decided on the build up to the ending? Is there sometime of general formula you use or is it more just what feels works best?
2. Does a good game make the player feel heroic at the end? If so, what is it that you look for when creating the game that makes a heroic feeling possible and what is it the player looks for?
3. Should the end result of a story be heroism or is that just a tool within the story?

[Tom Fino]

Aristeia Gaming Questions:

1. Would you agree that the concept of aristeia, leveling up a character to attain some greater acheivement, is one of the most attractive attributes of an mmorpg? That the feeling of acheivement or pride a player feels in his in-game character is what essentially keeps players online, to achieve the next level, and if you feel that this is one of the most attractive characteristics when designing a game how do you ensure that players will continue to be satisfied? Essentially, if you feel that this is important, how do you decide what a character gets for leveling up, for example the distribution of attribute points or ability to wield new weapons or cast new spells?

2. How do you feel about the relationship between the aristeia of an online character, the grinding build up to achievements in excellence, and the notoriety that the character receives for those acheivements, which I want to refer to as kleos? How important do you think it is to players for them to have other gamers be able to view their level or afford high level characters the ability to showcase their power?

Question for Bard:

3. Can aristeia only relate to battle scenes or would you consider a quandary and consequent intellectual triumph an aristeia?

[Megan Wenker]

Some games include the ability to "grind" your way to being a more moral character, by doing certain tasks within the game. You can build up moral aspects of your character, just like battle skill level. How important do you think it is for this to be included in a game, and how do you think it effects the player's experience or concept of the game?

To a bard: What is the relationship between kleos and aristeia? How do they contribute to each other? Is there some kind of progression within the epic, or are they both developed together throughout? In other words, does aristeia lead to kleos, or is it much more complex than that?

To a bard: If your audience is antsy, can you cut out all the battle scenes and build up to the boss fight by having the other characters reference the badassness of the hero, or do you need the repetitive killing in there for the boss fight to be appreciated?

[Glenn Furst]

1) (question for a bard) Is singing of a warrior's aristeia also an aristeia of sorts for the bard? A moment of excellence that defines itself from the rest of the story where you can show off your skills and reveal your excellence as an epic storyteller? Is the audience the most involved at this point as anticipation and expectations for the hero begin to realize?

2)(posed to game-developer) Can a player achive the status or level of a great player without being great simply through going through the motions of level grinding ad nauseam?

3)(game-developer) How large a role do ethics play in game and story design? Do you worry about setting a good example for younger players? Is it more enjoyable to create a hero with or without charachter flaws?

[Alex Meeske]

Module 2 Questions
1. (For a bard) There is a large discrepancy between cultures concerning what can be deemed "heroic." One culture may consider prowess in battle a great virtue, while another may value modesty. To what extent does the perception of your portrayal of heroic acts change from audience to audience, and do you change your song accordingly?

2. (For a GD) Will games that reward players who "grind" endlessly with better armor, weaponry, and spells ever get old? That is, is there anything on the horizon regarding a new way to reward dedicated players? Something more interactive, perhaps?

3. (For a GD) Usually boss fights entail finding a weak point to attack, or simply barraging the enemy with all you've got. Many bosses evolve into tougher forms once you've "aggravated" them. What are the key components of a good boss, and why do many games stick to these traditional boss paradigms?

[randyjsu]

Module 2:

How would an audience listening to a heroic epic being sung respond to the gruesome slaying in today's time? Are there different degrees of the killings in epics that can be sung without losing their essential purpose?

Game developer:
Do you think video games have the possibility of reaching all kinds of people in terms of identifying with characters and scenarios?

In your opinion, does leveling up and making a character indomitable take away from the challenges of the game? Should there be a limit to how much or high a character can level up before advancing?

[Karen Zook]

Questions for Module 2:

1) What do you see as the necessary elements of being a "good" player in your game?

2) Do you have means of enforcing the practice of your answer to the above -- that is, do you have a way of forcing players to conform to a particular plot that requires them to learn the lessons you believe will result in being a good participant in your game's world, both skill- and morality-wise?

3) How do you perceive the difference between video games and other media with regard to the morality of the subjects involved? That is, in books or movies the creator presents the audience with subject matter that that audience is then able to pass judgment on (for example, as a reader I can appreciate The Sound and the Fury for its art while condemning some of its subject matter); video games, by contrast, require the player to be an active participant in the events of the game, and so negates the objectivity of that separation. How does that effect the material you choose to present in your games?

[Yvonne Waters]

Module 2 questions:

For a game developer:
1) When designing the 'boss mob'/epic fight how do you determine the level of difficulty... to make it very challenging for most but not impossible to all? Do you feel pressure to make these sorts of fights easier so that they're more accessible to a larger number of the gaming population?

2) When developing quest chains that lead up to a 'boss mob' climax, is the focus more on supporting a storyline that would make the boss fight most rewarding, or on creating quests that can satisfactorily stand alone?

For a bard:
3) When performing the same songs for the same audience over and over, do you make subtle changes to your performance for their benefit, or for yours (to alleviate boredom, etc)?

[Adam Zajac]

Module 2 questions:

Do you think players enjoy intense boss fights more or do you think they enjoy less boss fights but more varied quests and enemies to fight throughout the game?

A good bard can tell the same story multiple times but add enough creativity to each performance to make each one unique.What kinds of things do you add to games to give them replay value? What kinds of things do you think your audience is looking for in replaying the game again?

How important of a role do you think morality can play in video games? Stories such as the Iliad seem to at one point have served to demonstrate how a soldier should act during battle and what they should inspire to be (a great hero such as Achilles or Odysseus). In what ways do you think video games could serve a similar purpose?