Here we are again, explaining what I did and didn't like about ECGC. Lets mix it up and start with what I didn't like. I was extremely disappointed with the Narrative Design track this year. On the second day, they only had 1 talk in which you could even attend, which was literally just going to be someone complaining about how being a Narrative Designer is difficult, which literally every other interaction with a Narrative Designer explains. Really, there is no need to make an entire talk about it. However, I did get to go to a talk that I feel really should've been in the Narrative Track, an Indie talk about empathy in games. It was interesting take on story telling in games, putting the feeling back into characters, making them human again, and making this an expectation from the industry as well. I got to speak with Renee Nejo, the person who gave the talk, and she had some interesting personal insight. I asked her about the morality of the gaming industry essentially making a profit purely off of emotional response rather then necessarily game play, in sue of her using the game "That Dragon, Cancer", a game about a cancer patient that would be more akin to something of an experience rather then a game. She responded, in short, by saying the people who make these kinds of games really aren't looking for money, and are rather looking to share their thoughts and emotions with the world abroad, and if the world abroad wishes to give them money for their efforts, then they would gladly take it. Her primary example of this was her own games, which are paid for through donations, rather then actually applying a fee to the game itself. This has really helped me further my own plans of working in this field. I feel that, I should take monetary risks to join teams like hers, ones based more on spreading a message and making an emotional game then making a profit. Or, at the very least, while working on monetary focused games, I should have projects going on the side that do tell the stories I want to tell. Because, really, at the end of the day, this isn't about the money. This isn't about making a perfect game that will get me famous and that everyone will love. This is about telling a story. Telling the stories I want to tell. Developing and creating stories I will want to tell. That'll be a lot of fun. Ain't going to make me a lot of money, but I'll make ends meet. As long as I get to tell my stories I think I'll be happy.
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So, for the last 2 days the game design classes have visited the East Coast Gaming Conference, or ECGC. And, it's good to be back over there, it's a really fun conference. Unfortunately this year we couldn't stay as long as we did last year, so we went to a lot less talks, and the second day was sorely lacking any talks in the Narrative track, which are the ones I personally enjoy going to. But, it gave me an opportunity to branch out a bit, and I noticed a pattern with the kinds of people who were giving talks in different pathways. I don't know if this was just a coincidence, but it seems that all the programmers who talk are really dry and straight forward with their topics, having one thing on mind and just talking about it for an hour, while the people in the Indie track seem to be, well, amateurs when it comes to public speaking. I went to three Indie talks in a row, and the first one hadn't even set up yet and we only got going half way through the session, and he still managed to end 15 minutes early, and he even admitted that he was an amateur and actually had social anxiety. The second basically just kinda looked down and read a script, and while the third was a lot better, actually ending up to be my favorite talk out of all the ones I saw, it was still obvious that she wasn't exactly a master of public speaking. Maybe those were just coincidences, but I think it gives an insight to the kind of people I'm going to be working with in each of the fields, which in turn really pushes me to follow the Narrative path, because I really like the speakers. Its a really tight knit community, I saw some of the same speakers and audience members as last year, and everyone has interesting topics and well put together topics.
As an individual interested in the career opportunities provided by the Game Design field, the most useful information I received this year was the ECGC trip, and the mountains of information imparted to me from several professionals in the field. It really helped me see exactly what is needed in this field and what I need to do to thrive in it. The most difficult information for me to understand was game history, simply from the dull presentation of it. I understand that its important information, but come on, it was a minor miracle that half the class didn't fall asleep during that presentation. Personally what I would change about the curriculum would be more focus on having kids decide what field of Game Design they want to go into. Let them explore it a bit more, and let them delve into the specifics of the field they choose a bit more.
A topic that stood out to me was the talk Narrative Designer or Game Writer? Yes. given by Evan Skolnick. This talk was interesting to me because it really went into depth as to exactly what it means to be a Narrative Designer and a Game Writer, at the very least in his eyes. From these opinions as to the differences between the two fields, I was able to gain a lot of information about writing for video games in general. The main struggle I saw in writing for games was communication. The majority of the other people on the board are focused around creating the game play for a game, and sometimes completely forget about the story entirely. This can cause major problems for those trying to create a plot for the game, as game play mechanics, level design, and audio tracks must all coincide with the plot, else it does not fit. So, as defined by Evan, a Narrative Designer's job is to communicate with the board, being an insider that speaks for the plot in board meetings and makes sure changes are made to incorporate it, while the Game Writer is doing the majority of the creative thinking and story telling. On smaller teams it is seen that these two jobs merge together, while on larger teams it is usually structured to have a team of writers, and one or two Narrative Designers getting changes made and getting their voice out there, as well as communicating with the Game Writers on what needs to be done on their part. This talk interested me because this is literally what I want to do for the rest of my life. No questions about it, I want to create fictional worlds with infinite depth that players will immerse themselves in and truly be invested in. Of course, the road to being able to do that is going to be tough, as many of the professionals that I spoke to have told me, but seeing how far you can get, and generally what the Game Writer and Narrative Designer community is like, as I basically spent a day in a half in the same room surrounded by the same professionals, some of which never actually went up and spoke but were there for the information as much as I was, it gave me a sense of a dedicated community that I want to be a part of. In fact, that is precisely why I loved this conference so much. Besides the colleges, which while I understand why they were there and how helpful they were being by being there, I didn't really care about them too much, the people there were extremely dedicated to their craft. People were not there just to sell their games, they were there to share this cool new thing that they made, and tell you all about how they made it, why they made it, and how you can make it too. I just absolutely loved the community feeling, especially as I said before the Narrative Track's community and I can't wait to go back next year.
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AuthorI am 17 years old, and currently enrolled in Durham School of the Arts. Within the Game Design field, I'm looking to become a game writer or a programmer, preferably a combination of the two.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public School Archives
June 2018
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