In the Gainesville Sun insert section, Scene, an article in the January 24, 2008 edition by Laurie Taylor describes a new MMPOG, The Endless Forest. According to her description, players take on the avatar of a deer and set off “frolicking in a magical wonderland.” Taylor also states that the game “has no rules and no required goals”. This may be in part due to being a social screensaver application. There are also cultural institutions like art museums supporting the project.
Still, I’m left wondering, do games need to have goals to be successful? I realize the term successful is rather subjective, but for argument sake, let’s discuss in terms of longevity in the gaming world. I am making the assumption that a direct correlation exists between longevity and the number of subscribers. Currently, there are just over 23,000 named deer in The Endless Forest according the games website, http://www.tale-of-tales.com/TheEndlessForest/.
The skeptic in me wonders why bother with the game if I’m not working towards an end? My involvement in MMPOG is limited to say the least but I’ve enjoyed console based games where you did have clear objectives if you wanted to win or be successful. Are there other games without goals and do players enjoy them enough to have longevity?
I also wonder how The Endless Forest will evolve if there are no rules. Will players eventually create both rules and goals even if they are not explicitly set at the outset of the game? How long will it be before someone arrives in the “harmonious” VE set in “magical landscapes” with a hunting rifle and takes down some of deer? The Tale of Tales FAQ suggests that in the future, the game will add more content that is “simply pretty or poetic”.
The game appears insistent on all avatars being gender neutral and experience the world as just deer. Not a male deer. Not a female deer. There is an explanation in the FAQ, but of course, all of the gender-free deer have antlers that are typical of a stag.
On another note, the article also mentions the Independent Games Festival coming up in San Francisco. Check it out at http://www.igf.com.
On regards to the question of whether a game needs to have goals to be successful, as you well say the word is very subjective. You can listen to a piece of music for years on end, in fact your entire life and always derive pleasure from it. Now, that piece of music might be a "bestseller" or an obscure melody that your grandfather hummed. There are "games" that are like that. Take for example Myst. I know of course that the game, if you decide to go that route, has goals and even an "end" . However I like to think of it as simply an environment, that because of the richness and the non-threatening aspect of it allows you to wander around aimlessly just to experience it. The same is true of art in general. The substrate or "scaffolding" upon which a work of art is constructed requires years of study and expertise to comprehend or analyze. But you don't really need all that to derive immense pleasure from simple observation, even if you don't have a clue as to what it is all about.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess the end in those cases is something that you not even know you have reached, in fact you might never reach it, and that is perhaps the magic of it.
You do bring very good points about the particular "game" that you mention (like the "genderless stags?)lol
I recommend everyone check out the following site:
http://www.ashesandsnow.org/es/index.php
The main page is in spanish (it is a mexican artist project). CHoose the left option which is flash enabled ">experiencia mejorada"
Perhaps it answers the question without uttering a word.