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Running Head: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIDEO GAME USER AND CHARACTER
BY
CURTIS T. SUTTERFIELD
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THEREQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
MASTERS OF ARTSIN THE TELECOMMUNICATION DEPARTMENTS
DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROGRAM
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
DR. JAMES W. CHESEBRO, ADVISOR
MAY 2006
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
VIDEO GAME USER AND CHARACTER
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
MASTERS OF ARTS
IN THE TELECOMMUNICATION DEPARTMENTS
DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROGRAM
BY
CURTIS T. SUTTERFIELD
Committee Approval:
_______________________________________ ____________Committee Chairperson Date
_______________________________________ ____________Committee Member Date
_______________________________________ ____________Committee Member Date
Departmental Approval:
_______________________________________ ____________Departmental Chairperson Date
_______________________________________ ____________Dean of Graduate School Date
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BALL STATE UNIVERSITYMUNCIE, INDIANA
MAY 2006
Acknowledgements
My experiences in graduate school would not have been possible without the love and
support of my wife, Shannon. I need to thank Dr. Jim Chesebro for his support, patience, and
guidance as both the head of the digital storytelling program and as my thesis advisor. The other
members of my thesis committee, Dr. Joe Misiewicz and Dr. Laura OHara have been supportive
and challenging. Thanks also to my family and my in-laws who understood how important this
adventure was to me. I am also indebted to the telecommunications faculty, especially Dr.
Dominic Caristi.
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Abstract
This thesis identifies and explores the types of communication modes that exist in video
games. Different types of communication are identified and discussed based on Fryes audience
centered theory of modes. The inferior communication mode, the mimetic communication
mode, the leader-centered communication mode, the romantic communication mode, and the
mythical communication mode are all explained. A convenience sample of six video game
players were interviewed about video games. An analysis of their self-identification statements
revealed that players seek a high level of romantic communication when playing video games.
The romantic communication mode makes the video game world an idealized place where the
players are able to manipulate their circumstances or show more intelligence than the user in
reality. Uses of the communication modes are also explained.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction to Video Games 1 Narrative Impact... 3Thesis Statement. 5
Chapter Two: Literature Review.. 7Power and Addiction 7Uses and Gratifications 9 Narrative Analysis 10Virtual Worlds 11Ludology 11
The Emotional Impact of Video Games 12Research Questions 13
Chapter Three: Methods 14Narrative Theories as a Conceptual Perspective 14Theoretical Framework 16Ironic Communication System 17Mimetic Communication System 19Leader-Centered Communication System.. 20Romantic Communication System.. 22Mythical Communication System 23Informant Interviews 25Data Analysis 27
Chapter Four: Findings 29Ironic Communication System 30Mimetic Communication System 31Leader-Centered Communication System.. 33Romantic Communication System.. 34Mythical Communication System 36Summary.. 37
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Chapter Five: Conclusions.. 40Importance 40Methodology. 41Findings. 41Significance 42
Communication Mode Character Examples.. 44Limitations. 47Future Research. 47Final Thoughts 49
Reference List. 51
Appendixes. 55A. 55B. 56C. 59
D 110
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Chapter 1
Introduction to Video Games
The entertainment and game industries are always undergoing transformation. These
transformations are often measures of shifting senses of what is significant in society. If so,
video games are now emerging as a powerful cultural force, especially if measured as a media
industry, as well as an influence on cognitive transformation.
Hollywood has surely taken notice of this relatively upstart industry. Consumers spend
more money on video games every year than they do on going to see the latest movie at theaters.
According to an analysis of trade information in Rolling Stone magazine, every year since 2001
video game sales have surpassed box office sales in the United States (We Are What We Buy,
2005, p. 38). The same chart shows this game-centric entertainment industry annually takes in
more than $10-billion1. The image of video game players has always been of children or young
adults in arcades or around a game console hooked to the family TV but that only one segment of
the audience, according to the Entertainment Software Associations website the average age of a
video game buyer is 36 (www.theesa.com). With a wider age group and a staggering amount of
sales, it seems very important to understand what is driving all of these escalating statistics, is it
just games?
The change in the entertainment and games industry is also evident in terms of talent.
Peter Jackson, who helmed the most popular box office franchise in film history, The Lord of the
Rings series, has predicted that video games are the future of entertainment (Drumming and
Endelman 2005, p. 9), and hes not alone. Stephen Spielberg, the king of the Hollywood box
1 The movie industry still reigns supreme in entertainment, even in the home. In 2004, DVD sales earned more thandoubled video game sales.
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office, with accumulated earnings in the billions, has redirected his focus on creating original
video games (Richtel, Oct. 15 2005, p, C-4). Likewise, George Lucass Star Wars films have
spawned several video game titles in more than two decades working with the video game
industry (Kent, 2001, p. 155). These are three of the biggest names in Hollywood, if the sales
dont show the significance of video games, the involvement of these heavyweights should.
While these producers and directors may be looking to cash in on a growing market, they are
also creative geniuses who view video game experience as one where the user interacts with their
surroundings and can even change the surroundings. Like the Guttenberg presss impact on
orators and the motion picture had on the written word, these video games contain powerful tools
for people whove made billions telling stories in the visual film medium. They may even be
forecasting how storytelling is changing.
Video games are making billions of dollars and inspiring films finest directors, and they
also appear to be changing the way game users think. The interactive and explorative game
world is one that is much different than the passive mediums of print, television and the movies.
To adapt to this form of entertainment gamers, as they are known, are developing new
cognitive behaviors that allow them to successfully navigate through the virtual worlds of the
game. The early video game worlds of Pac-Man and Space Invaders required nothing more than
pattern recognition and quick reflexes; todays games require much more complex thought
patterns to achieve the desired outcome which is usually completing the story2. These games
play out stories, with gamers taking on the role of heroes (and sometimes even villains) and
completing quests. Looking back on history the first important literary works were by Homer
and they entailed heroes and quests. To complete these new quests something seems to be
2 Johnson calls these cognitive behaviors probing and telescoping.
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changing in the gamers cognitive ability, not only to understand the way the story is now being
delivered, but also how the player has to become an actor in the story.
The industry itself is also aware that the story is playing an important role in their
business. In the summer of 2005, a work entitled What Every Game Developer Needs to Know
about Story appeared on the game developer website Gamasutra (www.gamasutra.com). The
article compared video games to films, in so much as both are visual mediums and stressed some
simple storytelling constructions such as Aristotles three act story structures. Although the
author touches on the importance of story, he either is unsure why it is important other than it
makes it more like film. It seems then story is important but why its important is not in this
billion-dollar, creatively powerful, possibly cognitively expanding industrys lexicon.
Narrative Analysis
Another way to examine video games is as a communications system. Specifically, in
video games interactivity is a central feature. Liu and Shrum (2002,
p. 53) defined interactivity as the degree to which two or more communication parties can act
on each other, on the communication medium, and on the messages and the degree to which such
influences are synchronized. In a video game as opposed to other games and traditional
mediums such as film or books, the communication is computer mediated. The interactions
within a video game are many times most clearly understood as governed by the narrative form.
Berger (1997, p. 4) defined narrative as:
a story, and stories tell about things that have happened or are happening to people,
animals, aliens from other planets, insects-whatever. That is, a story contains a sequence
of events, which means narratives take place within or over, to be more precise, some kind
of period of time.
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continuing in a game. Telescoping is similar to dividing a large narrative or book into sub-
narratives or chapters.
Thesis Statement
Researching video games through the paradigm of narrative has been a controversial
issue in game studies. Neitzel (2005) argued quite clearly that video games are narrative
devices. This study complements the work of Neitzel and others and can be usefully understood
as one manifestation of how narrative can exist in human communication. Specifically it argues
that a relationship exists between the user and the on screen character known as an avatar3. The
relationship between player and avatar is enhanced by the use of narrative in video games. The
mode of analysis is preliminarily based on field research but should ultimately viewed as
heuristic. Wood defines heurism as the degree to which a theory provokes new ideas, insights,
thinking and research. A theory is judged to be heuristic if it sparks new thinking (1997, p. 61).
However, these finding require a more extensive and comprehensive research program. The
findings reported here do constitute a powerful heuristic function theoretically. The primary
source for initial data will be from a field study which has been defined as an experiment
conducted in a natural setting (Frey, et al. 1992, 7).
In the end, this thesis will argue that gamers differ in levels of emotional involvement.
Some want the video game world to be an extension of the place we already live, while other
games want that world to be a better place and for themselves to be better than the state they
currently exist in. Video games fall into genres or modes of communication and can be viewed
from an audience-centered perspective. Users experience different communication modes by
experience different games. The communication modes have a role in the gamers emotional
3 An avatar is the users on screen representation in the game world. In some games avatars are the same foreveryone such as in Pac-Man, many games now allow players to customize their avatars.
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experience. Video games are linked to other mediums such as literature and television, but what
the user seeks is different.
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Chapter 2
Previous Studies
Some may conclude that video games have been ignored by mass communication
scholars. Trying to find an introductory mass communications textbook that includes a chapter
on video games would be a daunting task but the financial impact shows video game are making
an impact on a mass audience. It is probably more accurate to say the scholarly research into this
area is far from extensive. Indeed, video games have been studied for years, albeit minimally
and one of the focuses of academics has been on the game users and what drew these subjects
into these virtual worlds. Another form of investigation for researchers and theorists was the
merits of looking at video games as a narrative device, the debate over this issue created one of
video game scholarships largest divisions. Video games have also been looked at in its ability
to illicit emotions from users; much of this is recent scholarship with some intriguing answers for
future investigations. Also discussed is the impact technology has had on the video game
worlds search for realism and what the future may hold for the game designers of tomorrow.
One of the first studies of gamers was published more than two decades ago. Turkle
(1984) described video games as a psychology of addictive power and control. For more than a
decade later, her work continued to concentrate on addiction to power and control, in one
interview she conducted, a subject described how in the video game world hes in complete
control unlike most of his life (1995, p. 67). The image her work left on readers were that video
game users were a fringe portion of society, tucked away in computer labs and arcades, seduced
by the games ability to make them something more than they were in the real world. This image
of a video game nerd still is imprinted in the collective conscience of American thought but
data shows gamers are quite active in exercising, athletics, and even volunteering
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(www.theesa.com). Turkles theory of addictive power and control may have been true in her
subjects, but as the industry has evolved so has the demand of the gamers. A fantasy is also an
area where a person has power and control and for these reasons can be addictive. Fantasy has
been defined as the creative and imaginative shared interpretation of events that fulfill a groups
psychological or rhetorical need to make sense of their experience and to anticipate their future
(Bormann & Bormann, 1988, p. 82). Video games do deal in a fantasy world, the problem is
however, the fantasy is not the players; it is the game designers fantasy. A player cant truly
control a video game, they must respond to it. The structure the player is responding to is the
games fantasy world and that is created by the narrative, this is true in all forms of the media
and the video game is rarely if ever an exception. What the gamers are becoming is a group
filled with passion for this medium of entertainment. This fantasy of the video game world a
zeal for exploration, not control.
A common way to understand the user of a medium is to analyze it through the theory of
uses and gratifications. Since the 1940s, researchers have used this method to try and
understand why a person chooses a particular medium and what types of satisfaction the medium
brings to the user (Wimmer & Dominick, 2003, p. 403). Researchers have also taken the uses
and gratifications approach to video game users. Building on the work of several other media
researchers, Lucas and Sherry (2004) developed a detailed uses and gratifications model for
video game users all of which was built on a methodology originally employed by Greenberg
(1974) for understanding television users. By employing focus groups and interviews Lucas and
Sherry (2004, p. 503) developed five principal reasons why gamers play; (1) competition-to be
the best player of the game; (2) challenge-to push oneself to beat the game or get to the next
highest level; (3) social interaction-to play as a social experience with friends; (4) diversion-to
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pass time or to alleviate boredom; (5) fantasy-to do things that you cannot do in real life such as
driving race cars or flying; and (6) arousal-to play because the game is exciting. The authors
scale was then used to reveal a discrepancy between male and female gamers.
In Sherry and Lucass uses and gratifications for video gamer players, narrative is almost
completely missing. Their second principal of challenge seems closest to understanding
narratives impact. What is a gamer trying to accomplish by reaching the next level or
completing the game? In many games this means fulfilling the narrative qualities of the game.
Is it the challenge of the game or the desire to complete the story, to find out what comes next, to
see the path the action takes them down, that the user is truly interested in? Understanding the
motive for the gamer could help establish the role of narrative as a use and gratification in a
video game.
Using narrative as tool for investigating video games has identified several major aspects
of video games. Some researchers have shown video games feature drama, and interactivity.
Others have explored video game animation as transformational and realistic. A few researchers
have also argued that narrative has little to no impact on video games and that other features are
more important to understanding the power of the medium. One of the most important features
to this research is the work done by others that shows the emotional impact video games can
have on users.
Laurel (2003, p. 564) was one of the first scholars to understand narrative could be the
base for researching and understanding video games. She incorporated Aristotles six qualitative
elements of drama into her vision of a computer based drama. Her work also focused on the
metaphor of the computer being a new area for actors to perform theater. Murray (1997) also
explored the world of an interactive narrative inHamlet on the Holodeck. Three key concepts
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are developed by Murray for a user to truly take part in an interactive narrative; (1) immersion,
the act of fully plunging once self into a foreign environment or world using the metaphor
digital swimming (p. 99), (2) agency, is the joy produced when a users action in the real world
(e.g., pressing a button) creates satisfactory action (e.g., firing a shot at the bad guy) in the
synthetic world, and (3) transformation is the act of morphing into something else. In the case of
a user/avatar relationship, transformation is a powerful tool. The transformation of an ordinary
person into the super hero like avatar is one possible reason for developing and exploring the
user/avatar relationship.
Another factor that could impair the user/avatar relationship is the almost cartoon aspect
of the character. A television show like the Simpsons orSouth Parkowes much of its ability to
push the envelope of societal constraints by its ability to look unreal or exaggerated due to its
animated state. Video games have the opposite position, due to its animated state its harder to
believe that the character is in a real place. If recent developments continue this may actually be
an unimportant separation. Wolf (2001, p. 94) points out video games have an advantage for
telling stories since they are based in a diegetic, or on-screen, world that the user is already used
to because of its similarities to television and film. Uren (2003, p. 7) in his analysis of video
game design issues points out that computer technology is making the game world more realistic.
Through the manipulation of 3-D polygons animation looks more and more realistic. In film,
this advanced animation technology is making major changes too. In The Lord of the Rings
(2001-2003) trilogy one of the most pivotal characters was a computer generated Gollum.
Movies such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) and Sin City (2005) used real
actors on entirely computer rendered sets. These two worlds, real and animated, appear to be
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coming closer and closer to each other, setting up the capability of a realistic computer generated
world with the ability to provide user interaction.
Narrative Criticism
A group of scholars known as ludologists worry that using narrative as a means for
studying video games hurts this emerging field of research. Frasca (2003, p. 221), Juul (2001)
and Eskelinen (2001) among others have taken an anti-narrative stance fearing that other
academic disciplines will take over the field with their own theories and ignoring games unique
qualities such as time relationships, rules, and simulations. Crossing disciplines however, can
actually enhance a field as Burkes use of philosophy, literature, linguistics, and sociology aided
his work with rhetoric and helped evolve the communications field (Foss, Foss & Trapp, 2002,
pp. 187-88). Neitzel (2005, p. 227) may have argued best that a scope of either narrative or
Ludology is too narrow because a computer is a hybrid medium and capable of so much more
than other mediums. Her exploration of narrative in video games points out that one of the main
separations between games and other forms of medium is the active involvement of the user.
This separation or user involvement is one of the main areas that need to be further explored by
research.
The Emotional Impact of Video Games
One way for a relationship to evolve is to add emotion to it. Some video game studies
have explored the emotional impact of video games. One study (Schneider et al., 2004, pp. 361-
75) looked at how adding a more developed narrative to a first person shooter video game
showed increases in emotional, motivational and physiological responses. Using a two by two
design experiment emotional experience was measured in two ways self-reported and skin
conductance. Another study by a private researcher (Bowen, 2005) used online surveys to
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determine what genre of video games created the most emotional impact. The 78% of the 535
users surveyed chose role playing games (RPG) as the most emotionally powerful, first person
shooters were the second highest ranked at 52%, followed closely by action 49%, and adventure
48%. This research shows that video games produce an emotional response, especially in certain
types of games. The role playing game seriesFinal Fantasy was mentioned most often by users
as being the most emotional game and that the surprise death of a character caused some users to
be depressed for weeks.
Previous studies in video games have shown that the medium is a communicative
experience and that one area of communication involved in it is specifically narrative. What sets
the narrative in video games apart from other mediums is the level of influence by the user.
Users have the ability to transform into characters that act in other worlds which are becoming
more and more realistic. Video games also produce emotion in users, and some video games
provide a more emotional experience.
What is missing from the literature is a closer look at the relationships developed between
the user and the avatar. Specifically what is needed is a way to categorize and separate the
different types of characters instead of lumping them all in one bin. This thesis explores that
framework and provides some possible answers into why a user and character relationship
develops, how it impacts the user, and how it motivates or discourages users to continue the
experience. It also provides possible areas for future researchers to explore.
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Chapter 3
Methods
While video games can be viewed as narrative, and these games fill some needs for the
users, as indicated in chapter two, the relationship between the user and the game character
remains unclear. In part, no established criteria exist for defining characters in video games and
video game players. To aid in defining different types of video game characters, naturalistic
research techniques are used to provide an overview of the gamers world and greater insight
into the user/avatar relationship. The relationship between the user and the video game character
portrayed by the user can be highly personal. Accordingly, the design of the field research is to
employ as unobtrusive a research method as possible when interviewing informants. At the
same time, interpreting the collected data from the interviews requires either an existing
theoretical framework to use or creating a new theory, for this thesis a framework for defining
fictional characters already exists. This chapter explores different means of investigating
narratives from a communications perspective, explaining why some would not work for this
thesis. More information will be provided on a relevant theory, the collection of data, and it was
interpreted.
Narrative Theories as a Conceptual Perspective
Lacey (2001, p. 6) supposes narrative is as old as humankind. Understanding narratives
can be done in many ways, and through several different theories. Bormann (1972, pp. 396-407)
developed symbolic convergence theory as a way to understand how a fantasy theme(s) develops
in group communication but it has also been used for mass communication as well (Bormann,
Cragan, & Shields, 1994, p. 272). Although an effective theoretical strategy, symbolic
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convergence theory does not intentionally look at the dynamic of character in a narrative which
would make it less useful in collecting data to support this thesis. Another narrative analysis tool
is Fishers (1984, pp. 1-22) narrative paradigm. The narrative paradigm focuses on the good
reasons for a narrative and involves both probability and fidelity. Here a critic looks for
coherence and truth in a narrative. Like symbolic convergence theory and some other narrative
theories, the narrative paradigm does not focus on character and therefore is not as useful as the
following theories in this case.
Most likely the first narrative theory comes from Aristotles (1995)Poetics and is a good
place to start when searching for an effective theory to support the thesis statement. Aristotle
defines poetry as a type of mimesis or imitation. Within poetry there are three genres epic verse,
tragedy, and comedy. Comedy involves a situation where the central character is inferior to the
audience, which is where the humor is derived. In a tragedy the central character is superior to
the audience and overcomes or succumbs to an admirable action. Epic verse is a narrative where
the central character is similar to the one in tragedy. Video games could be separated between
these three types of genres although epic verse is probably not relevant. Dividing video games
into just two categories of either comedy or tragedy most likely would not result in enough
distinguishable data to effectively address the thesis statement but this theory does address the
importance of characters.
Aristotles work also revealed another possible narrative theory to explore, genre theory
or more specifically generic criticism. Websters New World Dictionary defines a genre as a
distinct kind, or type (1990, p. 248). Generic criticism is marked by Bitzers (1968, pp 1-14)
components of a rhetorical situation; the first of which is the exigence which is what begs us to
investigate, the second part is that an audience must be capable of being influenced and be able
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Fryes concept focused on the main character or heros action rather than their morality. This is
a very important distinction for video games, especially more recent games, users are given the
ability to choose between what type of morality play they want to take part in or more simply,
whether or not they want their character to be good or bad. In a game such as the wildly popular
Grand Theft Auto video game series, the hero goes around stealing cars, beating prostitutes and
attacking police officers. In this type of game defining a video game character based on morality
could pose quite a quandary. The type of action however is much more rigid and therefore more
classifiable. If one considers the game play in a video game to be an action, then a classification
of characters by there action seems to be an even more appropriate system than Aristotles.
Fryes theoretical framework was intended for use in literature alone, his intention was to
show how over the history of the written world in the Western society, the type of character
changed over time from a character vastly superior to his audience to one that was inferior.
Chesebro (2003, p. 367-418) adapted Fryes theory as a tool for analyzing communication.
Fictional characters from prime time television were analyzed during a twenty-five year period.
The study looked at the characters from an audience centered aspect making it a communication
mode. The work on television also took into account the changes in characters presented over
time. Two key variables in differentiating characters in this scheme were: (1) The apparent
intelligence of the central character compared to the understanding of the audience and (2) the
ability of the character to control the circumstances compared to the ability of the audience. That
the classification system works when extended to another medium is a good test that it will
probably work for another (e.g. video games). Chesebros adaptation of Fryes work specifically
shifts Fryes generic modes to a theory of communication modes. At this point, it is appropriate
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to explicitly identify the five kinds of communication modes that are ultimately used to classify
the content of video game players.
Ironic Communication System
One classification of character comes when a narratives hero is inferior to the reader in
either intelligence or in their ability to control the circumstances surrounding them. If this is the
case our hero is in an (1) ironic communication mode. Acting inferior is the main key to this
concept. Everyone at one time or another has figuratively stumbled with whatever action we
were trying to do and thus were acting in an ironic mode. For a character to be considered ironic
though, they should spend most of their time in the users determination in this phase.
Throughout his essay, Frye (1957, p. 41) provides examples of literary characters that fit
the different modes. Table 1 Five Communication Modes in Different Mediums, provides a
convenient summary of these examples. One of the most recognized characters is Hester Prynne
the protagonist of Hawthornes classic The Scarlet Letter. Prynnes crime of adultery and more
to the point her subsequent
Table 1. Examples from the Five Communication Modes in Different Mediums
Communication ModeCompared to Audience
Literature Television Motion Picture
Ironic- inferior inintelligence or controlling
circumstances
Hester Prynne(The Scarlet
Letter)
Archie Bunker(All in theFamily)
Larry, More, orCurly
(The ThreeStooges)
Mimetic- same intelligenceand controllingcircumstances
Daisy Miller(Daisy Miller)
Mary Richards(The Mary Tyler
Moore Show)
Mitch(Old School)
Leader Centered superiorin degree in intelligence and
same controllingcircumstances
Othello(Othello)
Julia Sugarbaker(Designing
Women)
Erin Brockovich(Erin
Brockovich)
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For movie characters there are a long line of everyday people, comedies that do not rely
on slapstick normally have at least one character like this so that the absurdity that surrounds
them is more easily spotted. The recent movie Old Schoolfeatured a central character named
Mitch, so plain was Mitch that he didnt even have a last name in the credits. Mitch played by
Luke Wilson participated in the craziness that surrounded him during the movie but he still acted
like a normal person, the comedy came from the normal person in abnormal situations. Horror
movies also thrive on characters that are neither superior nor inferior to us. It is easier to put
ourselves in the shoes of a relatively normal camp counselor who is about to be slaughtered by
Jason in aFriday the 13
th
movie, therefore it is scarier. It the abnormal happening in a normal
setting that instigates the fear.
Leader-Centered Communication System
The character in a leader centeredcommunication mode is more typically thought of as a
hero, especially by todays modern definition of the word hero. The leader-centered character is
superior in degree in intelligence to others but only through specialized training and education.
This hero faces the same limitations our circumstances environment that the audience faces. The
hero becomes a leader by using the special training or education to encourage others to follow
them.
Othello is an example of how being leader centered does not necessarily guarantee
happiness in the fictional world. Fryes example is indeed a leader, a Moor who also is in
command of a Venetian army. It is his intelligence, through training, that allows him to lead this
army of foreigners. Othello is not able to control his circumstances however and kills his wife
believing she was unfaithful. When it is later revealed to him that she had not committed
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adultery, he ends his own life. Although most in the audience could never command an army,
anyone could be betrayed by their partner.
Chesebro finds his example of the leader centered communication mode in the 1980s
situational comedyDesigning Women. At one time or another all four of the central characters
on the show displayed the qualities of a leader. Julia Sugarbaker is identified after a review of
the comedy stated she was the matriarchal figure of the four. The designers faced the same
problems anyone on the audience might face but one would lead the others through the situation.
In this case since they were partners in the design firm it made it easier for anyone of them to
lead.
In the movieErin Brockovich, the title character uses her knowledge of law she has
learned as a secretary to help clients and her boss win a major lawsuit. Brockovich is not a
typical leader type in that she has to answer to her boss who is an attorney. It is her intelligence
that makes her the leader and gets clients and her boss to follow her into a battle against a
corporate giant. Brokovich is in circumstances the audience finds itself in, working for others,
but by using her wits does not let that stop her from leading.
Romantic Communication System
A character that is superior to others in degree and able to manipulate their circumstances
in exceptional ways is classified as existing in the romantic communication mode. While
possessing extraordinary powers, this character remains a human. The superiority of the actions
is only a degree more than what the mimetic character possesses. These characters have more
options for controlling the environment surrounding them. In many ways these are the idealized
characters, the ones who live where the grass is actually greener.
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One of the oldest English fictional characters is Fryes example of a character in the
romantic communication mode. Beowulf travels to afar away land to save the people from a
fierce Grendel monster and eventually the monsters mother. Later the people make him king
and eventually dies during a fight with a dragon. It is Beowulfs intelligence and bravery that
inspires the people to make him king. It is Beowulfs ability to battle supernatural creatures that
shows his ability to manipulate circumstances.
Jessica Fletcher of the television program Murder, She Wrote is an example of the
romantic communication mode. Fletcher uses her superior intelligence to write famous murder
mysteries and even helps solve crimes for police investigators. Her uncanny ability to solve
crime is what makes her slightly superior to her circumstances. As Chesebro points out Fletcher
is sometimes even able to explain a death constituted murder rather than a suicide or accidental
death (p. 381).
In the first movie of the Matrix trilogy, the central character Neo is proclaimed the one
by the rebel Morpheous. Neo spent his life inside the computer created world of the Matrix as a
hacker. Hacking we are believed to understand takes considerable intelligence, especially the
way Neo hacks. Morpheous explains that hes been living in a lie and takes him to the real
world outside the Matrix. After extensive training Neo is able to manipulate the Matrix world
by seeing the computer code in everything artificial. The Neo character eventually progresses
into another type of communication mode during the trilogy, but for the first film, his character is
in a romantic communication mode.
Mythical Communication System
The fifth category of action for a hero is classified in the (5) mythical communication
mode. This character is essentially a god and there are almost no limitations placed on them.
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The second phase of the research involves informant interviews utilizing open-ended
questions. An open-ended question is an interrogative sentence designed to permit unguided
responses and allows subjects to introduce any situational variables they see fit to provide when
answering the question. According to Lindlof and Taylor (2002, p. 177) there are four
characteristics for ideal informants and an ideal informant is one that has at least characteristic,
they include (1) extended experience in the culture, (2) serving the scene in a variety of roles, (3)
respected by peers, subordinates or superiors in the social network, and/or (4) they are speakers
of the language amongst the group and can clue the researcher into the languages specialized
meanings. Extended experience was the primary characteristic of those interviewed for this
study, although the heavier gamers were also able to provide some specialized terms.
The subjects were chosen after answering that they liked to play video games as part of a
convenience sample. Although this type of research is usually frowned upon for quantitative
analysis, a convenience sample can be beneficial for exploring ideas. In this case it the theory
that holds the key to understanding gamers, not how big the population of the study was.
Another potential problem with using convenience samples is that the data can not usually be
generalized, but the results found in chapter 4 may disagree with that interpretation. The
researcher created a sample of six gamers who have been playing video games for several years.
All of the participants had played the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console which was
introduced in the mid 1980s (Kent, 2001).
One of the variables for each informant was the amount of time spent playing each week.
All participants reported playing video games every week but one two informants did it for less
than two hours a week, two other informants played more than that, and the last two informants
gamed heavily, at least 30 hours per week. As one could surmise from such a discrepancy in
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clarify the spelling of a character mentioned during the interview process. The transcripts were
then coded by the researcher (see appendix B) into a corresponding communication mode and
placed in table 2 and finally synthesized. Bruyn writes the process by which one arrives at the
process of a phenomenon is synthetic, involving bringing together of disparate elements of
experience together intelligently and intuitively (1966, p. 95). The phenomenon in this case is
the five types of communication modes.
Coding the data into the five genres of communication mode entailed careful analysis of
the interview transcripts. A set of criteria or a rubric was developed by the researcher. Most of
the self-identification statements included the personal pronoun I, but not everyone. After
distinguishing the statement it was classified as being in the ironic communication mode if the
informant used key words such as inferior, simple, or expressed a sense there was nothing they
could do against the computer. Diagnosing the mimetic communication mode relied on the
informants using my or yourself, words that made the user feel as though they were in the
game. Interpreting leader-centered communication is difficult because it so similar to the
mimetic character. Key words for leader-centered communication mode include the obvious
lead and more subtle word selections such as ranting, building, strategy or similar words that
describe progression. For the romantic communication mode, informants described idealized
notions of the worlds they played in and the characters they controlled such as being able to fly
or the ability to wield magic just like Harry Potter does on film and in print. For understanding
the mythical communication mode, the researcher sought out statements as being able to crush
cars under your monster feet or being indestructible. The type of statements showed the
informant realized they were not being part of humankind.
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The gamers differing levels of time spent playing, games played, and ability to articulate
those experiences resulted in the researcher being able to catalog the informants self
identification with a communication mode. Chapter four summarizes the findings derived from
the data analysis as the interviews were so classified.
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Chapter 4
Findings
In this chapter, the data collected in this study are presented, interpreted, and assessed.
Specifically, the interviews conducted with video game players are reported in terms of Fryes
five modes of communication. As noted in chapter 3, the statements of video game players were
classified into Fryes five theoretical modes. Such a classification provides a way of
understanding the relationships video game players with the set of fictional characters that reside
within a video game, implicitly reveal how video games players conceive of themselves as they
play video games, and provide a link between video games as communication systems and
modes or genres traditionally employed to define another kind of communication system,
literature.
In this regard, the interviews with video game players in this study are provided in
Appendix B. Additionally, specific statements of video game players are classified into Fryes
five theoretical modes on Table 2 in Appendix C.
The significance and meanings of these classifications are provided in this chapter in
several ways. First, the overall numeric emphases of this classification is provided in Table 3
below, followed by an interpretation of this frequency finding. Second, the significance and
meaning of video game players statement in terms of each of Fryes five theoretical modes is
provided. Finally, a conclusion regarding these findings is provided.
Overall Numeric Emphases
Table 3 provides a numeric assessment of the frequency of video game players
statements in terms of Fryes five theoretical modes.
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Table 3. Frequency of Subjects Self-Identification with a Communication Mode
Communication Modes Number of SubjectsSelf-Identifications with a
Communication Mode
Percentage of SubjectsSelf-Identifications with a
Communication Mode
Ironic 8 6.89Mimetic 25 21.55Leader-centered 18 15.51
Romantic 48 41.37Mythic 17 14.65Total 116 99.97
Overall, the video game players interviewed for this study overwhelmingly found
romantic video game characters to be their most important source of identification. As Table 3
indicates, video game players identified with romantic video game heroes twice as often as the
mimetic heroes in video games. This romantic identification suggests that video games function
as a tremendous goad to the imagination, as a way of moving from the here-and-now to a
more idealized, if not glorified, environment. Additionally, the video game players interviewed
in this study identified with romantic video game heroes almost three times as often as they did
with leader-centered and mythical centered video game heroes. Such a comparison suggests that
for video game players, video games are more than leadership training sessions in which players
want to experience only a mere increase in their sense of intelligence and/or the ability to control
circumstances (i.e., a leader-centered domain). Likewise, the comparison suggests that video
games are understood to function within a world governed by natural laws of physics rather than
creating a world of the supernatural (i.e., the mythical domain). Finally, it should be noted that
video games are seldom played as a way to abdicate power and personal importance; video game
players identified with romantic heroes within their games almost six times more frequently than
with ironic heroes within video games.
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informant made a self-identification with a communication mode showed a far different story
(see table 3). At less than seven percent, the ironic communication mode appeared far less in the
results than any of the other communication modes.
Anyone who plays games knows they can be incredibly frustrating, especially when
starting out, and can make one feel like they are in the ironic communication mode. It appears in
the responses however, this is not a problem, as informant #2 said I guess in Warcraft I want my
character to progress and I guess my character is inferior at the time but I dont know if it is the
progression that I find enjoyable. Although the informant understood inferiority is part of the
learning process its not what draws him to the games, Its not like I pick out the character
thinking hes inferior or anything like that. Sometimes a gamer gets that feeling after theyve
played the game for a while, some think its the programmers revenge as informant #6 revealed,
I feel like the computer cheats (laughter), I swear sometimes the computer is against me. If the
games did indeed cheat to make the player feel inferior it seems that games would soon lose their
appeal. It may be a laugh to feel inferior now and then, like the key and new job examples
showed us we do sometimes in life, but a steady dose of it would probably make the user move
on to some other game just as we would move on with something else in our lives. When the
informants were asked what kind of video game character fell into this mode, not surprisingly, it
was the most difficult for them to name.
Mimetic Communication Mode
As children many of us played games like make believe, maybe we had toy soldiers or
dolls to help stimulate our imaginations. Many times the activities were a way to role play at
things we saw adults do and planned on doing some day when we grew up. Sometimes we
would make this imaginary world to be one that s better than reality, so we romanticized it.
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Other times however we just inhabited that world. In many ways, when we invited friends in to
our play, we called it house or soldier, but what we were usually doing was playing life.
Playing life could be very useful because it allowed us to learn what we liked and did not like,
what was useful and what was not useful. In the play of life we created, we did what Johnson
(2005, p. 45-55) called probing. We used the scientific method in our approach to play but what
we were really exploring was the mimetic communication mode. We mimicked real life or at
least what we thought was real life.
Some video games offer the chance to play life or experience the mimetic communication
mode. The example most of the informants thought of for the mimetic communication mode
was the game ofThe Sims. The game is essentially a simulation of real life, you have to get a job
if you want to buy things, wake up late and miss work you get fired, if you want to advance in
work you need a larger social network so you need to make more friends, if you want to increase
your friends you are not only going to have to buy a phone you are going to have to use it and
invite these people over for socializing. These are but a few examples of the monotonous things
we have to do in every day life that somehow are fun when put it into a little pixilated world.
Informant #2, a heavy gamer, saw the similarities immediately I played Sims for a while and
that really fits what youre talking about. The character is so much like you; you might even
name the character after yourself. You can even make the character look like you. The game
has been described as a doll house but it is much more than that it is a place where we can probe
and possibly figure out how to change some of things weve done wrong in our life. It is like
deciding to go the college route in the board game calledLife instead of taking the quick bucks
of the shorter path, although The Sims is the game ofLife on steroids. If someone is recreating
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their life as you are able to do in the game to some degree, then they are certainly in the mimetic
mode of communication with the game, its not inferior or superior it is essentially the same.
This mode of communication had the second highest total of self-identifications among
the informants. One of the reasons the total may have been so were the number of response
informant #2 made concerning this aspect of gaming and that he made the most identifiable
responses. Informant #2 made 15 of the 25 statements in the mimetic communication mode and
he also made the most self-identifications with 38. The Sims may explain how this type of
communication mode is an everyday slice of life but informant #2 provides even more detail
when it comes to idolizing, game play, and choices. Ive never been a big fan of magic
abilities, that just doesnt buy it, but Ive always my whole life been a military person so Ive
always had you know this respect for this warrior person. Even though #2 could essentially be
anyone in the world he goes with someone he respects, It just seems like all the games I like are
the kind(s) were youre the normal average type of character. One aspect he sees is that like in
a Sims type game there is room to grow, I can see that as being a driving force for someone to
try and improve your own situation and you can do it a lot easier in a game than you can in real
life. One advantage game makers have in creating games in the mimetic communication mode
is something the other heavy gamer, informant #6, saw Its not hard to believe whats going on
in a game if it looks like Joe Blow and Jane Doe. With both heavy gamers weighing in with
such lucidity, maybe when one spends so much time in the game worlds, a dose of reality is also
needed.
Leader-Centered Communication Mode
Most everyone at one time or another has felt frustration with a boss, chairperson, or
some other type of authority and felt we could do a better job if given the chance. In this case it
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is our desire to lead that we are trying to act upon and it is in the leader-centered communication
mode that we enter. Most people will not enter a situation with this attitude; they need some
experience or training. The hero character in the leader-centered communication mode is only
slightly superior to the audience and it is because of their background and training. Most of us
would not want to lead on the first day of a job unless we already had prior experience and
training. It is only after the training and the experience that we will start to entertain the
fantasies from the beginning of the paragraph.
Video games offer users this ability of leadership without many of the hassles and risks
of real world, here the only consequence of having to start the game or section of the game over.
This is of course a very powerful feeling and one that can be rewarding for the gamer as
informant #1 explains:
The ability to act and make decisions in a video game that I think in our life were
forced not to act in order to survive, were forced not to tell our boss hes an idiot
because we need our jobs to pay the electric company, to pay our rent but uh, so, a
lot of things in real life is learning when not to react or tolerate situations. But as a
leader in a video game you dont have to tolerate any of that, you can take care of that, a more
active role somewhat.
These are obviously personal feelings for informant #1, who was the only informant to make
more self-identifications in the leader-centered communication mode than any of the other
modes. Informant #1 was also the oldest informant by a substantial number of years, twelve. It
may be that he has had enough training in his life but his work position keeps him from
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capitalizing on the leadership qualities he believes he possess. The leader centered video game
character may be providing him a virtual refuge.
Age may be a factor in this analysis too as the next oldest informant #4 had the next
highest percentage (5 of 18) of responses in the leader centered communication mode compared
to overall responses. Informant #4 was able to express in even more detail why he wanted to be
the mayor of another simulation game Sim City, I enjoy the task of having to manage so many
things at one time, something that is functional and hopefully successful. Many people would
not want to be a Mayor in real life because of all the managing that it would take, but here in a
game world all that managing is the reward, not the burden. The self-identification from
informant #4 also reveals that video games are teaching people to multi-task and how hard a job
such as being a mayor can really be.
Romantic Communication Mode
Many people will refer to high school or college as the best times of their life, maybe its
true but when we reflect we forget many of the hardships of growing up. By cutting out what
went wrong and the struggles we went through we have made the experience superior to the one
we are currently in, this is also what happens with the character in the romantic communication
mode. In this communication mode everything is a little bit better or slightly superior to what
the audience has in their life. Here what is experienced is romanticized and just out of our reach.
Most daydreamers would strive for this fantastical world that exists in the romantic
communication mode.
Video games are ripe for the romantic communication mode; it is concerned with escape
from reality. If video games are a way to indulge in fantasy and do things you can not do in
normal life as Lucas and Sherrys uses and gratifications study suggests, it should not be a
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The video game world gives users the chance to actually be a mythical creature, which
may not be as amusing as it sounds. Informant #1 experienced this feeling, I liked being
Godzilla because you can stomp around and kick cars and punch buildings and stuff like that it
was pretty fun. He would later go on to say that wasnt much fun and maybe in human terms it
is not much fun to be a god. In some video games there is a way to cheat the system called a
god-code that essentially makes you indestructible. Some use this cheat as they are called to
get through area of the game that is too difficult to pass for the user or sometimes to just get
through the game faster. As informant #6 volunteered, Its got to be nice to just rampage
through anything you want, do any task that is at hand, do anything you want really. This
godlike superiority is also a powerful emotion to tap into in the video game world, for informant
#2, I think I am the character essentially; I am the character in that game. There is not some
virtual persona of me in the game, it is me controlling everything. Of course, when you have
that much control and you cannot die it may also make for a game that is not very challenging
which is why this function has to be found in the game like an Easter egg and not part of the
normal game play.
Conclusions
When discussing video games and characters, the informant self-identification statements
overwhelmingly favored the romantic communication mode. This mode emphasizes a world
beyond everyday reality as well as world that goes beyond the directions provided or governed
by leaders. When people invoke and employ a romantic communication mode, they depart form
the here and now for a different kind of world, a world that differs in degree in terms of how
things are understood and what controlling circumstances are. In this sense, playing a video
game is a way to get away, and most people do not want to go back to the real world if given a
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chance to leave it at least temporarily. There were two other communication mode findings that
bear repeating. The mimetic communication mode scored high among the heavy gamers who
played for more than 30 hours a week. The need for mimetic communication could be because
so much time is spent in an artificial world they need to get a dose of reality. Leader-centered
communication scored high among the two oldest informants. The ability to be your own boss
or be needed seemed to play important roles for the gamers who made these types of self-
identification statements. Also examples of five different video game characters that
corresponded with the appropriate communication mode were provided.
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Chapter 5
Conclusions
In this fifth and final chapter a summation of the previous chapters will be made to
support this thesis. Arguments were made that video games represent digital communication,
specifically narrative and interactivity, and that games merit academic investigation. Previous
game studies have focused on users and on narratives but there is a void in the literature between
users and narratives. This thesis adapted Fryes theory of modes to analyze the relationship
between the user or audience and the narrative. A convenience sample of interviews was used to
determine what communication mode players favored in video games. Overwhelmingly, the
self-identification statements showed the users looks to engage in the romantic communication
mode where the character is superior to the audience by degree in intelligence and the ability to
control their circumstances. This chapter will also point out some of the limitations of this thesis
and propose some possible future research in this area.
Significance
Video games are a growing form of digital communication. Video games are narratives
and are also an interactive form of communication. Most other mediums are rarely if ever as
interactive. This type of digital communication makes it imperative to understand the role of the
user which is also the audience in the narrative process. The video game industry creates billions
of dollars in sales every year, making it a lucrative medium. Top talent in other mediums are
embracing and exploring the creation of new video games. It has also been speculated that video
games are also changing our cognitive abilities through the two concepts of probing and
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telescoping. This thesis enhances the understanding of what type of communication gamers seek
when they play video games and classifies the various modes.
Previous Studies
Although studies on video games are relatively new, the studies are increasing
exponentially. Some of the earlier studies searched for reasons why users play video game.
Much of the theoretical debate in the past half decade revolved around whether or not video
games were indeed narratives and whether they should be studied as such. Neitzel made a
powerful argument that video games were indeed narratives and this thesis complemented her
work. This thesis explored the relationship between the user and the game character in terms of
communication genre. Previous studies on video games revealed a lapse in this area of inquiry.
Methodology
A convenience sample of six video game informants was employed to uncover the
relationship between user and gamer. The informants were interviewed at separate times but
with essentially the same questions. Although primarily known as a way to identify works of
literature, Fryes theory of modes also works as a way to analyze audience centered
communication. Five modes of communication were identified and distinguished. A table
provided fictional character examples from the mediums of literature, television, and motion
pictures. The informants interviews were then coded and placed into a table depending on
which mode of communication the self identification statement most accurately fit. A data
analysis of the informants statements was then implemented.
Findings
Gamers self identification statements showed that they desire the relationship between
the game and themselves to more often be in the romantic mode of communication. This means
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they prefer a world where they have extraordinary powers such as being able to fly, being able to
breathe underwater, or even being able to walk away after crashing a car. It is the ability to be
superior in degree to a normal audience in both intelligence and their ability to control
circumstances that makes this type of communication appealing. If one is to explore another
world as video games allow a user to do it makes sense that they would want to be better than
they perceive themselves to be in their own world. The mimetic communication mode also
ranked high among the users, especially the more frequent gamers. One possible explanation for
this finding is that gamers who spend so much time in a world full of romantic communication
also need a dose of reality that the mimetic communication mode supplies.
Communication Mode Character Examples
In the third chapter of this thesis, table 1 showed examples of the characters belonging to
the five communication modes, in different mediums. At this time, we can now update the table
including video game characters creating table 4 five communication modes in different
mediums. The video game informants provided examples of characters they believed fit into the
various communication modes.
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Table 4. Five Communication Modes in Four Different Mediums
CommunicationMode toAudience
Literature Television Motion Picture Video Game
Ironic- inferior inintelligence or
controllingcircumstances
Hester Prynne(The Scarlet
Letter)
Archie Bunker(All in theFamily)
Larry, More, orCurly
(The ThreeStooges)
Q-Bert(Q-Bert)
Mimetic- sameintelligence and
controllingcircumstances
Daisy Miller(Daisy Miller)
Mary Richards(The Mary Tyler
Moore Show)
Mitch(Old School)
Self Sim(The Sims)
Leader Centered superior in
degree inintelligence andsame controlling
circumstances
Othello(Othello)
Julia Sugarbaker(Designing
Women)
ErinBrockovich
(ErinBrockovich)
Lara Croft(Tomb
Raider)
Romantic-superior indegree in
intelligence andsuperior in
degree tocontrollingcircumstances
Beowulf(Beowulf)
Jessica Fletcher(Murder, She
Wrote)
Neo(Matrix)
Mario(Super Mario
Brothers)
Mythical-Superior in kindin intelligenceand superior in
kind incontrolling
circumstances
Loki(Norse
Mythology)
Elizabeth(V)
The Terminator(Terminator
series)
Godzilla(Godzilla:Save theEarth)
The ironic character had the fewest instances of someone providing a character
but informant #5 had the quickest response of Q-Bert. Q-Bertwas a popular arcade game in
the 1980s. The title characters actions involved hopping from block to block
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and being chased. These actions are obviously inferior to the audience. Many early video game
characters such as Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, and Pogo were fairly simple characters that did not do
much besides playing elaborate games of chase.
As mentioned previously The Sims was an overwhelming choice as a character in the
mimetic communication mode. The game itself consists of rather mundane normal everyday
activities, such as using the phone, cleaning, using the bathroom, and paying bills. I named the
character Self Sim when a user created a replica of themselves as an avatar. In a world where
we try to recreate ourselves and we have to perform normal actions in order to sustain the game,
weve really mimicked life. The Self Sim certainly falls in the mimetic communication mode.
Most of the informants agreed that games from the players perspective where you do not see the
character but are more or less inhabiting the character called first person shooters would also be
an example. If the player is the character then essentially they are the same audience.
The video game character Lara Croft has spun out of herTomb Raidergame world onto
the Hollywood movie screen. The character which is a take off of the Indiana Jones character
and informant #2 believed she displayed many leader centered communication mode qualities.
Croft is an archeologist, which takes years of training to become, but the training makes her
smarter in certain areas and only by degrees. Some of the challenges she faces as a tomb
raider require intelligence over brawn. The character of James Bond came up as a leader
centered character too. 007 uses his vast spy training to beat the bad guy.
The informants made many romantic communication mode self-identifications during the
interview process, but had a harder time coming up with a hero character. The one that most
seems to fit is the Mario character. Originally, Mario and his brother were just plumbers but in
the Super Mario Brothers games, he becomes almost a superhero in his ability to try and save the
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thesis is heuristic, meaning that it is exploratory and it sparks new thoughts or ideas. The video
game user plays such an active role in the narrative of a video game it only makes sense to study
it from the user or audience perspective. If the narrative is not strong, the game may still be
quite rewarding because of the game play. Researching games from the genre of
communications mode allows for the game play factor. A conventional genre breakdown would
take into account only the narrative itself.
Fryes original theory was developed as a way to show how literature had evolved over
the centuries. His contention was that western literature started in the mythical mode, moved to
the romantic, then moved to leader-centered, then to mimetic, and lastly went into the ironic
form before becoming mythical again. There is one problem however in this literary timeline
and that is his examples do not agree with it. Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter was originally
published in 1850 and provided the example of an ironic character in Hester Prynne. Daisy
Miller the mimetic example of a character was written by James in 1898. If the modes of
literature transitioned the way Frye believed they did then the ironic mode would have come
before the mimetic mode in literary history. This problem with Fryes theory of mode only
impacts his study, this thesis made no claim that the modes transitioned in video game history.
Future Research
There are many ways to explore the ideas in this thesis. One of the biggest questions that
remain is an understanding of why the romantic communication process appears to be so
dominant among the gamers. Video games provide a sense of escapism, but what the gamer is
really trying to escape from may be the more interesting question. Video games create their own
worlds, and the ability to enter and in a sense live in a romanticized world should be alarming. If
just watching television rots your mind (and many would disagree), imagine what living inside
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the television world could do to it? It was not a very pleasant experience in the movie
Pleasantville. The digital society may no longer need to go anywhere but their computer for a
vacation. If vacation is as close and easy as a mouse click then why would anyone want to do
anything else?
Although sample size is not always as important as the thought process it sparks, a larger
sample could be beneficial to the findings in this thesis. It is likely based on the analysis
provided in this study that the romantic mode of communication would continue to be the top
reason gamers indulge in this sort of play. A larger sample may be able to provide more answers
about the mimetic mode that showed up in the data for this study.
I would suggest a sample with a population of 100 people, preferably gamers who
average playing 20 or more hours per week. The heavy gamer informants are deeper into the
culture and at least in this study provide more details about it. It was also a heavy gamer that
made more mimetic communication mode self-identification statements. A second researcher
should also be used to help with the interview process and the interpretive process.
It is also recommended that the interview questions be adjusted. Adding type and degree
or something similar to the descriptions of the different types of character should have been
clearer. The movie character references were used to help the informants picture the type of
character in that mode of communication. Unfortunately, it may also have swayed them into
immediately classifying video game characters based on the motion pictures which were used as
examples.
Final Thoughts
Narratives are almost always the key to a successful creative endeavor in almost every
medium. When Hollywoods A-list looks for a project it is almost always based on a script
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real life, the game must give you a mimetic character. If a game is going to help think for us, it
must also understand us, and this thesis provides an important piece to that puzzle.
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Appendix A
Research Questions-The Relationship between User and Video Game Character
1) In a given week, how many hours do you spend playing video games?
2) Do you consider that an adequate amount of time? Too much time? Not Enough?
3) What is it that makes you enjoy a game?
4) What frustrates you about video games?
5) What aspects of the stories that unfold while playing a game do you find interesting?
6) How can you change a story in a video game?
7) What type of characters in video games appeal to you?
8) In works of fiction some main characters are inferior to us, if you think about slapstick
comedy such as the Three Stooges or Harold and Lloyd inDumb and Dumberthese would be
examples, have you ever played a video game where the character you control is inferior to a real
human?
9) What do you think the appeal of a character like that is?
10) Does that type of game character appeal to you?
11) Some characters in comedies or even horror movies are just like us, or at least they act that
way, if you think of the characters in Old School,American Pie, or the campers inFriday the
13th thats the type Im talking about. What video games allow you to play a character like that?
12) Why do you think somebody would want to play a character like that?
13) Do you enjoy playing a character like that in a video game?
14) Some characters in fiction are superior to other humans and tend to be leaders; most of these
types of characters are in dramas and war films. Tom Cruise tends to play this type of character
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convincingly in movies like Top Gun orA Few Good Men. Clint Eastwood and John Wayne are
usually typecast as these types; Julia Roberts inErin Brokovich could be considered this type,
King Arthurs knights, so could most of the alliance in the Star Wars saga. Can you name a few
video game characters that you think would fall into this type of role?
15) Why do you think that type of video game characters appeals to people?
16) Does that type of character appeal to you when you play a video game?
17) Another type of character is superior to others AND is superior to nature. If you think of
Superheroes such a s Spider-Man and his ability to spin webs or Neo in the Matrix and his ability
to slow the world down in bullet time and see the computer codes in everything. What video
game characters do you think fall into this type of category?
18) What do you think the appeal of a character like that is?
19) Does that type of game character appeal to you?
20) There is also a fifth type of hero in fiction. This category of character is godlike; Zeus,
Aphrodite, or Apollo from Greek mythology, Superman or the Terminator could also be
considered this type, basically indestructible and superior to mere mortals. What video games
allow you to play a character like that?
21) Why do you think somebody would want to play a character like that?
22) Do you enjoy playing a character like that in a video game?
23) Of the five types of characters weve discussed is there one type that is particularly
appealing to you?
24) Is there one type you tend to play more than