My dear Jen, I guess I was simply bumble-bee- ing x Sent from my iPhone
> On 19 Oct 2013, at 23:37, Jenifer Toksvig <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hello chaps, > > I admit, I took a break from the digest arriving in my inbox, but I have been > drawn back to the list by the lovely Mary O’Connor, who pointed me at this > thread. And very timely it is for me, too, in terms of OST and gaming and > such. (Apologies for un-threading this post.) > > Harrison said: > >> Some people refer to the “Game of Life,” but it is scarcely a game you > >> choose to play (or not). [...] OS for me is not a process we choose to do > >> or not do – quite simply it is what we are -- Self organizing, and OS is > >> only an invitation to be ourselves fully and purposefully. << > > For me, both OST and gaming are precisely about choice: about making choices. > > I should say that I’m seeing ‘game’ and ‘gaming’ as different things, here. A > game has a pre-determined structure, rules, goals etc. ‘Gaming’ is about > people making choices within a given structure, and – crucially – that > structure does not have to be a game. Not as we traditionally perceive > ‘game’, anyway. > > In my work making theatre, I’ve been exploring new ways to engage an > audience. Essentially, we are performing work in Open Space – although we’re > not quite, yet. We still haven’t introduced it as that, exactly. But it > follows the principles and Law, and – for me – the essence of choice that > lies in the self-organisation of OST. > > The audience comes into what we’re calling a Storyworld: a big space, of > exactly the kind in which you might open space, set out in a similar way – > initially one collective space, then divided into smaller spaces – and here > they’re introduced to the way in which the story will be told. > > The characters effectively call the sessions, playing scenes in those smaller > spaces (which we set out with furniture appropriate to whatever rooms fit the > story), and the audience then behaves exactly as they do in open space. > > It’s very fluid: the audience can also call sessions, because they can talk > to the characters from the start, and we introduce them to the main story arc > from the start. More than talk to them, we try to build an environment in > which members of the audience (I like to call them audients) can form > relationships with the characters if they want to. > > We encourage emotional engagement with the process by following a very simple > narrative which has plenty of room to be inflated and explored in open space. > Our core narrative is effectively the governing theme of the process, with a > strong narrative question established that will guide us through. The > business of the audience is to engage with us in telling that story, and the > issue for them is how these characters get to that final, inevitable > conclusion which we know they must reach by the end of the story. > > So here’s the crossover I’m talking about, between how people engage with the > process in OST, and gaming, and this kind of theatre. A guy called Andrew > Glassner wrote a great book called “Interactive Storytelling” which is > essentially about how storytelling is evolving within the world of games. > (Actual games.) > > In the book, he observes what he refers to as the ‘game loop’. (Although not > the programming kind of game loop, Harold!) This is a basic description of > what people do in the process of gaming. > > 1. Observe the situation > 2. Set goals > 3. Prepare > 4. Commit and execute > 5. Compare result to the plan > 6. Evaluate the result for self > 7. Evaluate the result for others > 8. Return to step 1 > > In football, for example: you have the ball at your feet and it's your move. > You look at where your teammates are, and how close to the goal you are. Then > you decide to kick the ball to Bob. You prepare by tensing and putting your > weight on the correct foot. Then you make the move and kick the ball. > Immediately, you look to see if the ball is going in the intended direction, > and then you evaluate whether or not Bob got it and is doing something useful > with it. Then you check that everyone else around you is responding to your > move in the way you thought they might, both your team and the other team. > Then you observe where Bob is going, and decide on your next move. > > It also works with chess: look at the game, make a plan, pick up the piece, > make the move, evaluate the move, look at the fear on your opponent’s face, > and so on. It works with any game, pretty much. > > It also works in Storyworld theatre. An audient looks around the room. They > decide to follow a character who amuses them, so they turn and head that way. > When they get to that scene, they might hover to see if this session is > actually one they want to join. Other people seem to be here too, and are > also finding this moment funny, so they stay for a while. Then they hear a > song being sung across the room, and they look, set a goal to go over there, > and use the Law of Two Feet to execute a move across the room. > > For me, the great joy of Storyworld theatre is that I have freedom of choice > to engage as I please: I can speak in a session, I can just listen, I can > bumblebee and butterfly. It’s the same when I am gaming: I observe, set a > goal, prepare, commit and execute, compare result to plan… and all in my own > good time. > > I’m not talking about playing Monopoly. I’m talking about making my move in > Monopoly. The former has big rules and limitations. The latter just offers me > a structure within which I am free to choose. Whilst making my move, I can > butterfly as I watch other people discuss the game. I can announce a tea > break, and bumblebee between a conversation at the sink and another back at > the table. I can even move my little Top Hat illegally onto the pile of > Community Cards and state that this move is a new one I’ve just invented, > which allows me to give every player a card simultaneously instead of moving > to a new square. (Because – well, why not? The game can’t stop me. The other > players can be prepared for surprise, or use their two feet…) > > That is me, gaming. > > And also me being in Open Space. > > And also me living. > > So Harrison, don’t feel bad about not liking games! Games are often about > winning or losing, and when it feels like it’s either one or the other – > well, for me, that’s not a great game. Gaming, on the other hand, if you’re > talking about it as above, is just about process. As is OST. In the moment of > actually *playing* a game, when you are making your move, what you have is > complete freedom and agency to pursue your own choice of goals. You can even > break the rules, if you want. > > The massive online games to which Jane McGonigal refers are, I think, > Storyworlds. It is in such venues that I began the journey which brought me > naturally into Open Space and now sees me exploring Storyworld theatre. (For > the Trekkies on the list, we privately refer to it as Holodeck Theatre.) > > I find Open Space addictive. At least, I see it and feel it and am in it > always, and everywhere, and each time a little OST bell rings in my life (and > there are a lot of them, like tiny wind chimes) I get a tiny kick which feels > strangely like achievement. Those gaming moves ring similar bells for me. > > Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplay Games, or MMOs, require a specific kind > of writing: you need to shape a whole world clearly enough that people can > imagine themselves being a part of it, playing a person within it, and making > journeys there, but also leave enough freedom for people to be anyone they > want, and make any number of different journeys, with as much potential for > bell ringing as possible. > > In fact, as much potential as real life offers. That’s the power of story, > and it’s not like real life is story-free. OST is a running narrative in my > Life-Storyworld. > > And there are some glorious days when I feel like I’ve levelled up in it :-) > > Jen x > > Jenifer Toksvig > www.acompletelossforwords.com > > The Copenhagen Interpretation > www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
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