Through this week's class, we discussed tone in our writing, academic or otherwise. Most found that they spoke rather informally, poetically, or neutrally. The exercise we had was to write, in 20 minutes, an explanation of our project, the process, or our workspace. Many wrote poetically/prose-like in how you could find them as they worked on a project or the space around their project. I took it in a different direction, where I placed the reader in the game (via description) and then explained the behind-the-scenes in a more formal tone. IT went as below:
"In the start of the game you stand in a white room, there is a narrow corridor to your far right and a box of spheres to your left. To turn about the room you need only rotate your head or body. The movement is tracked and recorded, the data sent to the computer, determining your location in an instant. You move your hands, in this virtual space and in the outside world. On the box you see the words "Grab One!", do you?
In a new space such as this, it can be jarring to figure the controls, in this, confusion can be ever-present and without guidance, it can be hard to navigate. Even with guidelines on how to move in this new virtual space it never "sticks". Unless it is immediately obvious the player will not know and therefore will not play.
You lean over the box, staring at these spheres. As you reach toward one, you notice that one is not like the others, it reflects the space. You have gone to grab one, but you do not know how to pick it up. Lifting the visor to the headset, you look at the board to your left. "Trigger to grab," it says so you lower the visor, adjust the headset again, and are transported back into that space. Leaning over the box again, reaching in for that reflective sphere, you grab it with "trigger". Now in your virtual hand, you have a blue reflective sphere. Do you throw it?
Interaction in a virtual setting (like that of Virtual Reality or VR) can be new, exciting, and daunting, or intimidating. It is completely different to that of standard games where all one must do is stare at a screen. VR promotes and uses immersion so well that both go hand-in-hand and are very often associated with each other. A player does not need prior game experience to play in VR, but to understand controls, how games work, and interaction within a virtual space can be useful."
From this exercise we had to find other tones that work with us but also are different enough that you can see it. On top of this, it was suggested that I describe what it is like to be a "Dungeon Master", also known as a "Game Master".
For another tone or lens, I thought of storytelling in the sense of how it is passed down from family (for cultural stories) or a more poetic take (using more visual language like similes and metaphors). However, I feel I step into both of these, something like a "foot in the door" for both when I place the reader into the virtual scene, so to separate and/or define the differences becomes difficult for me. If I take the first two smaller paragraphs and add another with prose it would possibly be something like this (but covers me in my space creating what the reader imagines they are doing):
"The sky is dark but inside it's as if the sun is still high, covering me in light, but there is no longer warmth here. The only thing that accompanies me in this empty room is the hum of computer fans struggling to process what I need and quiet background music. The occasional stretch keeps my back from curving but it is long since too late for this. On the desk sits mess and clutter but it fills the space and acting like friends as the night presses on."
Being a Dungeon Master - The game designer/world builder for "Dungeons and Dragons"
To describe what being a Dungeon/Game Master (DM/GM) is like is to say that you are a game designer and a god. You are creating a space for players to come in and enjoy. You create the story, the maps, and the environment as some of many examples. There are always, of course, guidebooks one can use to help in world-building that have the basis of a campaign- the overarching story- and maps as well as characters. As a DM you are constantly present (unlike that of standard game designing) to tell the story, lead the players and interact with them. Because of this, you are the omnipotent force both aiding and hindering your players to their delight or disdain.
When writing their story you need to take into consideration where you want them to go and then what they may want to do outside of what you have, whether they want to seduce a priest or run off to burn a house down. There also has to be a lot of description, not so much that you hold their hand, but enough that they become intrigued and therefore believe that it is their idea to, say, explore. There are subtle ways of using dialogue to warn them of something, to change how they may think of entering an area, or even how they will navigate speaking with Non-Playable Characters (NPCs).
Something I do when writing is using the 2nd person perspective to describe a scene laid out before them. It can be difficult and different to write in, but you are essentially explaining what they are doing or have done, they feel as if they are being spoken to directly, helping with engagement. I then explain in as many words as needed what they see, and if pressed for time, what they may not have (but as a character with the party or an NPC). In the event of rolling to check if they can do something (like climbing a building or seeing if plants are medicinal), depending on the number their dice lands on, I tell them how it goes. For example, if one of my players wants to slide off a building with grace I would have them roll a 20-sided die (d20) and if they got a 1 they would fall off with such stupendous force that they have successfully torn a hole into their shirt and coin pouch, making more noise*. There are many more things a DM has to think of for a session, before and during, to accommodate to the players and make it fun, this means foresight and improv can be their best friends or worst nightmares. All in all, despite the extra work that has to go into running a campaign and then playing it, I find that it has helped with my writing for both personal use and in academic writing to place the reader in the space I want them in without them having to play my project.
*This would be described like this:
"You crouch down, lowering yourself to the edge of the roof. Moving a little to hastily you hang off the side and your hand slips. You quickly reach up to grab on what you think is a sturdy brick jutting out slightly. Placing all your focus on this you have not noticed a nail as caught your shirt and so too, the coin pouch. Now, as your weight comes bearing down on the brick it crumbles and with it any hold you had. You began to fall and with no time to think you let it happen. To your dismay, the nail you did not notice has grabbed at you. A large gaping hole has allowed much of your hard-earned gold to clatter on the ground beneath you, at first only pitter-patters, then as a crescendo of metal on rock, before the thud of a body. You hit the ground and everything goes black."
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