gdc 2014 competitive storytelling

COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER

PRESENTED BY CHRISTINA NORMAN Twitter: @truffle League of Legends: kitae Link to full slides at end of presentation

STORYTELLING

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ON THE INTERNETS

INTRODUCTION

WHO AM I? ‣  Game  Designer  &  Writer  @  Riot  Games  ‣  Previously  Game  Designer  &  Programmer  @  BioWare  ‣  Worked  on  League  of  Legends  &  Mass  Effect  1,  2,  3  

AGENDA

WHY HOW NEXT WHY

TLDR; Familiar techniques, it’s all about how you use them

STORY INSPIRES PLAYERS

AND HELPS THEM IMMERSE

SETTING

CHARACTER

NARRATIVE

“It’s what she’d want. And you know it.”

CHARACTER

SETTING

NARRATIVE

STORY ALIGNS DEVELOPERS

SO WE CAN CREATE AN AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE

COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER GAMES

HAVE STORIES TOO

SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN

IS A POWERFUL TECHNIQUE

MULTIPLAYER ONLY GAMES

ARE BECOMING MORE COMMON

THEIR STORIES

ARE HARDER TO TELL

TRANSMEDIA

CAN WORK – BUT ISN’T PART OF PLAY

VIDEOS COMICS BOOKS

WHAT IF STORY COULD BE PART OF COMPETITIVE PLAY?

COMMON CONCERNS ‣  Story  disrupts  gameplay  

‣  Players  don’t  want  or  care  about  stories  

IT CAN - LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW

It  doesn’t  have  to  

They  will  if  you  tell  the  right  stories  

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS COMPETITIVE GAMEPLAY

<<< LCS VIDEO GOES HERE >>>

Imagine awesome #LCS gameplay or just watch the #LCS. It’s awesome.

www.lolesports.com  

AGENDA

WHY HOW NEXT

1. NEVER IRRITATING

2. NO PAUSING OR DELAYS

3. NO DISTRACTIONS

4. NO CONFLICTING GOALS

GROUND RULES

FOR COMPETITIVE STORYTELLING

MULTIPLAYER FIRST    

DISTRACTIONS CAN KILL    

SUPPORT TEAMPLAY  

PLAYERS OPT IN  

4 TECHNIQUES

•  Ambient NPC Voice-over

•  PC Voice-over

•  Story Objectives

•  Story Events

TECHNIQUE: AMBIENT NPC VOICE-OVER

“Can  the  reapers  be  stopped,  Shepard?”  

GOOD FOR ‣  Tone  ‣  SeOng  ‣  Character  ‣  NarraQve    

OVERVIEW

TECHNIQUE: AMBIENT NPC VOICE-OVER

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Tone  mismatch  

‣  Relevance  to  gameplay  

‣  DistracQons  can  kill  

CHALLENGES

CASE STUDY: LOL SHOPKEEPER

GOALS ‣  Establish  world  ‣  Establish  champions  ‣  Lighten  tone  

EXAMPLE

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS HAS 118 PLAYABLE CHARACTERS EACH HAS RELATIONSHIPS AND BACKSTORY

CASE STUDY: LOL SHOPKEEPER

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Tone  mismatch    ‣  Relevance  to  gameplay    

‣  DistracQons  can  kill  

KEY TAKEAWAY

“Priceless!  Now,  hand  over  the  gold.”    

APPROACH

Suppor8ve  humorous  tone  

Speaks  in  response  to  player  shopping  ac8vi8es,  crea8ng  ceremony  

Non-­‐combat  area  

Create  characters  that  work  with  exis8ng  gameplay  and  pacing  

CASE STUDY: LOL SHOPKEEPER

“You  look  just  like  your  sister…  wait…  I’m  not  supposed  to  talk  about  that.”    

RESULTS

ONE LINE Tons  of  engagement  

4 TECHNIQUES

•  Ambient NPC Voice-over

•  PC Voice-over

•  Story Objectives

•  Story Events

PC VOICE-OVER

“I’ve  got  to  keep  moving.”  

GOOD FOR ‣  Confirming  player  acQon  ‣  DirecQng  player  ‣  SeOng  ‣  Main  Character    

OVERVIEW

PC VOICE-OVER

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Tone  mismatch    ‣  Relevance  to  gameplay    ‣  DistracQons  can  kill    

CHALLENGES

Iden8cal  to  NPC  voice-­‐over  

CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE EXAMPLE

CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE

“Oh,  sweet  Jesus,  look  at  all  these  guns!”  

SCRIPTED

APPROACH

CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE

“Can  somebody  help  me?  Damsel  in  distress  over  here.”  

GAMEPLAY ALERT

APPROACH

CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE

“Oh  shit!  Look  at  ya.  Let  me  help  you  up.  

GAMEPLAY CEREMONY

APPROACH

CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Tone  mismatch        ‣  Relevance  to  gameplay      ‣  DistracQons  can  kill  

KEY TAKEAWAY          

APPROACH

Wrote  to  gameplay  tone  

Characters  and  players  have  the  same  goals  

Lines  draw  aEen8on  to  relevant  gameplay  

Observe  gameplay,  write  lines  in  character  to  highlight  relevant  informa8on  

CASE STUDY: ROCHELLE

RESULTS ‣  Players  learn  about  characters  

naturally  through  play  ‣  Players  develop  character  

preferences  despite  no  gameplay  impact  

RESULTS

4 TECHNIQUES

•  Ambient NPC Voice-over

•  PC Voice-over

•  Narrative Objectives

•  Story Events

TECHNIQUE: NARRATIVE OBJECTIVE OVERVIEW

GOOD FOR ‣  MoQvaQng  players  ‣  SeOng  up  gameplay  ‣  Moving  the  story  forward    

Lol! Another EZ delivery

quest…

NEW QUEST! ‣  Take  the  ring  to  Mt.  Doom    

TECHNIQUE: NARRATIVE OBJECTIVE

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Goals  can  feel  repeQQve  

‣  Team  goals  can  feel  impersonal  

‣  Individual  goals  can  disrupt  teamplay  

CHALLENGES

CASE STUDY: THE HUNT IS ON

GOALS ‣  Experience  narraQve  

resoluQon  through  gameplay  ‣  PosiQve  experience  for  both  

teams  

EXAMPLE

CHARACTER MOTIVATION EXPRESSED IN GAME

HUNT TO GET TROPHIES

APPROACH

HUNT TO EVOLVE

INTERSECTING BACKSTORY APPROACH

FIGHT WITHOUT A CLEAR VICTOR

NARRATIVE RESOLUTION

KILL QUEST TRIGGERED LATE GAME

APPROACH

The  Hunt  Is  On!  Kha’zix  must  kill  Rengar  first  to  become  the  ulQmate  predator  (assists  count).  “I  have  grown  and  adapted  since  I  took  his  eye.  Now  I  will  have  feast  on  him.”  –  Kha’zix  

The  Hunt  Is  On!  Rengar  must  kill  Kha’zix  to  become  the  ulQmate  hunter  (assists  count).  “He  is  my  greatest  prize.  The  one  beast  who  escaped  me.  I  must  have  his  head.”  -­‐  Rengar  

THEMATIC REWARD

FULL EVOLUTION

APPROACH

ULTIMATE TROPHY

CASE STUDY: THE HUNT IS ON

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Goals  can  feel  repeQQve      ‣  Team  goals  can  feel  impersonal      ‣  Individual  goals  can  disrupt  teamplay      

KEY TAKEAWAYS

APPROACH

Rare  (probably  too  rare)  

Specific  to  Kha’zix  and  Rengar  

Trigger  during  team  fight  phase  of  game  

Rewards  must  impact  gameplay  Theme  increases  value  of  gameplay  rewards  

FEW PLAYERS WILL EXPERIENCE THIS RESULTS

BUT SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASES REACH

4 TECHNIQUES

•  Ambient NPC Voice-over

•  PC Voice-over

•  Story Objectives

•  Story Events

TECHNIQUE: STORY EVENT

GOOD FOR ‣  Player  parQcipaQon  in  narraQve  progress  

OVERVIEW

TECHNIQUE: STORY EVENT

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Goal  changes  can  disrupt  compeQQve  play  

‣  Not  all  team  members  may  want  to  parQcipate  

CHALLENGES

GOALS ‣  Establish  Freljord  region  ‣  High  player  parQcipaQon  ‣  Increase  understanding  of  facQonal  affiliaQon  ‣  Measure  results  

CHOOSE YOUR TRIBE EXAMPLE

TRANSMEDIA APPROACH

PROSE AND ILLUSTRATION

TRANSMEDIA APPROACH

WEBSITE

TRANSMEDIA APPROACH

NARRATIVE VIDEO

EARN ONE ICON BY WINNING TEN GAMES

CHALLENGE ALIGNED WITH FRELJORD THEMES

PROVISIONAL ICON PERMANENT ICON

EVENT THEMATIC ALIGNMENT ‣  Players  pick  tribes  ‣  MulQple  victories  required  ‣  Failure  is  possible  

FRELJORD THEMES ‣  Champions  picking  tribes  ‣  War  spans  many  bafles  ‣  Harsh,  brutal,  environment  

APPROACH

CASE STUDY: CHOOSE YOUR TRIBE

MULTIPLAYER CHALLENGES ‣  Goal  changes  can  disrupt  compeQQve  play      ‣  Not  all  team  members  may  want  to  parQcipate            

KEY TAKEAWAY

APPROACH

Layer  meta-­‐progression  on  exis8ng  goals  

Par8cipa8on  is  op8onal  and  gameplay  is  unchanged  

Preserved  compe88ve  play  but  event  didn’t  feel  truly  in-­‐game.  Opportunity  to  improve  through  in-­‐game  ceremony.  

PLAYER PARTICIPATION

HIGH LEVEL OF PARTICIPATION

PARTICIPATION METRIC ‣  Measured  all  players  who  

won  ten  games  during  the  event  

RESULTS

PLAYER COMPREHENSION

COMPREHENSION INCREASED AND WAS RETAINED

COMPREHENSION METRIC ‣  Survey  of  random  players  to  measure  knowledge  of  champion  facQonal  affiliaQon  ‣  Measured  before  event,  ager  event,  and  six  months  ager  even  ‣  Comprehension  increased  and  was  retained  

RESULTS

AGENDA

WHY HOW NEXT

1. NEVER IRRITATING

2. NO PAUSING

3. NO DISTRACTIONS

4. NO CONFLICTING GOALS

WE’VE TALKED ABOUT GROUND RULES

FOR COMPETITIVE STORYTELLING

MULTIPLAYER FIRST    

DISTRACTIONS KILL    

SUPPORT TEAMPLAY  

PLAYERS OPT IN  

WE’VE EXPLORED TECHNIQUES

AMBIENT VOICE-OVER PLAYER VOICE-OVER

STORY OBJECTIVES STORY EVENTS AND BEST PRACTICES

NEXT STEPS ARE A CHALLENGE

TELL STORIES IN GAME

YOU KNOW PLAYERS WILL LOVE

“MY FAVORITE CHARACTER HAS A SISTER? I HAVE TO PLAY HER!”

LET PLAYERS PROGRESS NARRATIVE

THROUGH GAMEPLAY

“I KILLED RENGAR AND GOT MY 4th EVOLUTION POINT!”

LET PLAYERS EXPRESS THEMSELVES

THROUGH STORY

“I’VE ALWAYS HAD A SOFT SPOT FOR VILLAINS. FROSTGUARD ALL THE WAY.”

BRING NEW TECHNIQUES

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TO COMPETITIVE PLAY

WHAT STORIES WILL YOUR GAMEPLAY INSPIRE?

COMPETITIVE MULTIPLAYER

PRESENTED BY CHRISTINA NORMAN Twitter: @truffle League of Legends: kitae

STORYTELLING

hfp://www.riotgames.com/careers  Help us tell stories:

Full Slides: hfp://bit.ly/CompeQQveStorytelling