Abstract
In this paper, we address specific problems related to the temporal development of narratives in games and interactive media in general. Game narratives can be inconsequential when they progress isolated from coherent temporal aspects, which in turn affects the possibility for pacing and experiencing a dramatic arc. The problem arises when the agency afforded to the players leads them to pursue non-narrative activities, which “put the story on hold”.
We introduce the concept of narrative urgency in interactive narratives as a means of discussing and avoiding this issue. While ‘agency’ is the potential to act in interactive narratives, ‘urgency’ would be the desire to do so in the narrative context. This may serve as a starting point for designers to explore how players can be motivated to take actions that enable optimal narrative coherency and enhance suspension of disbelief.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Szilas, N., Estupiñán, S., Richle, U.: Automatic detection of conflicts in complex narrative structures. In: Rouse, R., Koenitz, H., Haahr, M. (eds.) ICIDS 2018. LNCS, vol. 11318, pp. 415–427. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04028-4_49
Bizzocchi, J.: Games and narrative: an analytical framework. Loading 1(1), 5–10 (2007)
Harrell, D.F., Zhu, J.: Agency play: dimensions of agency for interactive narrative design. In: Proceedings of the 2nd AAAI Spring Symposium on Intelligent Narrative Technologies, pp. 156–162 (2009)
Wardrip-Fruin, N., Mateas, M., Dow, S., Sali, S.: Agency reconsidered. In: DiGRA 2009 - Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference. Brunel University (2009)
Stern, A.: Embracing the combinatorial explosion: a brief prescription for interactive story R&D. In: Spierling, U., Szilas, N. (eds.) ICIDS 2008, vol. 5334, pp. 1–5. Springer, Heidelberg (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89454-4_1
Domsch, S.: Storyplaying : Agency and Narrative in Video Games. Wordware Publishing (2013)
Ryan, M.L.: From narrative games to playable stories: toward a poetics of interactive narrative. Storyworlds: J. Narrat. Stud. 1, 43–59 (2009)
Bruni, L.E., Baceviciute, S.: Narrative intelligibility and closure in interactive systems. In: Koenitz, H., Sezen, T.I., Ferri, G., Haahr, M., Sezen, D., C̨atak, G. (eds.) ICIDS 2013. LNCS, vol. 8230, pp. 13–24. Springer, Cham (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02756-2_2
Zagal, J.P., Mateas, M.: Temporal frames: a unifying framework for the analysis of game temporality. In: Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play. The University of Tokyo (2007)
Ricoeur, P.: Time and Narrative, vol. 1, 1st edn. University of Chicago Press (1990)
Toolan, M.: Narrative: Linguistic and Structural Theories, 2 edn, pp. 459–473. Elsevier Science (2006)
Chatman, S.: Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film, 1st edn. Cornell University Press (1980)
Genette, G.: Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. Cornell University Press (1980)
Juul, J.: Introduction to game time. In: First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game, pp. 131–142. MIT Press (2004)
Herman, D.: Basic Elements of Narrative, 1st edn. Wiley, Hoboken (2011)
Ryan, M.L.: Cambridge companions to literature. In: Toward a definition of narrative, pp. 22–36. Cambridge University Press (2007)
Coleridge, S.T.: Biographia Literaria (1817)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gjøl, B.A., Jørgensen, N.V., Bruni, L.E. (2019). Narrative Urgency: Motivating Action in Interactive Digital Media. In: Cardona-Rivera, R., Sullivan, A., Young, R. (eds) Interactive Storytelling. ICIDS 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11869. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33894-7_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33894-7_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-33893-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-33894-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)