The Imago Effect Identity in Games Harvey Smith Midway Studios-Austin Studio Creative Director

The Imago Effect

Identity in Games

Harvey SmithMidway Studios-Austin

Studio Creative Director

Who are you really?

• You’re sitting there…no one is in your head• The person next to you can’t know you• You sort of think of yourself a certain way• You have some vague sense of self• It changes based on mood or circumstance• Each of your friends sees you differently• You’ll play many roles throughout your life• You’ll change jobs a few times

Who are you really?

• All your cells roll over every so many years• You’ve probably forgotten a lot already…• …maybe as much as you remember• Your linear sense of time is in question• Someone else probably has your name• Someone else probably looks like you

• So who are you, really?

Introduction Avatars and archetypes

What avatar choices mean Identity is multi-layered

Identity is constructed Wrap-up

Today’s topic

• Player identity during a game• The player-to-avatar relationship• Why people make specific identity choices

• There's a lot going on in the player's mind– Related to game avatars and sense of self

• Customization– Character stats– Factions– Cosmetics– Literary archetypes– Online names

• Intentionality– Strategic play– Improv actions– Plan formulation– Optional pathways

Self-expression opportunities

High Concept

• People love self-expression – Constructing and communicating self– This is who I am, this is who I’m not

• Game avatars facilitate self-expression – Numerically– Stylistically– Archetypically

Fascination with Identity




• Early TUTOR game “dnd”– Gary Whisenhunt and

Ray Wood, 1974





Honda S2000

Modern Participatory Culture

• …reflects primal human drives

• Facilitates our desire for more agency, self expression, differentiation

• Asserting your will, your view, your identity – Web 2.0, Amazon account, Netflix queue,

iTunes/iPod, MySpace page, etc

• We want lots of things to customize

Meaningful moments

• Character creation with “action figures”– Tearing toys apart– Reassembling them as “my guy”

Meaningful moments

• Early RPG realization

– Some players assume a different persona

– Some players express some idealized aspect of themselves

– Lots of arguments about these two approaches

Meaningful moments

• FireTeam – Voice tech– Revealed

• Gender• Age• Accent

– Contrast w/ projected teammate identity

Meaningful moments

• Character identity arguments• The writer-game designer negotiation• Adventure game, shooter, RPG?• JC Denton or me?

• We were missing the point…• In the end, the player was both




Avatars are masks

Avatars are masks

• Similar to choosing a mask for a ball– Self expression– Idealized representation

• Simple short-hand for iconic representations

• An identity you take on, in part, while playing

Avatars are masks

• Anonymity• Freedom from social

constraint

Archetypes, Differentiated Roles




Channeling Marshall McLuhan

• The archetype is the goal– The nature of the Sam Fisher character implies all

of his goals in Splintercell– Same with Agent 47 from Hitman– Or Superman

• You’d never play Superman trying to assassinate a world leader during a geopolitical crisis

Democratizing Heroics

• Interactivity is key to our medium…

• The player’s importance is a key way in which games are significant and different…

• The player assumes a hybrid role of self and protagonist

• The player is not entirely empathizing with some separate entity

• The player is not some lesser being, hearing a tale of heroics

• The player is the hero, in part




Expression via Avatar Choice

• So what do the player’s choices mean?

• What does Marlon Brando represent to people?

• When they choose some incarnation of Brando, what’s going on in their minds?

Online Brando Avatars

Online Brando Avatars

What does an avatar say?


• What about Manson and bin Laden?


• Avatar choice communicates some sense of personal identity or mood state

• Helps the player develop an understanding of self through personal fantasy construction

Henry Jenkins

“All of us move nomadically across the media landscape, cobbling together a personal mythology of symbols and stories taken from many different places. We invest those appropriated materials with various personal and subcultural meanings.”

Meta-levels of Expression

• Even in games without character creation– Players are making implicit character creation

choices when choosing which game to buy– Players engage in self expression when they

choose between Sam Fisher or Lara Croft

Meta-levels of Expression


• Avatar choice communicates some sense of personal identity or mood state

• Helps the player develop an understanding of self through personal fantasy construction




Double-consciousness

• Aside from what’s happening on screen…– What’s going on in the player’s mind?

• Games are multi-layered in terms of identity experience

• Game characters allow us to temporarily and dynamically restructure our sense of self

Rules of Play

• Player-avatar relationship is not simple– “Double-consciousness”

• Player enters an imaginary world via avatar– Relationship can be intense and immersive

• At the same time, the avatar is a puppet– Player is aware of character-as-artificial-construct

Aspects of identity during play

• Fictional character • Perceived sense of idealized self• Player, solving problems, completing tasks• Self as a person, with life demands• Player, sense of skill level/rep• Literary, pop, or mythic archetype• Primal emotions

– Anger, fear, joy, sadness


• I am a thinking person • I am the player of this game• I am the avatar in this game• I am some more primal drives

– Represented by the game’s verbs– I am my anger, I am my desire for power

Susan O’Connor

• “Playing God of War, I was constantly aware of driving this little avatar forward as I played, having fun and accomplishing goals. Meanwhile, I felt completely guilty for pushing Kratos forward into misery, as part of the game’s (interesting) plot.”

FPS double-consciousness

• Playing young Vasili in COD2– Only aware of Russian

identity when called by name

– Throwing potatoes instead of grenades

Identity Absorption

• Scott McCloud

• My car becomes an extension of my body• It absorbs my sense of identity• I become the car

• “Hey, she side-swiped me!”– She and me– Rather than her car and my car

Identity Absorption

• At run-time, avatars are not literary characters• Avatars are masks, archetypes, cartoons, icons• When the player chooses an avatar, he often reflects

some aspect of himself

• Identity during play is multi-layered• The player becomes the avatar

– And stays himself


• Games are multi-layered in terms of identity experience

• Game characters allow us to restructure our sense of self




Judith Butler

• Core aspects of identity are constructed

• The coherence of gender categories seems natural– But this is constructed via repeated stylized acts– This establishes the appearance of coherent gender

• Butler theorizes gender/sexuality as performative– Governed by social regimes– Appearing as coherent or "natural"

Identity construction

• Identity is constructed by repeated stylized acts– We’re all engaged in character creation all the time– Avatars facilitate this

• Games reinforce identity via stylized gameplay acts– COD2 potato throwing – Diablo II health restoration

• Everyone heals (ie, re-adds life points)– Necromancer—transferring damage to a minion– Paladin—healing others with auras– Barbarian—taking the blood from fallen foes

• Stylized healing reinforces identity

Harvey SmithMidway Studios-Austin

Blacksite Creative Director




Summary

• Players find self expression powerful, enjoyable• People express themselves all the time, often unconsciously• Players make specific choices based on subjective reasons• Patterns come up as archetypes

– Players gravitate toward/away from archetypes

• Archetypes aid people in understanding/creating identity• Identity is multi-layered

– Avatars are a combo of player, self and character

• Avatars are vessels– As much as players project onto them, avatars influence players

Thanks!

• Harvey Smith• Game Director• Current Project: Unannounced• Arkane-Studios• [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Useful References

• Gary Allen Fine, Shared Fantasy • Judith Butler, Gender Trouble• Matt Hanson, The End of Celluloid• Janet H. Murray, Hamlet on the Holodeck• Cassell/Jenkins, From Barbie to Mortal Kombat• Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics• John Suler, The Psychology of Cyberspace• Salen/Zimmerman, Rules of Play

Documents

The Imago Effect Identity in Games Harvey Smith Midway Studios-Austin Studio Creative Director