RJ Layton

Creating Meaningful Community-Generated Stories

I believe the best stories are about people, and that people write the best stories. However, the best stories are not authored by one person. The best stories are authored when groups of people all contributing and yet are often unaware of the collaboration.

My favorite subjects in school have always been based on history. I loved reading about the history of this country or how Europe changed over the centuries. I enjoyed hearing about how technology evolved and affected everything, and I often wondered to myself about the people living in those times who would have no idea about how their actions would affect the course of civilization.

One of my favorite stories is the tale of Aaron Burr’s life, a deeply fascinating person. In his wikipedia article, he is described as an American politician, Revolutionary War hero and adventurer. Yes, an adventurer. How cool is that? But seriously, read this introductory description, lifted from wikipedia, that I feel describes my point fairly well:

A formative member of the Democratic-Republican Party with a political base in New York, Burr served in the New York State Assembly (1784–1785, 1798–1801), as New York State Attorney General (1789–1791), United States Senator (1791-1797), and for one term as Vice President of the United States (1801–1805) under President Thomas Jefferson. A candidate for President in 1800, Burr tied Jefferson with 73 electoral votes, making him eligible for one of the Nation's two highest offices and sending the election into the U.S. House of Representatives. After 36 ballots, Jefferson was elected President and Burr elected Vice President. As Vice President, Burr was President of the Senate, and in such role, presided over the impeachment trial of Samuel Chase.

During an unsuccessful campaign for election to Governor of New York in 1804, Burr was often referred to in published articles written by Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), a long-time political rival and son-in-law of Philip Schuyler, the first U.S. Senator from New York who Burr defeated in his bid for re-election in 1791. Taking umbrage at remarks made by Hamilton at a dinner party and Hamilton's subsequent failure to account for the remarks, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel on 11 July 1804, at the Heights of Weehawken in New Jersey at which he mortally wounded Hamilton. Arguably the most famous duel in U.S. history, it had immense political ramifications. Burr, who survived the duel, was indicted for murder in both New York and New Jersey (though these charges were either later dismissed or resulted in acquittal), and the harsh criticism and animosity directed towards him brought about an end to his political career in the East, though he remained a popular figure in the West and South. Further, Hamilton's untimely death would fatally weaken the fledging remnants of the Federalist Party, which, combined with the death of George Washington (1732-1799) five years earlier, was left without a strong leader.

After Burr left the Vice Presidency at the end of his term in 1805, he journeyed into what was then the U.S. West, particularly the Ohio River Valley area and the lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. While historians are uncertain as to Burr's particular activities, he was accused in turns of having committed treason, of a conspiracy to steal Louisiana Purchase lands away from the United States and crown himself a King or Emperor, or of an attempt to declare an illegal war against Spanish possessions in Mexico (a process known then as filibustering). Burr was arrested in 1807 and brought to trial on charges of treason, for which he was acquitted. After several years in self-imposed exile in Europe, Burr returned to practicing law in New York City and lived a largely reclusive existence until his death.

-- from wikipedia, 02.09.08

Now that is a hell of a tale. I remember reading about Burr during middle school for a class assignment, and I was captivated. In short, he’s a well-known politician who challenges another to a huge duel, and one with huge controversy behind it (did Hamilton use a hair-trigger and try to cheat?), and later has to flee, where he’s accused of treasonous plots.

This is a man defined by his actions – and we need games that do the same. Why is it in World of Warcraft, you are defined more by the stuff you have, rather than your deeds? Why is it that nobody cares about the things you do? Why don’t we have games where, through the course of play, we have Aaron Burrs and Alexander Hamiltons emerge due to their actions in the game?

The main reason is because player actions in most games don’t have meaningful, lasting effects on the game itself. In my next post I’ll be covering a couple games and comparing how they generate narratives, and gauging their success at doing so.