Meta-Techniques
The one-sentence "definition" that should be in italics.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Note: Meta-Techniques have been discuss in several texts about Live Action Roleplaying Games, see for example Stark[1], Linssen et al.[2], and Wrigstad[3]. An alternative name for the concept, suggested by Wrigstad, is telegraphing.
Contents
Examples
Meta-Techniques are found in Live Action Roleplaying Games.
Black box
Invisibility
Ars Armandi[1] and "boffer" combat[4][5] are examples how actions that are not feasible to perform during gameplay can be replaced by others that share characteristics with them (in this case regarding sex and violence respectively). Feather Play[6] is a technique that allows a discrete way of indicating to other players that one wishes to initiate a sexual encounter without interrupting gameplay. The Liquor on the Table[7] is another that is used to show that players should bring conflict to a breaking point in a scene.
Using the pattern
Meta-Techniques are primarily of interest for games with Live Action Roleplaying. Adding Meta-Techniques is primarily a choice of which more specific technique to use. Meta-Postures allow information to be conveyed without causing breaks in Scenes, and Substitute Actions can avoid breaking Diegetic Consistency. Prompting Techniques add extra meaning to actions to indicate to other players wishes that Scenes should end or new ones should begin. Contextualization are Meta-Techniques that insert Scenes to convey information; this can maintain Diegetic Consistency since players can change Characters, the Scenes can take place before or after the current time frame, etc., to match the needs of the narration with how it should be enacted.
Diegetic Aspects
Some Meta-Techniques break Diegetic Consistency, so this is one aspect that needs to be taken into consideration when choosing which specific technique to use when designing games to have this pattern.
Narrative Aspects
Meta-Techniques is a Narration Pattern.
Consequences
Meta-Techniques provide Communication Channels in games. They are sometimes ways to convey weak Extra-Game Information in that they convey information about how players want to play.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Communication Channels, Extra-Game Information
Can Modulate
Live Action Roleplaying, Scenes
Can Be Instantiated By
Contextualization, Meta-Postures, Prompting Techniques, Substitute Actions
Can Be Modulated By
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Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
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History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stark, L. 2012. Leaving Mundania - Inside the Transformative World of Live Action Role-playing Games, p. 220. Chicago Review Press.
- ↑ Linssen, J, Theune, M., and de Groot, T. 2013. What Is at Play? Meta-techniques in Serious Games and Their Effects on Social Believability and Learning. SBG2013 proceedings.
- ↑ Wrigstad, T. 2008. Nuts and Bolts of Jeepform. Playground Worlds.
- ↑ entry for Boffer on the Nordic LARP wiki.
- ↑ Wikipedia entry for foam, or boffer, weapons.
- ↑ entry for the technique Feather Play on the Nordic LARP wiki.
- ↑ entry for the technique The liquor on the Table on the Nordic LARP wiki.
Acknowledgements
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