Mediated Gameplay
Gameplay where the players interaction with the game state and/or each other is done through a system.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Contents
Examples
The game states of Board Games, Card Games, and are typically maintained by the physical game elements used in them. In contrast, computer games such as Asteroids and Pac-Man have Mediated Gameplay in that they an internal game state in the system and construct presentations for players to know what this game state is and what the effects of their actions have been. Making computerized version of Board Games, Card Games, and introduce the same separation between game state, presentation, and possibilities to affect the game state.
Day of the Tentacle and the Elder Scrolls series shows examples of when Mediated Gameplay is used to hide information from the players so they do not have complete access to the entire game state. BatMUD and the Zork series do the same, but also show how text can be used instead of graphics to mediate gameplay.
Mediation of gameplay can also be done by humans. In Tabletop Roleplaying Games such as Call of Cthulhu, Dungeons & Dragons, and Paranoia human game masters maintain (and create) the current game state and the presentation of the game worlds to the players is done through them or under their guidance. I Love Bees, Momentum, and The Beast show examples of where combinations of computer systems and game masters mediate the gameplay for players.
Using the pattern
As the name suggests, Mediated Gameplay need someone or something that mediates the gameplay for the players. While players may make use of existing systems to mediate gameplay, e.g. using email or the postal system to play Chess, this pattern assumes that the mediating system is part of the design of the game. This means that Dedicated Game Facilitators are a prerequisite for the pattern. Given this basis, several more specific patterns can affect various parts of the interaction players have. Cameras allow players to view Game Worlds from perspective not tied to the one's given by Avatars. Communication Channels allows players to talk to each other using non-diegetic communication. More unusual, Self-Reported Positioning allows players themselves to provide their location to the game system in games that make use of this data.
Can Modulate
Asynchronous Games, Coordination, Cooperation, Multiplayer Games, Negotiation
Potentially Conflicting With
Interruptibility, Social Adaptability, Unmediated Social Interaction
Imperfect Information, Perfect Information,
Interface Aspects
Mediated Gameplay assumes the presence of an interface that controls at least parts of how players can interact with the game system and each other. For this reason, it is a Interface Pattern. While many other Interface Patterns can be part of Mediated Gameplay they do not necessarily need to be so since the gameplay may primarily be done unmediated with only some presentations being mediated. Patterns which are difficult to support without Mediated Gameplay include Split-Screen Views, Third-Person Views, Tooltips, and Vision Modes. While Self-Reported Positioning also requires Mediated Gameplay it modulates the pattern rather than is created by it.
Narrative Aspects
Since Mediated Gameplay gives the design a possibility to control how players experience the gameplay and Game World, it is a powerful tool in enforcing Narration Structures and providing Surprises.
Consequences
The use of Mediated Gameplay allows games to control information about the gameplay, and presenting the state of the Game World is typically the main responsibility for any game with a diegetic setting.
While the mediation can be used to provide both Imperfect and Perfect Information about the parts of the game state or the entirety of it, Mediated Gameplay also allows for more specific design solutions regarding information presentation, e.g. Split-Screen Views, Third-Person Views, Tooltips, and Vision Modes.
Mediated Gameplay can make players have Limited Communication Abilities and when this is consciously enforced, it can lead to Enforced Player Anonymity. Even when players have good possibilities to communicate, the co-presence of Avatars, Handles, or Player Characters can give players the Possibility of Anonymity.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Enforced Player Anonymity, Game Worlds, Imperfect Information, Limited Communication Abilities, Narration Structures, Perfect Information, Split-Screen Views, Surprises, Third-Person Views, Tooltips, Vision Modes
with Avatars, Handles, or Player Characters
Can Modulate
Asynchronous Games, Coordination, Cooperation, Multiplayer Games, Negotiation
Can Be Instantiated By
Dedicated Game Facilitators, Game Masters
Can Be Modulated By
Cameras, Communication Channels, Self-Reported Positioning
Possible Closure Effects
-
Potentially Conflicting With
Interruptibility, Social Adaptability, Unmediated Social Interaction
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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