First Person

Games and Stories can both have narrative. Games and Stories both have settings, characters, and plot. Murray says that the story comes before the game because storytelling is a core human activity. I agree with Murray because if games did not have a story within it, it would not be very interesting. I see Second Life as a game because my avatar is my "player." My "player" interacts with this world because I can create things and can chat with others. Games include audio and three dimensional navigation just as Second Life does.

One way Murray suggests inducing immersion is by structuring participation with a mask. An avatar is a good example of this within Second Life. Aarseth views everything as a story-from life , to the building that he works in. He talks about games as "interactive narratives" and describes narrativism as viewing everything as a story for us to understand our cognitive perspective on the world.

Games have rules and I think when you take those away it becomes more of a story. I also think of Second Life as a story because there are not any rules to go by. What makes SL a story is our avatars (or characters). Characters personalities and traits are what make people so interested in a story. Every avatar in SL is unique, created to look a certain way. Our personality is put into the creation of our avatar, from our clothing, hairstyle, skin color, or tattoos.

I agree with Aarseth as he describes games being about the Self. In a game you are not worried about others because you are trying to win something for yourself. Games don't allow you to have interpersonal relationships as novels do. Novels are good at relating the inner lives of characters. People enjoy playing games because of the exploration of different levels and victory. Ludology and narrativism are both important because it is what keeps games and stories interesting and more real.

Second Life

Having assignments in Second Life, made me realize that I do not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Trying to do the scavenger hunt with several computers that freeze up every time I try to move is not much fun. Making a chair with my personality was hard for me to do. I could not find textures that I wanted and could not make a chair properly. I was really frustrated after spending hours trying to create a chair so I bought one for free instead. This is a picture of my avatar giving up on my box chair.