The impact of games on stories

[Svrtnsse]

World of Warcraft was released in 2004. That's ten years ago. During this time a lot of people have played it (and many other games as well), some for only a short period of time, some for longer, and a few for the entire ten years.
If you were a teenager when WoW was released you will no longer be - you'll be a young adult and chances are you'll have encountered this game in one form or another throughout your teenage years. In the extreme case, you were 12 years old (recommended age) when it was released and you'll have played on and off throughout all of your teenage years. That's going to leave some kind of mark.

What if you decide to become a fantasy writer? Sure, you've read a lot of books, but you've also played a lot of computer games. Games are a natural/integral part of life to you and there's a fair chance it will show through in your writing.
What I'm curious about is how it shows through. What do you think?

• Will the groups of adventurers be composed like they are in games with a tank, a healer and some damage dealers?
• Will characters "level up" and learn new spells and abilities throughout their adventures?
• What other concepts originating in gaming can you see or do you predict you'll see in written stories?

 

[Penpilot]

I don't know if any of those things will make it into stories any more frequently than they have in the past. I mean I'm in the age group that saw the dawn of video gaming (not to mention DnD), and In my younger years, I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours playing. The concept of a tank, a healer, and damage dealers isn't a recent development. And I honestly don't think video games have influenced me any more than any other media.

I think like anything else from pop culture they're concepts that can be subverted and used to tell a story that plays off that stereotype. But for a more standard story, I'm not sure. I mean lots of stories have their characters learn new abilities during their adventures. Luke Skywalker learned to used the force in Star Wars. The Hobbits learned to fight during Lord of the Rings. So "leveling up" isn't really a new concept.

 

[Steerpike]

I don't know if any of those things will make it into stories any more frequently than they have in the past. I mean I'm in the age group that saw the dawn of video gaming (not to mention DnD), and In my younger years, I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours playing. The concept of a tank, a healer, and damage dealers isn't a recent development. And I honestly don't think video games have influenced me any more than any other media.

I think like anything else from pop culture they're concepts that can be subverted and used to tell a story that plays off that stereotype. But for a more standard story, I'm not sure. I mean lots of stories have their characters learn new abilities during their adventures. Luke Skywalker learned to used the force in Star Wars. The Hobbits learned to fight during Lord of the Rings. So "leveling up" isn't really a new concept.

Yep. Even in the most overt sense, all of these things go back to tabletop RPG gaming of the 1970s. Certainly, you see it tracked in tie-in fiction that is directly related to gaming, but I doubt it will become a stable in the genre as a whole.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I'm not so sure. I'm aware of table top RPGs and where they come from and what they're about, but a lot of people aren't. To many of those who are aware, P&P RPG is still in many ways stigmatized as something geeky, nerdy and suspicious: "only weird people play with dice." Computer games are a lot more socially acceptable.

There's also a lot of people growing up who are starting with computer games and only later move on to P&P or tabletop gaming - if at all. I'm not trying to spell out doom and gloom here, but I'm curious about what kind of impact that might have - if any.

A book I'm currently reading has a magic system where the strength of the practitioner is measure by how many souls they have consumed. I'm still only a few chapters in but already there have been references to how in order to achieve something specific a practitioner must have consumed enough souls to reach a certain state. It feels very much like "to do that you need to be this rank, which means you must have this much exp."
Pondering that is what got me posting this thread in the first place. I haven't previously come across a novel which was so blatantly copying mechanics from a game.

 

[CupofJoe]

Computer games are a lot more socially acceptable.

Ohhhh.... that could start a fight with some people I know...
Straight out I will state... I have never played a MMORPG or many computer game for more than a few minutes - and I can't say that I really want to... I an the very definition of a casual gamer...
So I don't know about the affect of Computer based games on writing but I have played Tabletop RPGs and various fantasy/sci fi battle games, off and on for more than thirty years and spending 2-3 days on a quest for fighting an epic battle is not uncommon.
In that time I think I have seen writers being heavily influence by the likes of Games Workshop and It's 40K universe. Sometimes almost to hearing the dice role as the narrative goes on... More than once I read a battle described turn-by-turn and at least once a "critical hit" was scored...
I'm tempted to say that these are young writers [in their career and not necessarily their age] that are still to find their own voice. Everyone references, even subconsciously, the [creative/fantasy] world they are used too. That is inevitable. Hopefully these writers learn and develop their own style.
What I wonder is, does the rise of these darker more morally ambiguous gaming worlds reflect a general darking in the tone of fantasy because of external events...
Art references Life references Art...

 

[Penpilot]

PnP Dnd Geeky and Nerdy. I don't think those terms really have negative meaning any longer. I mean just look at the massive success of The Big Bang Theory, a show about geeks and nerds. But regardless, those who did play PnP DnD, grew up and some of them became writers. Is the influence of PnP DnD any greater on them than any other media, like say someone who watched Star Trek or Star Wars?

As for consuming X souls, how is that any different than someone having to gather 12 gems, or gather all the objects of debauchery, or drink the blood of 43 virgins, or assemble the 234 pieces of the true cross? Once gathered and the right ritual is performed, one gains something like ultimate power?

Or how about the reverse, to dispel evil, gather X reagents to perform the incantation of cleansing, or get a bible a priest and some holy water, or on the 3rd day of the 3rd month during the 3rd hr, bring sacred sacks of Rah to the secret chamber, and you can perform the ritual to get rid of all evil.

Stuff like that has been around long before computer games, so I don't know if it's about a story copying game mechanics. I think it may be the other way around. Think about the 12 labors of Hercules, or something like the Odyssey, or The Count of Monte Cristo. The heroes must perform certain tasks or escape certain challenges and level up in order to get their rewards.