Having completed near an hour of reading I have decided to document my findings on Games MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics & Aesthetics).
I started with watching the slide show video which summarised a lot of what LeBlanc, Hunicke and Zabek explored in their publishing of 'MDA Framework'. Mechanics, Dynamics & Aesthetics are defined as the following:
1. Mechanics - describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms.
2. Dynamics - describes the run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others outputs over time.
3. Aesthetics - describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system.
The slideshow and article continue to go into detail on each. My understanding of each has improved greatly thanks to it. I understand Mechanics now as being ammunition or spawn points in games, Dynamics as being how a situation develops because of your in-game choices and Aesthetics as goals to achieve within our game like completing a level or winning against another player, rather than be what we view as being an aesthetic traditionally such as visual elements.
Aesthetics in this sense depend on our 'Eight Kinds of Fun' (this article I came across myself after reading about the eight kinds in the MDA Framework).
The three of these that stand out to me the most are Narrative, Expression and Submission.
Narrative is very relevant to us as Creative Digital Media students as modules like Storytelling & Narrative and Digital Video Techniques. Of course you or I know that Narrative is why we read a book or watch a movie because it gives the medium a purpose. This is the same for a majority of games, but what has opened my eyes a little is that I have never thought of the Narrative of sand box games. "The user tells the story through their actions". That quote alone sums up how I feel a lot of games should be, like Role Playing Games.
Expression is an obvious one for RPG games as you express how you feel as the character you're playing as. Everything from the actions you choose to perform in game, to hacking or trying to break a game in someway is the users own expression, or self expression for that matter.
Finally Submission is something I have only thought about with mobile games that are simple but nerve wracking experiences such as Adventure Capitalist and Fallout Shelter that restrict you with time restraints to replenish your items. Of course they offer you batches of these items for real world money to relieve you of the stress of the time restraints! I feel this is a great way to submit your consumers to your game and to make more money, but I do not like how it takes advantage of people in that regard.
My readings though have opened my mind to ways that other games get you to 'submit' to them and it seems to be more so that a game should be a "mindless past-time" rather than a money drain. This can mean "grinding" to get to a certain level in a game or to unlock specific rewards and it can be a driving force for people to constantly play your game. An example of this is how in Battlefield 1 I set personal challenges for myself to complete, like getting to Level 100 online, just because it's two third's of the way to the top level. This in turn means playing to such a high degree that I am earning the most points I can through completing objectives and killing other players. Like that I am submitting to complete the in game challenges as well as the personal challenges I set for myself and so I am likely to come back to play the game again as I find that challenging aspect fun.
Overall with the reading this week I feel I have a lot of food for thought, especially with how I can utilise this newly learned information in my own games and stories.
I started with watching the slide show video which summarised a lot of what LeBlanc, Hunicke and Zabek explored in their publishing of 'MDA Framework'. Mechanics, Dynamics & Aesthetics are defined as the following:
1. Mechanics - describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms.
2. Dynamics - describes the run-time behaviour of the mechanics acting on player inputs and each others outputs over time.
3. Aesthetics - describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system.
The slideshow and article continue to go into detail on each. My understanding of each has improved greatly thanks to it. I understand Mechanics now as being ammunition or spawn points in games, Dynamics as being how a situation develops because of your in-game choices and Aesthetics as goals to achieve within our game like completing a level or winning against another player, rather than be what we view as being an aesthetic traditionally such as visual elements.
Aesthetics in this sense depend on our 'Eight Kinds of Fun' (this article I came across myself after reading about the eight kinds in the MDA Framework).
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| 8 Kinds Of Fun - Source Article page 2 |
Narrative is very relevant to us as Creative Digital Media students as modules like Storytelling & Narrative and Digital Video Techniques. Of course you or I know that Narrative is why we read a book or watch a movie because it gives the medium a purpose. This is the same for a majority of games, but what has opened my eyes a little is that I have never thought of the Narrative of sand box games. "The user tells the story through their actions". That quote alone sums up how I feel a lot of games should be, like Role Playing Games.
Expression is an obvious one for RPG games as you express how you feel as the character you're playing as. Everything from the actions you choose to perform in game, to hacking or trying to break a game in someway is the users own expression, or self expression for that matter.
Finally Submission is something I have only thought about with mobile games that are simple but nerve wracking experiences such as Adventure Capitalist and Fallout Shelter that restrict you with time restraints to replenish your items. Of course they offer you batches of these items for real world money to relieve you of the stress of the time restraints! I feel this is a great way to submit your consumers to your game and to make more money, but I do not like how it takes advantage of people in that regard.
My readings though have opened my mind to ways that other games get you to 'submit' to them and it seems to be more so that a game should be a "mindless past-time" rather than a money drain. This can mean "grinding" to get to a certain level in a game or to unlock specific rewards and it can be a driving force for people to constantly play your game. An example of this is how in Battlefield 1 I set personal challenges for myself to complete, like getting to Level 100 online, just because it's two third's of the way to the top level. This in turn means playing to such a high degree that I am earning the most points I can through completing objectives and killing other players. Like that I am submitting to complete the in game challenges as well as the personal challenges I set for myself and so I am likely to come back to play the game again as I find that challenging aspect fun.
Overall with the reading this week I feel I have a lot of food for thought, especially with how I can utilise this newly learned information in my own games and stories.
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