The debate on whether agency exists within video games and the extent to which it exists within video games is a contested one. As the theory and culture of video games grows so does the number of opinions based on the relationship between agency and video games.
No agency in video games:
Edward A. Shanken argues agency resides solely with the active component of the system, and that the passive component has no agency. Christine Ward Gailey argues that since the framework of video games is predetermined, the perception of choice, of agency, is illusory. Peter Bell argues that the interaction between characters in RPG’s is not dialogue between player and game but a script to be read and followed by the player. Gordon Calleja argues that even the most free-form activity in a video game is constrained by the code which enables it.
Agency in video games:
Johan Huizinga argues that all play is a voluntary activity which requires an on-going engagement on behalf of the player. Roger Caillois builds on Huizinga’s work by arguing a game consists of the need to find or continue at once a response which is free within the limits set by the rules- Play is a creation of which the player is master. Greg Costikyan argues that at some point, the player is faced with a choice between A and B. What reinforces the player to choose B over A is agency in decision making. Jane McGonigal argues that the unique satisfaction about gameplay emerges from the players ability to claim direct responsibility for an outcome by controlling the decision making process.
I argue that the only agency a player possesses with any video game is the power to choose what game to play, when to turn that game on, and when to turn that same game off (even those three choices are influenced by external forces possibly out of our control). But the idea that the player has agency throughout that game, is as Steven Poole argues, an illusion. There is no agency during the ‘play’ of a video game simply because a player is working within the set boundaries of play designed by the game designers.
The fundamental rule of designing a video game must be the absolute absence of agency during play. This is necessary to formulate a complete game. Video games are a form of media to which take on their own prerequisite as do other forms of media i.e. TV News, Newspapers, Magazines, Radio Shows etc. In any game, the start, the end and everything in between is intentionally put there, no matter how big or small, as pieces to a puzzle that in large, formulates as an accomplishable game.
Why does this all matter?
The absence of agency in a video game affects the player’s experience of the video game.
Positives of no agency
We can finish the game
No matter what move we make, we can feel secure in knowing that all our moves were predetermined and we will eventually save the world, save the girl, kill the most baddass monster, win the race, win the war or what have you (this is important when ones wallet or ego is on the line).
We can screw around
For whatever reason one is diverted from the aim of the game, the games boundaries allows for ‘free time’ (anyone who has played GTA for a decent amount of time will know what I am saying).
Even playing field
No agency puts everyone, no matter how much experience they have in the gaming world, generally in the same place. Skills adopted from other games can benefit your game plan, but in the end, all players are reading from the same script.
Sense of community and comradeship
No agency means all players of a particular game travel a roughly similar journey. This creates a kind of community and culture- a sort of real life comradeship is established.
Negatives of no agency
No say
No agency means we as players realistically have no say in the decisions we make in games, especially RPG’s. In some circumstances we may be given a choice of A and B. This process of dehumanisation forces us to choose from what the game suggests to us, rather than our own thoughts.
Destroying immersion
Being consciously aware that there is no agency during game play destroys immersion. Knowing that our decisions do not really matter disrupts the process of involvement that leads the player into diegetic immersion.
Affect
No agency has the potential to affect a players experience negatively. Being aware that we cannot make our own decisions, or our decisions are predetermined, evokes feelings of powerlessness in a form of entertainment so often characterised by notions of freedom-of-choice.
The illusion
The idea that we are not in control can result in imprudent behaviour/ game play. However as game designers formulated, each action has a consequence and responsibility which then joins into a chain of cause-and-effect. This legitimises the player as an entity within the diegesis of the game thus creating an illusion of agency.
Overall, the controversy over agency in video games continues. I believe agency only exists in the player’s ability to choose the game, and turn the game on and off. No agency within actual game play has negative and positive effects on the overall experience a player has with their video game.
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