config.header.center:"Consent & the Magic Circle" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/ConsentColloq.png'} [[Games, Readings, and Resources]] [[About the Panelists]] [[IMGD at WPI]] config.header.center:"About the Panelists" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/PanelistsNames.png'} **KATHLEEN MORRISSEY** * PhD Program | Scholar/Artist/Writer * Interests: Solarpunk philosophy, games and social debility, positive and humane worldbuilding * Related project: [[Call for submissions to _The Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds_ on the topic of "Consensual Play"->https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/01/31/consensual-play]] * For more information, please visit: [[Kathleen Morrissey's Portfolio->https://sites.google.com/view/kathleen-morrissey/home]] **KAT CRIGHTON** * MFA Program | Writer/Instructor/Researcher * Interests: Theories of fiction and audience, experimental archaeology, lateral creative work * Related project: _The Tutor,_ a forthcoming interactive historical romance from [[Heart's Choice->https://www.heartschoice.com/]], an imprint of [[Choice of Games->https://www.choiceofgames.com/]] * For more information, please visit: [[KatherineCrighton.com->http://www.katherinecrighton.com]] **LIV BELL** * BS/MS Program | Game Designer/Artist * Interests: Community building through deeply realistic TTRPG play * Related project: [[Outbreak: UNDEAD->https://oliviabell2019.wixsite.com/website/projects]], a module focused on community formation in games with deep realism * For more information, please visit: [[Liv Bell's Portfolio->https://oliviabell2019.wixsite.com/website]]config.header.center:"Games, Readings and Resources" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/TinyPoster.png'} [align left] The "Consent & the Magic Circle" colloquium was a panel discussion between graduate students of WPI's IMGD program, covering the gamut of theory, scholarship, and practical design considerations. [align center] As a supplement to the colloquium, we offer the following: [[Panelist Slidedecks]] and more about: [[The Magic Circle]] [[Consent-Based and Abusive Games]] [[Alternate Reality Games]] [[Blurred Circles Around Us]] [[Warnings, Tools, Tips, and Tricks]]config.header.center:"IMGD at WPI" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/WPIlogo.png'} [[Interactive Media and Game Development (MS)->https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/interactive-media-game-development-ms]] [[Computational Media (PhD)->https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/computational-media-PhD]] [[Interactive Media and Game Design (MFA)->https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/interactive-media-and-game-design-MFA]]config.header.center:"Panelist Slidedecks" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/TinyPoster.png'} **Kathleen Morrissey** * [[Consent (Full Presentation)->https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/Full_Consent_Morrissey.pptx]] **Kat Crighton** * [[How Not to Be Evil; Or, Baking Consent in from the Beginning (Full Presentation)->https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/Full_How-Not-to-Be-Evil_Crighton.pptx]] * [[How Not to Be Evil (1 Pager)->https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/1pager_How-Not-to-Be-Evil_Crighton.pptx]] **Liv Bell** \ Slidedeck tbdconfig.header.center:"Consent-Based and Abusive Games" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/PainStation_Installation_in_Oslo.jpg'} [align left] (Image of [[PainStation 2.5->https://www.fursr.com/projects/painstation-2-5]], Volker Morawe and Tilman Reiff, 2004) **CONSENT-BASED GAMES AND EXHIBITS** Some examples include: [[ADRI1FT: THREE ONE ZERO->https://www.moddb.com/games/adr1ft/mods]] (module of a futuristic museum of discovery in Australia, 2019) [[Consentacle->https://metasynthie.itch.io/consentacle-print-and-play-edition]] (a two-player card game , where players try to create a consensual and satisfying romantic encounter with an alien, 2017; relatedly, there may be interest in the history of "consentacle" as a content tag, as told through its sister tag [["dubious consentacles"->https://copperbadge.tumblr.com/post/77615315878/dubious-consentacles-a-compleat-history]]) **ABUSIVE GAMES** <blockquote>In 2008, Doug and the Copenhagen Game Collective prototyped a no-graphics, collaborative sex rhythm game played with wiimotes. We called it _Dark Room Sex Game_ [13]. The project was intended as a stupid but subversive party game – something that would get some laughs. But the game was _also_ a twisted design experiment, developed around a particular idea: by playing on cultural taboos that surround sex and eroticism, we could design a game that not only aroused players, but also _embarrassed_ them. Whether the game actually arouses remains unclear. The embarrassment, however, is pretty much guaranteed.</blockquote> -[["Now It's Personal: On Abusive Game Design"->https://miguelsicart.net/publications/Abusive_Game_Design.pdf]], Douglas Wilson and Miguel Sicart, 2010 [align center] *** [align left] {embed YouTube video: 'https://youtu.be/6bm7fLcj5UI?si=HMI-d3JT4aZ-zz7G'} -[[The PainStation->https://youtu.be/6bm7fLcj5UI?si=HMI-d3JT4aZ-zz7G]], Andrea LetsPlay,_ 2015 **ISSUES OF CONSENT IN GAMING** <blockquote>Consent is the process where you find out exactly what each other wants before you play, and acknowledgement of what you definitely don’t want to happen. What is consented to could typically be seen as mean, out of place, or degrading, but consent is its own context that allows play to be both affective and expressive. Video games tend to obfuscate the effect they will have on the player because of a perceived importance of content and entertainment value. If everyone knew exactly everything about the game and how it works, it would interfere with the typical model of selling games, where PR hypes up products and players go in trusting they will have a good experience. This does not allow for the cycle of wielding and receiving play between designer/game and player. We only have instrumentalized fun in mainstream games because context is hard to sell.</blockquote> -[["Play and Be Real About It"->http://www.mattiebrice.com/play-and-be-real-about-it-what-games-could-learn-from-kink/]], Mattie Brice, _Queer Game Studies,_ 2017 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>Simple "yes" consent can be given out of fear, out of exhaustion, or because one feels that it is what they are 'supposed' to do. [...] Unfortunately playing any sort of multiplayer game is the equivalent of giving a 'yes' to the harassment that takes place during game play and not playing is the only surefire way to say "no."</blockquote> -[["The Magic Circle and Consent in Gaming Practices"->https://www.emmavossen.com/blog/2016/3/7/interest]], Emma Vossen, _Feminism in Play,_ 2016 [align center] *** [align left]config.header.center:"The Magic Circle" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/magiccircle.png'} [align left] The magic circle consists of the real world space, the game space, and the liminal “magic” space that separates the two…and allows for a fully informed transition between reality and unreality. (Image adapted from: [[Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds->https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262516518/half-real/]], Jesper Juul, 2011) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>The arena, the card-table, the magic circle, the temple, the stage, the screen, the tennis court, the court of justice, etc., are all in form and function play-grounds, i.e., forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within ordinary world, dedicated to the performance of an act apart.</blockquote> -[[Homo Ludens->https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/203913/homo-ludens-by-johan-huizinga/]], Johan Huizinga (trans.), 1949 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>Forbidden spots, isolated, hedged round, hallowed, within which special rules obtain. All are temporary worlds within the ordinary. world, dedicated to” ‘the performance of an act apart First and foremost, then, play is a voluntary activity. Play to order is no longer play: it could at best be but a forceful imitation of it.</blockquote> -[[Homo Ludens->https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/203913/homo-ludens-by-johan-huizinga/]], Johan Huizinga (trans.), 1949 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>The magic circle, as put forward in _Rules of Play,_ is the relatively simple idea that when a game is being played, new meanings are generated. These meanings mix elements intrinsic to the game and elements outside the game. </blockquote> -[[“Jerked Around by the Magic Circle – Clearing the Air Ten Years Later”->https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/jerked-around-by-the-magic-circle---clearing-the-air-ten-years-later]], Eric Zimmerman, 2012 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>A broad strokes definition: The magic circle is the idea that a boundary exists between a game and the world outside the game. Outside the magic circle, you are Jane Smith, a 28 year old gamer; inside, you are the Level 62 GrandMage Hargatha of the Dookoo Clan. Outside the magic circle, this is a leather-bound football; inside, it is a special object that helps me score -- and the game of Football has very specific rules about who can touch it, when, where, and in what ways.</blockquote> -[[“Jerked Around by the Magic Circle – Clearing the Air Ten Years Later”->https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/jerked-around-by-the-magic-circle---clearing-the-air-ten-years-later]], Eric Zimmerman, 2012 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>The magic circle is best understood as _the boundary that players negotiate._</blockquote> -[[“The magic circle and the puzzle piece”->https://www.academia.edu/2595537/The_magic_circle_and_the_puzzle_piece]], Jesper Juul, 2008 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>1. The first myth is that the magic circle implies a perfect separa- tion between the game and that which is outside the game. [...] 2. The second myth is that the job of a researcher is to seek – and destroy – binary dichotomies.</blockquote> -[[“The magic circle and the puzzle piece”->https://www.academia.edu/2595537/The_magic_circle_and_the_puzzle_piece]], Jesper Juul, 2008 [align center] *** [align left]config.header.center:"Alternate Reality Games" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/sleepnomore.png'} [align left] (Image of [[Sleep No More->https://mckittrickhotel.com/events/sleep-no-more/]], Lucas Jackson/Reuters, 2011, from [["Performers And Staffers At 'Sleep No More' Say Audience Members Have Sexually Assaulted Them"->https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/sleep-no-more]], Amber Jamieson, Buzzfeed, 2018) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote> [Characteristics of 'ubiquitous gaming' projects that equally serve for ARGs and designed experiences:] 1. [...] designed experiences with a strong potential for emergent, that is to say unexpectedly complex, group play and performance. 2. They are distributed experiences: distributed across multiple media, platforms, locations, and times. 3. They have a significant physical component, phenomenologically speaking, and a significant material component, ontologically speaking. 4. They are embedded at least partially in everyday contexts and/or environments, rather than in marked-off gaming contexts and spaces. They prefer to adopt everyday software, services and technologies rather than exclusively gaming-platforms. 5. They have the effect of sensitizing participants to affordances, real or imagined. That is to say, they increase perception of opportunities for interaction. 6. Many, if not most, of their distributed elements are not clearly identified as part of the experience. Thus active investigation of, and live interaction with, both in-game and out-of-game elements is a significant component of the experience. 7. They have the effect of making all data seem connected, or at least plausibly connected. 8. They make surfaces less convincing. Underlying structures are what matter. 9. They establish a network of players who are in the know. They intentionally involve or engage others who are, at least temporarily, in the dark. 10. Through the relationship rhizome, they aspire to a massively-multiplayer scale. 11. They inexorably create community. [...] 13. They encourage collective magical thinking. [...] </blockquote> -[[“This Might Be a Game”->https://janemcgonigal.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/mcgonigal_this_might_be_a_game_sm-1.pdf]], Jane McGonigal, 2006 [align center] *** [align left] config.header.center:"Blurred Circles Around Us" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/ny_times.jpg'} [align left] With the advent of wider and more varied means to create alternate readings of reality and multiple entities incentivized to blur the lines, the ability to tell when there is a created narrative happening -- and to choose to participate or not in that narrative -- decreases. **WHEN NARRATIVES CHOOSE TO BLUR THE BOUNDARIES** <blockquote>Some listeners mistook those bulletins for the real thing, and their anxious phone calls to police, newspaper offices, and radio stations convinced many journalists that the show had caused nationwide hysteria.</blockquote> -[[War of the Worlds->https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/infamous-war-worlds-radio-broadcast-was-magnificent-fluke-180955180/]] (1938) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>People got very, very angry. So many people got out from their houses, and some brought torches, some brought sticks, stones, whatever they could find, and a mob of people started marching to the building the radio station operated out.</blockquote> -[[War of the Worlds->https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-200-we-interrupt-this-program-11-4-2022/]] (1949) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>More than a few Los Angeles citizens would ask for Sgt. Friday when they visited or telephone their police station; receptionists were instructed to encourage the belief in the fictional detective by telling callers, "Sorry, it’s Joe’s day off."</blockquote> -[[Dragnet (Franchise)->https://www.amazon.com/My-Names-Friday-Unauthorized-Dragnet/dp/1581821905]] [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>Many viewers thought the programme was a real-time documentary[…] The BBC received 30,000 complaints, and imposed a 10-year ban on it being shown again.</blockquote> -[[Ghostwatch->https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/oct/26/how-we-made-bbc-mockumentary-ghostwatch]] (1992) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>They shared the missing person photos and directed visitors to the website. They pretended to be typical online users […]. They even manipulated the IMDb records so if you looked up the actors on the site, their bio information listed them as missing and presumed dead!</blockquote> -[[Blair Witch Project->https://www.site-seeker.com/blair-witch-project-still-greatest-marketing-campaign-15-years/]] (1999) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>What has happened on Tumblr over the course of only a few days is nothing less than an exquisite corpse of collective unreality[...]. The game is easy to understand. You are roleplaying someone who has seen Goncharov (1973), Scorsese’s lost masterpiece.</blockquote> -[[Goncharov->https://gizmodo.com/scorsese-goncharov-1973-tumblr-explained-mafia-movie-1849812229]] (2022) [align center] *** [align left] **WHEN A BLURRED CHOICE BECOMES THE NORM** <blockquote>If we send someone a catalog and say, "Congratulations on your first child!" and they’ve never told us they’re pregnant, that’s going to make some people uncomfortable. […] But even if you’re following the law, you can do things where people get queasy.</blockquote> -[[Data mining->https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/]] (2012) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>Targeted advertising can be a particularly brutal reminder of trauma because the ads feel so personal and individualized, and because what you search for or browse online can affect the ads you see, creating a feedback loop of pain.</blockquote> -[[Targeted ads->https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/4/9/21204425/targeted-ads-fertility-eating-disorder-coronavirus]] (2020) [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>TikTok's user entanglement ensures continued usage; attempts to disentangle have negative financial and social consequences. Users are not free to refrain from self-policing, lest the algorithm denies them access to their audience.</blockquote> -[[TikTok self-surveillance->https://vimeo.com/778944174]] (2023) [align center] *** [align left] **IN GAMES AND DESIGNED EXPERIENCES** Some examples include: [[Can Your Pet?->https://www.gameflare.com/online-game/can-your-pet/]] (game where players won't know what they've consented to) [[Dropout.tv's escape room episode->https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gamechanger+escape+room]] (television show episode where consent was technically given but might not be able to be withdrawn) [[Taskmaster->https://www.youtube.com/@Taskmaster]] (television show where consent is technically given but participants may feel pressure to participate above/beyond their comfort level for contractual reasons) [[McKamey Manor->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvCzXSjujkE]] ("haunted house" where the goal is to break consent) [align center] *** [align left]config.header.center:"Warnings, Tools, Tips, and Tricks" config.style.page.header.font:"40 small caps" config.style.page.link.font:"22 small caps" -- [align center] {embed image: 'https://users.wpi.edu/~kjcrighton/projects/Consent and the Magic Circle/meow-wolf-las-vegas.jpg'} [align left] (Image of [[Meow Wolf's Omega Mart in Las Vegas->https://meowwolf.com/visit/las-vegas]], Kate Russell, from [["Meow Wolf's Omega Mart is opening in Las Vegas in a pandemic. What to know"->https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-02-17/meow-wolf-omega-mart-covid-era-opening-las-vegas-in-pandemic]], Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 2021) **WARNINGS (ABOUT UNCLEAR RULES)** <blockquote>[E]ight former _Sleep No More_ performers and staffers told BuzzFeed News they were groped by audience members during the show. In all, BuzzFeed News confirmed 17 incidents of groping or sexual misconduct by patrons during the show — including of two former performers who were groped multiple times. _Sleep No More_ acknowledged seven of those incidents, and contested the rest. In all, BuzzFeed News spoke with more than 30 current and former employees, but most declined to be identified, citing _Sleep No More_’s nondisclosure agreements or fear of reprisal from the company and theater community.</blockquote> -[["Performers And Staffers At 'Sleep No More' Say Audience Members Have Sexually Assaulted Them"->https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/sleep-no-more]], Amber Jamieson, Buzzfeed, 2018 [align center] *** [align left] {embed YouTube video: 'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPfDi_bNBjU'} -[[Introduction to Narrative Experience Design->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPfDi_bNBjU]], Andrea Phillips at _TEDxTransmedia,_ 2013 [align center] *** [align left] **WARNINGS (ABOUT UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES)** {embed YouTube video: 'https://youtu.be/YBqIpjTDlzU?si=Wr76PC-PhAR5gimC'} -[[The Ghost That Spooked a Nation->https://youtu.be/YBqIpjTDlzU?si=Wr76PC-PhAR5gimC]], Stephen Volk at _TEDx Talks,_ 2012 [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>“People got very, very angry. So many people got out from their houses, and some brought torches, some brought sticks, stones, whatever they could find, and a mob of people started marching to the building the radio station operated out.”</blockquote> -[[War of the Worlds->https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-200-we-interrupt-this-program-11-4-2022/]] (1949) [align center] *** [align left] **WARNINGS (ABOUT BREAKING TRUST AND AUDIENCE EXPECTATION)** <blockquote>“Much of the [Kickstarter campaign for _Boyfriend Dungeon]'s_ enticement centered the appeal of dating: 'Let’sget to the point: take your weapon-babes on romantic outings, such as to the club or the beach.The couple that slays together, stays together.” [...] "Despite Carpenter’s discussion of the sincerity of the game, during the Kickstarter and [subsquent] marketingcampaign, there was no mention of the antagonist character Eric, or his problematic behavior, which were central to the story and fueled the game’s controversial reception.”</blockquote> -[["The Constraints of Cozy Games: Boyfriend Dungeon and Consent in Queer Play"->https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3582437.3582452]], Anne Sullivan, Mel Stanfill, and Anastasia Salter, _Foundations of Digital Games 2023_ [align center] *** [align left] <blockquote>“In the case of _The 100,_ the creative team’s overtures toward LGBTQ viewers and Clexa fans worked as paratexts heightening viewers’ hopes about Lexa’s future as a character. These overtures were not just momentary promotions of a new character but continued up until Lexa’s death. When a rumor of her demise leaked, Rothenberg tweeted pictures from set in which she appeared to be alive and well and invited fans to come watch filming in downtown Vancouver (@JrothenbergTV, January 21, 2016). [...] When her death happened suddenly, in an episode the creative team had promoted to queer fans, viewers reacted with anger. The crew’s sustained engagement had signaled to many queer viewers that _The 100_ understood their investments and would treat them well, and so Lexa’s sudden death read as a betrayal.”</blockquote> -[["Toxic regulation: From TV’s code of practices to ‘#Bury Your Gays’"->https://www.participations.org/15-01-18-cameron.pdf]], Kelsey Cameron, _Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies,_ 2018 [align center] *** [align left] **TOOLS, TIPS, AND TRICKS** <blockquote> [How designers might exert "indirect control over the actions of a player of any given game:] 1. **Constraints** -- rather than giving a player infinite possibilities to choose from, a game designer can exert control over the experience of the game by limiting a player's possible choices. The example Schell gives is putting two doors in an empty room. The naturally curious player will most likely open one of them, especially if there is nothing else to do, and will still feel as if they had a choice in where to go (286). 2. **Goals** -- giving a goal to the player makes them more likely to make decisions that lead them closer to the goal of the game. If the goal of a game is "collect all the bananas," for example, players will be much more likely to go through a door labeled "banana hoard" (286). 3. **Interface** -- the interface can be a major mehod of indirect control because it suggests certain actions to players. A game using a plastic guitar as a controller immediately puts the player in that mindset; it probably will not occur to them that they'd want to do anything like move or jump (287). 4. **Visual Design** -- aesthetics can be put to good use as a method of indirect control as well. Schell uses an example of an Alladin magic carpet game in which the the player had to approach the sultan on a throne. Originally, few players approached on their own accord, but all it took was a simple red line on the floor to draw them to the right location (290). 5. **Characters** -- computer controlled characters are a very easy way of getting players to make certain actions. Whether they are enemies pushing players to a certain location, allies telling them about a quest, or civilians whom the player needs to protect, characters can be agents of the game designer's will through a process Schell calls collusion (292). 6. **Music** -- perhaps even subtler than visual design, the music of a game can set a tone for anything from a chase scene to a moment of rest for the player-character (292-293). </blockquote> -from [[“Indirect Control”->https://game-studies.fandom.com/wiki/Indirect_Control]], referencing [[The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses->https://schellgames.com/art-of-game-design]], Jesse Schell, 2008 [align center] *** [align left] {embed YouTube video: 'https://youtu.be/yXjEHDBjrXE?si=UCnTm177QOrzujii'} -[[Introduction to Narrative Experience Design->https://youtu.be/yXjEHDBjrXE?si=UCnTm177QOrzujii]], Johanna Koljonen at _Alibis for Interaction 2015_ [align center] *** [align left] {embed YouTube video: 'https://youtu.be/XfocA4ogmog?si=K1pJG1kcVEGEGT4E'} -[[When Theater Is A Game->https://youtu.be/yXjEHDBjrXE?si=UCnTm177QOrzujii]], David Kuelz at _Narrascope 2023_ [align center] *** [align left]