Thinking about design and other things:
What is Responsive Narrative?
The only way to win your player over is through their emotions.
David Hume wrote in 1739: “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.”
He was formulating this regarding what one needs to truly win someone over in an argument. But much of classic rhetoric knowledge can be applied to modern-day storytelling, especially since we narrative designers are faced with the daunting task to hook into and evoke our player’s emotions in an interactive medium while not limiting their player agency over it.
Twitter thread regarding Riot’s Project F
As a designer who has played a few (way too many) MMOs over the last 15 years (from Dungeon Runners, Flyff, WoW, Guild Wars 1, Aion, to Wild Star) and has designed pitches for some myself (including an Avatar project with @sdgiesselmann)
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Here is my lunch break well spent: 1/16 pic.twitter.com/8z5exBzNt4
Progression 3/16 pic.twitter.com/eVn3Vu73fR
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Bonus: And what was even good about horizontal progression in the first place?
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
18/16 pic.twitter.com/fQT7AaL5yV
Sense of Community, Housing (with a twist) 5/16 pic.twitter.com/4iYbEU7l1K
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Nations & Factions 7/16 pic.twitter.com/jeAR8l6xcK
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Player Types, Game Flow 8/16 pic.twitter.com/IrlnQh6sUd
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
I remember an "ability" to pray with light on you as Paladin on Legion, it was so insane. This kind of stuff is very cool.
— i 💚 humanity (@Alias_LeGnome) May 2, 2022
Voting Systems? 12/16 pic.twitter.com/qU2kZ6zi5C
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Open World 14/16 pic.twitter.com/gHgdwGDzze
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Thanks for coming to my TED talk 16/16 pic.twitter.com/QQ4CtK9pR1
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Progression 2/16 pic.twitter.com/vNhehUnlFl
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Very good question! And is definitely a question the designers on Project F need to solve before release. Why did horizontal progression motivate players long-term in Guild Wars 1 but failed to do the same in Guild Wars 2?
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
My thoughts: 17/16 pic.twitter.com/c2eQCaCn6Y
Engame 4/16 pic.twitter.com/gOxryd42Uz
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Monetization 6/16 pic.twitter.com/zX9WpJznI2
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
One of the fairer options for sure (& how Riot is currently monetizing Valorant & League), maybe even the fairest, if these high-quality cosmetics aren't fomo'd with limited availability
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 4, 2022
Proposal to solve the immersion-breaking process of purchasing goods with real money: 19/16 pic.twitter.com/vxqG3BDih3
Abilities 9/16 pic.twitter.com/KLPwNXQP9x
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Respecting Player Time 11/16 pic.twitter.com/QaFVSiv8RI
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Datamine Protection 13/16 pic.twitter.com/HGjCOxr10J
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Designing for Convenience 15/16 pic.twitter.com/9YFnz8m4iD
— Sam Luckhardt 🖋🌹🖤 (@samluckhardt) May 2, 2022
Making-of: Personal Website 💜
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) June 23, 2021
It's been a couple months but here is a sneak peek into my @MiroHQ board and design process: pic.twitter.com/2APaC4KgC6
Okay, so as promised yesterday, here is the footage of my project being displayed at the Mercedes Square in Berlin! Done with @sdgiesselmann! 🖤🎉
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) February 11, 2021
And I'm a Bachelor of Game Design now!
I'll blog my thesis soon, so you can build your own opinion about Environmental Foreshadowing pic.twitter.com/T0fJFfCZSs
"We are happy to inform you that your work has been selected to be shown at the Mercedes Platz in Berlin."
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) February 10, 2021
Aahh! An honor! Glimpses of "The Whispers In Between" are going to be on display here:
If my friends in Berlin manage to capture some footage, I'll share it tomorrow 🥰 pic.twitter.com/sWTGufkawJ
Seeing people upload themselves playing your #HalfLifeAlyx mod is such a cool feeling. (Even if it's still an early WIP version, but playtest feedback is soooo important)
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) February 4, 2021
Working with @sdgiesselmann is just pure 🖤🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/6I0pRUDhJb
1) Bring back overly diverse almost a clunky amount of many attachments per weapon with many different types of weapons. It's okay to have some that are so weird only 2% of players play them.
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) January 20, 2021
(Good design =/= super streamlined, unbreakable.
Rather good design == fun)
(2/4) pic.twitter.com/ROZdCC1y6W
Haha, love the Thornbridge Manor murder mystery setting @IOInteractive! 🖤 To -bridge- the wait: here is a murder mystery adventure I wrote called "Thornrose" featuring 50 pages of puzzles and monstrous plots to uncover! (3 players)
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) January 11, 2021
Download for free:https://t.co/3VSMFIUxA4 pic.twitter.com/d0gfNsGy7O
Playful Experience Designers? Something to ponder on #narrativedesign & #gamedesign people (credits go to @csongorb for introducing me to the author!) the great book in question being: @miguelsicart's "Play Matters" Chapter 7: "The game designer... (1/3) pic.twitter.com/SNBJvGZ4dH
— Sam Luckhardt 🥧🦌 (@samluckhardt) May 25, 2020
Decided to share this part of my behaviour tree deep dive from a recent side project with my friend @Meltdrache for you #gamedev Twitter, so you can add this to your repertoire if you haven't already! Also for my #gamedesign and #leveldesign friends of course. pic.twitter.com/z18M1Y6Rj8
— Sam Luckhardt 🥧🦌 (@samluckhardt) July 6, 2020
3) "Under the Radar" perk for Viper pilots. One of the best single perks ever designed in an FPS imo. Super high risk, equally high reward. The perk dropped Stinger target locks if you're a couple feet from the ground. Find similar skill rewarding perks for other vehicles.
— Sam Luckhardt 🖤✒️🥀 (@samluckhardt) January 20, 2021
(4/4) pic.twitter.com/ziBEGq9eFL
Fully agreed. Stig Asmussen (on AIAS GMN): "I own the responsibility of our failure, but the team owns the responsibility of our success" and a team can only be successful if you create an enjoyable atmosphere with mutual respect and ownership. Make the project everyone's baby
— Sam Luckhardt 🥧🦌 (@samluckhardt) June 8, 2020
A different book recommendation for all #gamedevs out there, a book talking about finding your personal Ikigai, your reason why you jump out of bed every morning, how to reach fulfillment in life. (For me that was #narrativedesign and working towards becoming a world designer) pic.twitter.com/sn37PLRNIh
— Sam Luckhardt 🥧🦌 (@samluckhardt) June 9, 2020