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Collaborative Storytelling 2.0: A framework for studying forum-based role-playing games

Zalka, Csenge V.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu148959123885058

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies.
Forum-based role-playing games are a rich, yet barely researched subset of textbased digital gaming. They are a form of storytelling where narratives are created through acts of play by multiple people in an online space, combining collaboration and improvisation. This dissertation acts as a pilot study for exploring these games in their full complexity at the intersection of play, narrative, and fandom. Building on theories of interactivity, digital storytelling, and fan fiction studies, it highlights forum games’ most unique features, and proves that they are is in no way liminal or secondary to more popular forms of role-playing. The research is based on data drawn from a large sample of forums of various genres. One hundred sites were explored through close textual analysis in order to outline their most common features. The second phase of the project consisted of nine months of participant observation on select forums, in order to gain a better understanding of how their rules and practices influence the emergent narratives. Participants from various sites contributed their own interpretations of forum gaming through a series of ethnographic interviews. This did not only allow agency to the observed communities to voice their thoughts and explain their practices, but also spoke directly to the key research question of why people are drawn to forum gaming. The main drawing power of forum games is their focus on creative, collaborative writing. Players interested in writing with others in a playful setting, and engaging with their favorite popular culture texts through composition, are drawn to these sites because of the narrative freedom they offer compared to other gaming platforms. In addition, their narratives born from play are consciously, intentionally, and enthusiastically multimodal. Multimodality offers a wide range of creative opportunities for telling stories in a digital space, and it also has connections to older, oral forms of communal storytelling. This study creates a framework for theorizing forum-based role-playing games as a distinct style of gaming, worthy of scholarly attention. It also opens up new opportunities for future research, as well as applications including ESL education, collaborative writing, literary studies, and graphic design.
Kristine Blair, Dr. (Committee Co-Chair)
Radhika Gajjala, Dr. (Committee Co-Chair)
Jeremy Wallach, Dr. (Committee Member)
Lisa Gruenhagen, Dr. (Other)
239 p.
Composition
digital storytelling; gaming; fandom; fan fiction; role-playing games; RPG; multimodality; interactivity; game narratives; forums; text-based games; digital games; multimodal narratives

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zalka, C. V. (2017). Collaborative Storytelling 2.0: A framework for studying forum-based role-playing games [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu148959123885058

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zalka, Csenge. Collaborative Storytelling 2.0: A framework for studying forum-based role-playing games. 2017. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu148959123885058.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zalka, Csenge. "Collaborative Storytelling 2.0: A framework for studying forum-based role-playing games." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu148959123885058

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.