Multivariant Narratives: tl;dr

My first experience with Multivariant Narratives was the series "Goosebumps" by R.L. Stine. Man, those were the good days. "Choose Your Own Adventure"-type books seemed to be popular for at least a decade, but I haven't heard much about them since.

The brilliant idea I had for this response, though, was that MVNs are also kind of the point of RPGs and MMORPGs - but more for MMORPGs. The course of action in these games is strictly determined by its players. There is no end to the game, and the whole point is to explore around for yourself and interact with other characters. What makes games like these is unique in the way that every single player has a different experience of the game. What happens for one person may or may not happen for another.

Second Life would also be considered a MVN, because like an MMORPG, users have a very different experience with the simulator. The difference, though, is that Second Life is not a game like World of Warcraft or its sister games. I would venture to say they are essentially the same thing, only one is a game and one not.

Back to writing my Shakespeare paper :( (I wish I could take Intro to Shake with Prof. Gants!)

PS - Will you leave a comment this time? :D


[rant] PPS - For the people in our class (and since I am 99% sure none of you read this, I have no problems saying this): DON'T COME TO CLASS IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO SIT ON THE COMPUTER THE WHOLE TIME. SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO PAY ATTENTION AND IT'S HARD TO HEAR OVER ALL THE TAP TAP TAPPING OF THE KEYBOARDS. Just don't come. [/end rant]