Participants' essays / Sami Haartemo /

Virtual worlds: 2nd time trying to understand

Setup
My first essay was about getting relationships in virtual world. I wrote it because I found that whole virtual communities thing was little confusing and definitely not for me. So my study project teacher Mika Tuomola advised me to go in to virtual worlds in disguise. And so I did.

I appeared in Blaxxun´s Cyberworld as a woman avatar. I also played her like her/mine real persona would be woman. And I successed! In very short time I get to know to one australian guy who believed me to be a woman. Surprisingly I found myself in very deep and active conservation with this fellow. Actually it was first time that I found meaningful and fun time in virtual worlds! At the end of our intensive talk-session we decided to see later. We had "dates" like we called it. Time went by and it was time to meet my new friend again.

But fearing of revealing my real identity I decided not to meet this guy again. I killed my avatar (by not using her again in Cybertown!). And so - in a short time - I created drama between real and virtual. Drama was constructed with these elements: By disappearing and killing my female avatar I had created situation (drama) where my new friend didn´t know what happened to his new (avatar) friend. They (australian guy and his avatar) didn´t know what happened to my beautiful female avatar or her real persona. And I... I know little and decided not to carry on with this new persona in Cybertown. So in a way I really created (in a very short time) a powerful drama for myself. I couldn´t have done this without other avatar used by some-one how revealed bits of himself to me!

So after few months I now re-think that whole episode again by using some new thoughts that have been brought to me. Why it is so hard to at least to me, create drama in virtual world? I don´t know if I have any answers but I think it is good to re-write my thoughts. Maybe same day answer will be clear to me.

1. Time
In traditional drama time is very important element of driving story forward. In traditional linear story-telling like theatre and cinema time can be divad (=jakaa?) in two categories. The most important is time in story. The another is time of story which I shall now call duration. This is also the part where this new virtual drama is different. In virtual drama duration and time in story are mixing and coming as one. Stories don´t have any particular duration. They happen while you participate and also while you don´t participate. That because time goes by every second that it goes in our world! Let me explain.

Duration is not as important element as time (in story) but I think that it is good to understand and know it when talking about non-linear drama like virtual worlds. Most "new media" stories (like virtual worlds) don´t actually have any duration of time in which the viewer should or can explore story. Off-course there is time going always but it is usually not that relevant. Or it isn´t at least if virtual drama can be done like normal book reading process. You can read (and go forward) in story when ever it is suitable for you.

But in virtual worlds situation can be sometimes different. Sometimes real time can bond oneself very much. Because time usually goes like it goes in real world and being away for a long time can actually be lost in your virtual life. In virtual worlds like Cybertown there is little control of time (Tuomola Mika, 1996). I mean important and interesting things might happen while you are away. And how strong element time is, basically depends on how deep "drama" one is going through in virtual world!

Time (of story) itself is more relevant. For example in virtual world like Cybertown time is floating like in our world. You can miss something by being away from these worlds (or by being late like you can be in real world!). So one powerful thing in non-linear drama in virtual worlds might be that time can be like in our own world. So when you have created powerful connections in virtual world the time might be a very powerful instrument of creating tension. "What will I miss or what will happen if I am away for two days?". But that is powerful only if your avatar/character has already done something that interests himself. In other words character has started to create drama for himself through relationships of this virtual world.

2. Space
Because time is used in different way in virtual world than in linear storytelling it is space that becomes as a very powerful element. That is also one thing that is very hard to control in virtual worlds. What? you may ask! There is a certain ristricted area in virtual world, you may say! Yes there is. But at least my experience is that it is only a world. It isn´t world that supports story.

Let me give you one example. Mika Tuomola´s virtual drama "Daisy´s Amazing Discoveries" is a internet "new media" story. User has freedom of time much like he has in virtual worlds (and more like in book reading experience). He can explore Daisy´s story almost free of time limitations (with some little disrictions). But inside story there is elements that creates story. You can find personal letters, leave your own marks in story and be a member of Daisy´s world. So user is free to explore world and can find "marks" (by director) that lead story forward. (Tuomola, Mika 1998)

In virtual world like Blaxxun´s Cybertown are different. In Daisy there is clear marks of how director has created story witch user can freely explore. But in Cybertown user and users create story together. There isn´t any kind of director. There is only a world. So in virtual world user is very free to do almost everything that can be done in limits of that world. Although you can buy thinks, have a home, go in museum, meet other avatars etc. and although you can give things as a present to an another avatar and get to know to him there still is lack of story! Or at least nature of stories is written in very different style than we are used to.

3. Character (is conclusion?)
As I earlier told and as I also have personally witnessed that this new non-linear storytelling is really character-based.

In traditional linear drama (that is also character-based) there is usual some goals that main character is trying to accomplish. So when I entered in to the Cyberown as a woman avatar my goal was to get dates. So my and my avatars goals were very simple. It was more like traditional game for me. I had a mission that I wanted to do. After finishing my mission it was easy for me to kill my avatar. Why? I think because I didn´t have anything that I would like to get from Cybertown. Not at least by using woman avatar.

What about those hundred of thousands people that actively are creating stories in virtual worlds? What do they want? What is their goal? Is it possible that only goal that those characters is to entertain themselves? For some one it might be just chat with some-one who has same kind of interests? Or may just get know some-one that is very different from oneself? Because of different kind of use of time and space virtual worlds (and internet) have created powerful mixture of real life and "another", computer based virtual life (Stone Rosanne, 1994). Together they are creating new kind of drama. Drama between real and virtual that is new thing to understand. Actually more I think of this more I am getting confused…

References:

Benedikt. M. (ed.) (1994) Cyberspace: First Steps. Stone, Rosanne: Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?: Boundary Stories about Virtual Cultures.

Tuomola M. (1996) Digital Creativity, Vol. 9, No 3. Daisy´s Amazing Discoveries: Part 2 - Learning from Interactive Drama.

Tuomola M. (1997) Digital Creativity, Vol. 10, No 3. Drama in the Digital Domain: Commedia dell´Arte, Characterisation, Collaboration and Computers.