GDC Online: It's all Games Now! How Games & Social Media are Converging by Raph Koster

Social media and games are a trending hot topic in our industry these days and I had the opportunity to attend a talk by Raph Koster who creatively reminds us that games have and always will be a social medium.  The brief version of Raph’s narrative is that there once was a world within a magic circle, where math and creativity reigned supreme and those of us who lived in the magic circle were wizards, ruling in this domain.  On the other side of our magic circle was the “wild world”, and our worlds never mixed because the boundaries of our magic circle were strong.  But the wild world pushed their boundaries closer and closer to the magic circle, causing a leak.  With this leak, our secrets passed through to the wild world, and the wild world loved our secrets so much, that they kept pushing the boundaries.  So much so, that they began to colonize our sacred magic circle, educating us on their practices.  Some wizards liked the wild world practices so much that they began to forget the way of the wizards and began to slip.  But Raph Koster, one of our most prominent wizards, came to remind us that even though the ways of the wild world have become popular, not to be so consumed by these practices but to keep our wizarding practices alive.  

What does this all mean?  Aside from the analogy that Raph Koster beautifully crafted, (spoilers!) game developers are the wizards in the magic circle and the wild world, is essentially, the reality we live in.  When our worlds collided, better games were created, and in turn, we now “know more about games than we did 10 years ago.”  Through games, achievements can and have become real achievements.  For example, Raph spoke of an app that helped him lose 40 pounds.  This was only achievable through great design and conscientious game developers.  Otherwise, with poor design and a not-so-conscientious game developer, the app could have lead to anorexia.  

Games have also helped us connect with our friends, whether it be through an MMO guild, forums or even Facebook.  Some developers are fighting the rise of social games, but in reality, the old ways of the magic circle haven’t been forgotten, they’ve just been renamed.  Raph had a few slides in his talk about how the terms have been renamed.  A few examples:  ‘Say’ can now be related to ‘Wall post’, Public Chat is now Twitter, Boards are now Forums, Badges are Achievements, Auction House is Ebay, Gold Coins are Facebook Credits, etc.

The reality of the merging of the magic circle and the wild world has caused many wizards to be overwhelmed by the practices of the wild world, which has caused many a wizard to lose their way and forget their roots.  But have no fear, the wild world is out there and we are still wizards so we need to embrace it.  The most important thing to remember is to have your wits about you and not let the practices of the wild world control you, but you control how the practices of the wild world will make it into your game.

For more information on Raph Koster’s talk from GDC Online 2011 here is the link to his personal website:  http://www.raphkoster.com/2011/10/13/gdco2011-its-all-games-now/

- Narie Kay