Games as a Narrative versus an Experience

[BanzaiCat]

For me, any game I buy (which is too many), I think about it in terms of the narrative experience. In other words, how it can tell a story, and how I could possibly put that to paper and report it to anyone interested in reading about it.

Any game I buy has to have some kind of narrative potential to it, potential for an AAR and in telling a story. For example, Fortune and Glory. While adventure games certainly fit that bill, it could of course apply to any game, especially historical wargames.

And with the rise of social media over the years, as well as sites like BGG, there's been a big uptick in people writing their gaming experiences. Sometimes they're not nearly as detailed as I'd like, or make them out to be (perhaps overly so), but that's okay. A narrative is a narrative.

This also means for me that most of my games have a LOT of table time...they stay set up for a while so I'm always thinking about what is coming next, how I can frame the story, and so on.

What I'm wondering is if my observation is correct - more people out there doing more AARs/game reports than gamers that simply open the box, set it up, play it, then put it back and don't think about it in terms of how it tells a story. Not sure if I'm making much sense here or not. Probably not.

[jack nastyface]

Good post.  While I know that there are lots of gamers who primarily seek an immersive experience, I have always preferred the games that provide a compelling story or narrative.  As a result, I tend to play lots of smaller scale, skirmish level games rather than large operational or grand strategy games, or game where one counter = one man or squad / one ship / one plane etc preoccupy most of my gaming time.  Of course, I will happily play larger scale games if that's all that is available, but I usually find the story less "compelling" (for lack of a better word).

To answer your question, though, I would agree that there tend to be more narrative based AARs on blogs or youtube videos than grand strategy games.  Or perhaps better stated:  because I am personally into games where narrative is the focus of gameplay, I tend to pay attention and watch or read AARs that have a compelling narrative.  Having said, this may also be because small scale games tend to (though not always) have simpler mechanics that lend themselves to short form AARs.  For example, just before Xmas I was occasionally sitting in on a game of Napoleon's Last Gamble, playing the British right at Quatre Bras.  Although the game play was fun, it may be difficult to write a compelling high-level, grand strategy AAR of that game.  Compare that to the singular events that happen whilst playing The Hunters, Target for Today, or the DVG "leader" games.

Just my thoughts...

[trailrunner]

I also greatly enjoy the narrative.  My friends and I often interject dialog during the game.  During our last ASL game, my squad with an MMG was ineffective firing against a stone building, so I moved up a 9-2 leader to direct the fire.  My friend said "ah, so Sargeant Weiner gets behind the squad and yells 'SHOOT FOR THE WINDOWS YOU IDIOTS!!!!'"  In another game, my combat engineers equipped with a flamethrower kept nailing two squads trying to escape, eventually eliminating them.  We imagined a pile of smoldering ashes in the street, and my friend accused me of a war crime.  Then there is the unit that seems immune, cheating death for turn after turn, or the strong unit that you're counting on to anchor the attack that gets nailed by a weak attack on the first turn.

[bbmike]

For me, absolutely. I think it also explains why I like to play these games solo (close yer ears, Cyrano!). Even when I don't post AARs I still have a notebook that I use to write down what it going on story-wise as well as game-wise. Coming from a strong RPG background might also have something to do with it.

[bayonetbrant]

The best AARs of the high-echelon games were always Airborne Rifles CMANO AARs, in large part b/c he would personalize the things that happened in the game by giving them names and characters even where none otherwise existed

[BanzaiCat]

I use the term 'AAR' in this context loosely. For example, if you're a member of Solitaire Wargames or similar groups on Facebook, often you'll see someone post a one-paragraph summary of their gameplay experience...I'm including posts such as these under that umbrella. If that's all they do, great; if that encourages them to expand and write more, so much the better.

I'm also including YouTube videos of gameplay, though looking more to the narrative ones (which surprisingly I've found few). For the latter, I'm meaning more stuff like this:

Which is just plain silly, though it is something of a narrative with the game as a wrapper (note: I did that video and all the voices, even though it's pretty bad). I would have done more of them but wanted to see if it actually got people's attention (it didn't, lol). This DID go through gameplay elements, which for me is a natural offshoot of an AAR - to discuss the concepts of the game. If I watch something I want to see how it plays through and see what kind of story it tells, even if the telling is somewhat 'special.'

I find I can't really do AARs without some kind of smart-ass/humor element to it. 'Normie' AARs detailing serious battles intimidate me, to that end. Though I'm sure I'd find a way to slip a joke or three (bad ones usually) in there.

[Barthheart]

…
Few enjoy writing.  When you write up an AAR you "already know what happened."  You are recreating it for other people, instead of playing something else.  Writing a decent AAR is extraordinarily time consuming.  You don't find many good AARs because of the time commitment, lack of writing skill, and honestly it can get boring and you want to move on to something else.  You also have to be highly orgainzed to write a good AAR, take the screen shots, and describe the action accurately.
...

This describes me fairly well. While I enjoy the narrative that comes up in games and I have done a few detailed AARs on the other site, eventually I get bored with all the pic and note taking and just want to play the game. I write reports for a living so trying to force myself to do that during my game time becomes a drag and seriously makes want to avoid the game in question.
Or maybe I'm just a lazy basturd....

I Like reading AARs from all scales especially if I have the game and have played it.