On the Importance of Queer Romances - Role-play as Exploration and Performance of Sexuality

This article investigates various kinds of analog and digital role-playing games (RPG) from the perspective of queer romance. We are interested in finding out how ‘queer’ appears in the composition of role-playing games through analysing players’ explorations and performances, as well as the options for romance in these games. We will look into a variety of role-playing games as research material in this study, from non-digital play – such as traditional tabletop role-playing games to live action role-play, or larp – to single-player digital RPGs. We ask how queerness affects the options for romance, whether localised in an event or in the composition of a single character, and what kind of exploration it serves. Is queerness to be found in the romance mechanic, or crunch, of RPGs, or is it part of the fluff: the setting and character descriptions? This article’s orientation is theoretical, and the main reference material here comes from RPG studies as well as queer game studies.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Juhana Pettersson: Artist of Experience

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Foreword

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Pervasive Games: Theory and Design Eperiences on The Boundary Between Life and Play

Quickly emerging from the fast-paced growth of mobile communications and wireless technologies, pervasive games take gaming away from the computer screen back to the tree dimensional world. Now games can be designed to be played in public spaces like shopping malls, conferences, museums and other non-traditional game venues. Game designers need to understand how to use the world as a gamespace- both the challenges and advantages of doing so. This book shows how to change the face of play- who palys, when and where they play and what that play means to all involved. The authors explore aspects of pervasive games that concern game designers: what makes these games compelling, what makes them ponsible today and how they are made. For game researchers, it provides a solid theoretical, philosophical and aesthetic understanding of the genre

Central theories of games and play

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The frames of pervasive live action role-playing games : a Case Study Applying Frame Analysis on Momentum

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.In this Master’s thesis the pervasive larp Prosopopeia Bardo 2: Momentum is studied as a case example of how the consciously constructed diegetic realities of live action role-playing interact and clash with that of everyday life. The analysis of the player experience in Momentum is divided in three parts: how the frames of ordinary life and the game exist on top of each other, how the player slips from one frame to another, and how the participants of the game negotiate these frames with each other and with the non-participants they encounter. The analysis is conducted using Erving Goffman’s (1974) frame analysis and Gary Alan Fine’s (1983) role-playing specific elaboration of it. It is based on participant observation, email interviews with the player before, during and after the games, as well as semi-structured interviews with half of the players after the game. In addition to the three frames that Fine has described in his study of tabletop role-playing games – the primary framework, the playing frame and the game frame – there are numerous other frames present in a pervasive larp. The participants shift between these numerous frames, but they also employ a dual vision, seeing the events both as ludic and as ordinary. The work has been conducted as part of the EU-funded Integrated Project for Pervasive Gaming. The thesis tackles an isolated research question separated from the larger framework building on a theoretical framework developed in the context of IPerG by Markus Montola and Annika Waern. In addition to sociology the work builds on ludology (game studies). In the thesis it is proposed that frame analysis is a good tool in uncovering the inner working of a pervasive larp. However, as a method it falls short when the analysis of the internal processes of a player is attempted. The thesis also offers results for the design theory of pervasive larps: It discusses what hinders and supports immersion and offers a general interaction model for socially expanded pervasive larps

Saindo Da Masmorra: Representações De Sexualidade Queer Em Livros De Referências De RPG

Nesse artigo, indagamos porque as representações de temas e personagens LGBTQ têm sido tão raras no contexto dos jogos de interpretação de papeis. Uma análise preliminar das primeiras três décadas (1974-2005) de materiais de referência de RPG em língua inglesa mostra que quando o assunto não foi simplesmente silenciado, ele foi ao encontro de reações que parecem, em retrospectiva, humorísticas ou extremas. Nosso objetivo aqui é mapear uma história alternativa dos livros de referência de jogos de interpretação de papeis, que atente para as sexualidades queer, e conecte estas representações com outras esferas culturais.In this article, we are asking why representations of LGBTQ themes and characters have been so scarce in the context of role-playing games. A preliminary analysis of the first three decades (1974–2005) of English language RPG source material shows that when the topic has not been silenced al together, it has been met with reactions that seem humorous or extreme in hindsight. Our aim here is to mapan alternative history of role-playing game source books, one that pays attention to queer sexualities, and connect these representations toot her cultural spheres

The Meaning of Playfulness: A Review of the Contemporary Definitions of the Concept across Disciplines.

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