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Authorship and Autership

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Michael Heron
Michael Heron

This document discusses authorship and collaboration in multiplayer online text-based games (MUDs). It notes that MUDs have no single author and evolve continuously through contributions from many developers and players over long periods of time. Determining authorial intent is difficult as control and direction change hands frequently. The code infrastructure is built and maintained by many, influencing but not dictating the narrative elements added by others. Players also influence the game's direction through feedback and invested time. Thus MUDs frustrate traditional notions of a fixed work with a single author.

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Authorship and Autership John Townsend, University of Sydney Michael Heron, Canterbury Christ Church University
Introduction The construction of literature in any form has several components that influence construction. Some of these are based on format. Some of these are thematic Some are stylistic. Today I want to talk about the collaborative construction of real time multiplayer text games. The issues are not unique to these kind of games, but most neatly encapsulated within them.
Text Games For the purposes of this talk, I will define text games as those works of electronic literature that are: Primarily driven by textual output Primary driven by textual input Ergodic, requiring some degree of effortful navigation. Cybertextual, with output algorithmically dependent on input.
Examples of Text Games Early text adventures, such as those of Level 9 and Infocom. http://pot.home.xs4all.nl/infocom/ Mafia Wars https://www.mafiawars.zynga.com/fbconnect? Fallen London http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/ Urban Dead http://www.urbandead.com/
MUD Output
MUDs The heyday of the Multiuser Dungeon (MUD) was in the early 90s. Before the graphical MMOs that eventually killed then off. There remains however an active community of developers and players. Die-hards (like me) Indie developers looking for low-cost game platforms Text aficionados Those for whom graphical games are inappropriate
Characteristics of a MUD MUDs differ from conventional text-games in a number of ways. Expectation of persistence Many MUDs around now have been in constant operation for 20 years. Expectation of discontinuity Very few MUDs around now have the same developer team they did at their inception. An expectation of novelty. A persistent game must continually introduce new content to keep players interested. 24 hour availability Production MUDs are available at all times of the day, which creates issues of co-ordination as well as the emergence of multiple social cohorts.
Characteristics of a MUD Similarly, there are certain aspects that derive from being persistent multiplayer. Players have a sense of ownership over the work. They have, in many cases, invested more time than many developers into exploring and interpreting the content. MUDs are in many senses a social text Formed from attaining the necessary critical mass to persist. MUDs are as much community as they are interactive works. And a community can cohere against changes that it sees to be corrosive to the status quo.
Characteristics of a MUD Save for a handful of rare cases, MUDs are free to play. This has consequences too when it comes to recruitment and promotion of developers. The longevity of a MUD all but guarantees a high attrition rate. Developers and players The need for constant expansion requires an active, ongoing developer presence. MUDs are never finished as long as people are playing.
Collaboration Muds therefore tend to have many creators Many at a time In overlapping periods Without financial remuneration This impacts heavily on concepts of authorship, ownership and the ability to direct a games creative direction. This makes it difficult to build authorial intention into the analysis of a work.
Issues of Intention It is all but impossible in such environments to ascertain authorship, which in itself is broken up into multiple spheres. Code ownership Literary expression Artistic direction Each of these carries with it a different expectation of what constitutes authorship as well as the common conventions of collaboration. As well as the extent to which authorship can be exercised within the game.
Collaboration and Code MUDs are code artifacts as well as (ideally) literary works. The culture of code ownership in most healthy dynamics stresses expertise over permission. Although this in turn is usually tiered by how critical the code is. Good projects try to aim for a high bus factor. However, the code infrastructure exists largely independently of the narrative structure of a game.
Collaboration and Code The code in properly engineered games of this nature serves as the library upon which the game itself is built. The same code should allow for radically different games with radically different themes. However, this is rarely a design goal that is attained completely. And so the mechanics of the game will serve to restrict and direct the creativity of individuals working within it.
Collaboration and Code Code is malleable, and so limitations may not persist over the long term. And this can create inconsistencies in terms of code and artistic directions. The decisions made by game developers long gone are not binding on those who still remain. Too much freedom to relax limitations can result in these inconsistencies developing into harmful turf wars MUDs then, due to their long-term persistence, introduce the complexity of curation into an already complicated ecosystem.
Collaboration and Code Commercial MMOs have many of the features of text-based MUDs, but most usually have one key differentiator: A paid staff of developers. MUD developers receive their reward in intrinsic benefits. Like contributors to open source software. This requires again a freeing up of creative opportunities for developers. Theyre not likely to be willing to implement a design spec without having the freedom to alter it.
Collaboration and Players Players too, by virtue of their time invested, often demand a certain amount of control over the direction of the game. Pay heed to the tribal elders in a community. The long term success of a MUD is driven by a healthy and growing playerbase. The community plays an incredibly strong role in this. Additionally, players are likely better placed to analyse the game than developers. Having interpreted it as its game form for longer.
MUDs It is possible to refer to an edition of a book, a platform of a game, or a print of a movie as a definitive work The dynamic evolution of a MUD though frustrates any attempt to properly cite it as a fixed representation. It is difficult to point to the author of a MUD. Because such a thing may not exist in any real form. It is difficult to point to a fixed representation or edition of a MUD. It likely changes on a daily basis, and as a result of playing experience and styles.
Conclusion Ascertaining authorship is important in many types of critical analysis. Author intention Foucaults impact of interpretation A MUD is rarely driven by a single auteur, at least not for its entirely lifetime. Auteur theory thus provides a framework for approaching these works, but within tight limits.

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Authorship and Autership

  • 1. Authorship and Autership John Townsend, University of Sydney Michael Heron, Canterbury Christ Church University
  • 2. Introduction The construction of literature in any form has several components that influence construction. Some of these are based on format. Some of these are thematic Some are stylistic. Today I want to talk about the collaborative construction of real time multiplayer text games. The issues are not unique to these kind of games, but most neatly encapsulated within them.
  • 3. Text Games For the purposes of this talk, I will define text games as those works of electronic literature that are: Primarily driven by textual output Primary driven by textual input Ergodic, requiring some degree of effortful navigation. Cybertextual, with output algorithmically dependent on input.
  • 4. Examples of Text Games Early text adventures, such as those of Level 9 and Infocom. http://pot.home.xs4all.nl/infocom/ Mafia Wars https://www.mafiawars.zynga.com/fbconnect? Fallen London http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/ Urban Dead http://www.urbandead.com/
  • 6. MUDs The heyday of the Multiuser Dungeon (MUD) was in the early 90s. Before the graphical MMOs that eventually killed then off. There remains however an active community of developers and players. Die-hards (like me) Indie developers looking for low-cost game platforms Text aficionados Those for whom graphical games are inappropriate
  • 7. Characteristics of a MUD MUDs differ from conventional text-games in a number of ways. Expectation of persistence Many MUDs around now have been in constant operation for 20 years. Expectation of discontinuity Very few MUDs around now have the same developer team they did at their inception. An expectation of novelty. A persistent game must continually introduce new content to keep players interested. 24 hour availability Production MUDs are available at all times of the day, which creates issues of co-ordination as well as the emergence of multiple social cohorts.
  • 8. Characteristics of a MUD Similarly, there are certain aspects that derive from being persistent multiplayer. Players have a sense of ownership over the work. They have, in many cases, invested more time than many developers into exploring and interpreting the content. MUDs are in many senses a social text Formed from attaining the necessary critical mass to persist. MUDs are as much community as they are interactive works. And a community can cohere against changes that it sees to be corrosive to the status quo.
  • 9. Characteristics of a MUD Save for a handful of rare cases, MUDs are free to play. This has consequences too when it comes to recruitment and promotion of developers. The longevity of a MUD all but guarantees a high attrition rate. Developers and players The need for constant expansion requires an active, ongoing developer presence. MUDs are never finished as long as people are playing.
  • 10. Collaboration Muds therefore tend to have many creators Many at a time In overlapping periods Without financial remuneration This impacts heavily on concepts of authorship, ownership and the ability to direct a games creative direction. This makes it difficult to build authorial intention into the analysis of a work.
  • 11. Issues of Intention It is all but impossible in such environments to ascertain authorship, which in itself is broken up into multiple spheres. Code ownership Literary expression Artistic direction Each of these carries with it a different expectation of what constitutes authorship as well as the common conventions of collaboration. As well as the extent to which authorship can be exercised within the game.
  • 12. Collaboration and Code MUDs are code artifacts as well as (ideally) literary works. The culture of code ownership in most healthy dynamics stresses expertise over permission. Although this in turn is usually tiered by how critical the code is. Good projects try to aim for a high bus factor. However, the code infrastructure exists largely independently of the narrative structure of a game.
  • 13. Collaboration and Code The code in properly engineered games of this nature serves as the library upon which the game itself is built. The same code should allow for radically different games with radically different themes. However, this is rarely a design goal that is attained completely. And so the mechanics of the game will serve to restrict and direct the creativity of individuals working within it.
  • 14. Collaboration and Code Code is malleable, and so limitations may not persist over the long term. And this can create inconsistencies in terms of code and artistic directions. The decisions made by game developers long gone are not binding on those who still remain. Too much freedom to relax limitations can result in these inconsistencies developing into harmful turf wars MUDs then, due to their long-term persistence, introduce the complexity of curation into an already complicated ecosystem.
  • 15. Collaboration and Code Commercial MMOs have many of the features of text-based MUDs, but most usually have one key differentiator: A paid staff of developers. MUD developers receive their reward in intrinsic benefits. Like contributors to open source software. This requires again a freeing up of creative opportunities for developers. Theyre not likely to be willing to implement a design spec without having the freedom to alter it.
  • 16. Collaboration and Players Players too, by virtue of their time invested, often demand a certain amount of control over the direction of the game. Pay heed to the tribal elders in a community. The long term success of a MUD is driven by a healthy and growing playerbase. The community plays an incredibly strong role in this. Additionally, players are likely better placed to analyse the game than developers. Having interpreted it as its game form for longer.
  • 17. MUDs It is possible to refer to an edition of a book, a platform of a game, or a print of a movie as a definitive work The dynamic evolution of a MUD though frustrates any attempt to properly cite it as a fixed representation. It is difficult to point to the author of a MUD. Because such a thing may not exist in any real form. It is difficult to point to a fixed representation or edition of a MUD. It likely changes on a daily basis, and as a result of playing experience and styles.
  • 18. Conclusion Ascertaining authorship is important in many types of critical analysis. Author intention Foucaults impact of interpretation A MUD is rarely driven by a single auteur, at least not for its entirely lifetime. Auteur theory thus provides a framework for approaching these works, but within tight limits.