Joys of Absence: A Defence of Solitary Play

Transcript

1. joys of absence a defense of solitary play Sebastian Deterding / @dingstweets Digital Creativity Labs, University of York October 3, 2018 c b
2. the situation “You should go out and play with your friends!”
3. the fear
4. the trope
5. old new media fears
6. media as dangerous tools of emancipation
8. “But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction—what, has that got to do with a room of one's own?”
9. Solitary play provides a much-needed room of one’s own.
10. gaming can be good for you
11. gaming provides a retreat for recovery
12. a retreat
13. a retreat
14. a retreat
15. a retreat
16. a retreat
17. What do these retreats restore?
18. “An understanding of human motivation requires a consideration of innate psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.” edward deci, richard ryan, the what and why of goal pursuit, 2002
19. “To be autonomous means to behave with a sense of volition, willingness, and congruence; it means to fully endorse and concur with the behavior one is engaged in” e deci, r ryan, motivation and personality in development, 2012
20. everyday childhood constantly thwarts autonomy
21. everyday adulthood constantly thwarts autonomy
22. Not so gameplay.
23. games let us choose our goals and actions
24. games give us open worlds to explore
25. games let us choose who to be
26. games give us tools and canvasses to express with
27. games give us tools and canvasses to express with
28. games give us tools and canvasses to express with time to penis Ttp
29. But not all games are autonomous play.
30. goldfarming
31. professional e-sports
32. work gamification
33. and sometimes, work becomes autonomous play
34. when does gameplay restore autonomy?
35. “If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” mark twain, the adventures of tom sawyer, 1876
36. play autonomy play autonomy
37. autonomy drives work/play labeling, not task »It’s still a game as such, and defined as such, but I would not say that *I* play it at that moment.« »sometimes you just have to play, you have to get further, no matter whether you want to or not. And then, then that is, then playing is indeed work.«
38. a license to change or leave the situation
39. »Apart from Counterstrike I would never play any game when I don’t want to. [...] When Diablo 3 comes out, I will really want to play it, so I will play it very much. But if I don’t want to play it […] then I will not play it« »At the office, [...] I have to focus on the game analytically, and not say, I let myself go and play the whole day, and at the end no results. That would be inappropriate.« a license to change or leave the situation
40. minimised socio-material consequence
41. »[When money is involved] there's the pressure that you have to win. Of course, everybody who plays wants to win somehow. […] Bu::t when it's about money, that's a real thing, and that you have to work hard for. That wouldn't have a playful character for me then.« »when you fail and know: <<I can’t write the review tomorrow>>, because you actually haven’t reached these and these things, [...] the consequence then means for instance, that you have to get up in the morning two hours early to start the game again. And that can be incredibly infuriating.« minimised socio-material consequence
42. »Especially with WoW you somehow had [...] a social coercion behind it. Because as I said, this reputation and then also the social contexts that you maintained through it. Or found there. [...Y]ou don’t feel like training in the evening, or something, and you still go there. Because you feel socially obliged somehow.« »[When playing with friends not alone] the considerateness for the friends dominates, for the people with whom I’m sitting there. So then it’s less the case, that I focus on the game and say: <<I am now, now I am free and can determine this.>> Instead it’s also more about me being the host, and being a guest of somebody and still take regard of that.« regard for others makes play consequential
43. accomplishing a relaxed field
44. Interviewer: »So that’s the usual process, that you, that you pick a day, and then on that day start in the afternoon and stop in the evening? Interviewee: »If it is that way and I can focus on the afternoon, then I also plan it like that, such that I have finished everything until then, until that point, that could make me go to the door or interrupt the game.« accomplishing a relaxed time
45. accomplishing a relaxed space “Well, it’s simply distracting. So although, well, I am somehow in flow, in quotation marks, and immersed and in there, so I still catch myself as I am then still somehow, as I::: can’t focus one the game one hundred percent”
46. [With a Nintendo DS] I am then mostly in a public surrounding, loud screaming or throwing that thing in the corner are not an option. Although you would really want to do it, you have to restrain yourself a bit there and, let’s put it this way, appear a bit more suited for public.« »in my private rooms, then I can show any emotion, because there would be nothing inappropriate in doing so, because I wouldn’t offend anyone with it« accomplishing a relaxed space
47. private solitary play is the most autonomy-restoring
48. Autonomy is thwarted when available choices mismatch spontaneous interests and perceived-controlling motives keep us from changing or leaving the situation autonomy is a relation
49. »In::: 95 percent of the cases no. It's still a hobby. You- it's still a passion. You enjoy playing it, also because something like:: a professional level comes in, money and you get around and you get to know new people. That's nice, no question. And those remaining five percent, those are the percentages where you say: <<Hm, not training again from seven to ten pm? Now I could have gone to the movies with my girlfriend.>> For example. Where you would say: <<I so would have wanted to go with her to the movies. Damn, damn, damn. Why do I have to train now?>>« autonomy is a person-situation relation
50. private solitary play is the most autonomy-restoring … unless we feel forced to stick to it
51. “You should go out and play with your friends!”
52. we are designing free play out of today’s childhoods
54. sebastian@codingconduct.cc @dingstweets codingconduct.cc thank you.