In comparison to the game we played last class, The Baron, playing Shade was much more challenging. The Baron was easier to navigate and gave more information on what was happening in the game at that moment. Playing Shade I became frustrated very quickly with the failed commands I entered. In my opinion, The Baron gave more hints about what the next steps should be, but Shade gives more limited information. I found myself giving up much quicker while playing Shade in comparison to playing The Baron.
While playing this game, I was constantly entering different commands until it would let me move on. It was almost as if I was in an argument with the game, and the only way I could win is to do exactly what it wants. Douglas states that “the emerging character is a negotiation between play and design”. I agree with this statement and would also say that this limits the interactive freedom in most games. I would describe this game as an internal-exploratory because I am now involved in this game world, but there is a pre-defined storyline that I must follow. Making my own choices does not necessarily affect the outcomes, because if I make the wrong choice it abruptly stops me. The game does not allow your own personality to influence the turn of events, but you are still eager and persistent to proceed further throughout the game.
The use of the second-person during the game’s narration allows the player to get a more personal feel. I didn’t realize how impersonal and distanced the first-person narrative actually is until exploring more electronic literature. Receiving directions and commands while being referred to as “you” allows one to be immersed within the storyline. I feel as if this level of engagement made me so determined to finish, despite my frustration. Second-person narration can really grab the audience’s attention and coerce them to want to get to the end of the story of their characters.
My favorite part of Shade was the ending, even though it took me over an hour to get there. Towards the end of the game, the narration switches from second-person to third-person, as an outsider looking in at someone who is dead in the sand, but that person is you. This play on the psyche makes you question the entire storyline and makes you wonder if any of it was actually real. This rhetoric allows the player to not only be engaged while playing the game, but the engagement continues upon completion as the player tries to analyze the story line and question oneself.
I agree with your point that making your own choices does not necessarily affect the outcome of the game Shade by Andrew Plotkin because often when you attempt to make a wrong decision, the game doesn’t recognize the command and stops you in your tracks. However, I wonder how much of this we can contribute to not knowing the “language” of these interactive online games. Personally, I’ve never played a game like this until we were assigned to it in class. The command and response aspect is foreign to me and frustrating because I could type 10 commands and the game wouldn’t recognize any of them. While it appears you felt coerced to keep playing Shade because you felt connected through the use of the second person, I think my competitiveness was what compelled me to continue. I felt the same way when I was playing The Baron by Victor Gijsbers. I had to try so many commands that when the game finally acknowledged one, I read through it fast in order to save time for my next 20 attempts. I thought this was a negative aspect of the game because I often lost or forgot the storyline since I was so focused on the next move.
After experiencing a few different genres of digital literature, I prefer the 90’s hypertext pieces like Uncle Roger by Judy Malloy. I would also recommend these to those who are not fluent in the language of interactive fiction because it can be very restrictive. In Uncle Roger, there is a freedom and an ease of exploration due to the hyperlink format. While reading Uncle Roger I was more inclined to pay attention to the story and try and piece together the puzzle made by Malloy.