Play material transmits persistent gendered or ethnic stereotypes along with other cultural bits. In Endless Forest, the magical elements are reflective of a shamanic or aboriginal origin such as the use of eroded stone statues as representation of the gods of the game-world.
Twin God Statues of Endless Forest
There are a variety of different approaches and tactics to ludic mutation such as an opportunistic openness towards glitches and accidents. In Endless Forest, there is an invisible barrier that prevents players’ deer avatars from jumping into the water. However, a glitch was discovered and exploited to allow deers to walk freely on water.
Watch The Endless Forest - Waterwalking
Ludic mutation can be destructive e.g. hacking, cheating, accidents, ruptures, modulation, unmaking but can also be constructive e.g. creative rebuilding, remaking.
Artists have remade games such that the original gameworld is no longer recognizable or playable as a game. Unmaking of a game can partially be attributed to a joy of paidia whether the structure of a game is broken down into creative unknown variability. The unmaking of a game also serves as a critique of the game itself and makes the players more aware of the mechanics of the game itself. The gameworld of Endless Forest was once trolled by the Goon Ckrew who “made it their goal to annoy the hell out of all the people that took the "game" seriously”. They abused the moo-ing command within Endless Forest and filled the gameworld with endless deer moos. This has led a burst of outrage on the forums in which players expressed their underlying assumptions of how they expect Endless Forest to be even though Endless Forest seemed like a paidic “sandbox” game with no rules.
This incident partially proves Raph Koster’s comment that padia activities do have rules that are derived from a vast array of cultural assumptions such as what constitutes acceptable behaviour.
Bateman wrote that “paidia is fun but is a short lived kind of fun and eventually gives way to ludus and other kinds of fun”. I feel that this is true. In the beginning, when I played Endless Forest, the fun came from exploring a novel and beautiful gameworld and this fun was piadic. Later, I begin to set my own tasks to be accomplished such as tracking down the necessary item to change my appearance and this give structure to my fun and transforms it into ludic play.
Gameplay behaviour can become work-like if the level design discourages players from exploring the gameworld and deviating from the given objective while rewarding and encouraging players to complete directed tasks in the most efficient manner e.g. Mirror’s Edge. Games can also become more work-like when it serves external economic or vocational interests. Sometimes a digital economy evolved out of play whereby digital objects are traded and sold for money.
The creators of Endless Forest blur the line between host and parasite by openly solicit suggestions on future features to be implemented in the game. It was a interesting case of the hosts "leeching" off the parasites when they approached the fans for funding for the game. These funds were generated through the sale of fan art.
Fan Art Calendar
Seminar question: Are trolling incidents considered an artistic unmaking of the game-world or should trolls be viewed as nilhists that denounce the game?
