[Poll] MICE theory of game style

[Leitz]

In "Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction" (Card, et al), the authors classify stories by MICE. That is, Milieu, Idea, Character, Event. Many stories have bits of each but readers, and my guess is that gamers, are drawn to one more than the others. If nothing else, it's nice to have everyone on the same page as to what a particular game is focused on. When does an adventure end? That's what defines the story type. If it's "figure out whodunit" then it's an Idea story. "Win the battle" is an Event game. And so on.

The question is, what game type would you most like to play, if you could just choose one?

Milieu - The story is about the environment and seeing new places. In some sense most Traveller games would fit here, but more specifically something like an Imperial Scout exploring Hiver culture.

Idea - Discovering a new race, solving a new problem. Mysteries fall into this group.

Character - Growth, or lack of it.

Event - Battles, conquest, meet a specific challenge.

 

[atpollard]

I couldn't pick one.
I just love seeing how the story unfolds, so every story needs characters, locations and events that interact to create the adventure.

 

[Leitz]

Every great story should have all four. The decider is, what happens at the end of the story?

Milieu - the character returns to "normal".
Idea - The mystery is solved.
Character - the growth option is chosen, or turned away from for good.
Event - the crisis is resolved and people do whatever comes next.

For example, I want to understand the ship for the TDW game. I want to be able to describe and place events and ideas in it. However, when Ben goes back to the farm and kisses his wife and kids, that's the end of the episode. Not leaving the ship, he'll go back to it next episode.

 

[atpollard]

I suspect that for me, the answer will actually be different for every PbP game that I am in. I tend to like to push boundaries and explore new areas of the game. Right now, most of my energy is focused on exploring the Planet Biter with Marco and the planet Wardn with Ben, so I picked Milieu. Character would be a very close second.

 

[Leitz]

To me that's the coolness of the question. Now that I know that the game's emphasis can change a little to give you more of what you want. I like a richness in the worlds, but it's not usually my first focus.

 

[atpollard]

To me that's the coolness of the question. Now that I know that the game's emphasis can change a little to give you more of what you want. I like a richness in the worlds, but it's not usually my first focus.

For Wardn, the richness of the world is being explored through the character interactions. The 'world' is not the buildings. It is the interaction between Kierica and Blackie at the opening, the scenes in the Marston Villa, Angelo on his ship painting a picture of one 'World' ... Lily's World. Then there is the world of Jones and Grishom camping in the woods and the 27th Barracks and the wall in the chapel ... PAJL's world. Then there are the streets of Trevile with William in the warehouse and Trelaine's apartment ... the world of despair. All three very different worlds located on a small corner of a single planet and explored through interaction with interesting characters.

That is the 'world' exploration that fascinates me.
So which M.I.C.E. is that?

 

[flykiller]

I don't see how any story can procede without all four. characters living out ideas as events in a milieu - take away any of that and what's left?

 

[whartung]

I don't see how any story can procede without all four. characters living out ideas as events in a milieu - take away any of that and what's left?

They can't, but one aspect can always dominate the others.

For example, I've read very little fantasy (I've never read LoTR, though I love the movies).

The fantasy I have read, however, seemed very similar to me.

Unknown peasant Joe is actually the lost Lord King God of the land, so we'll spend the next 3 books dragging Joe across the Land, described in detail, while Joe learns of his destiny through assorted encounters.

Done right, it's a story about Joe. Done wrong, it's a description of The Land, with Joe being simply a mechanic to travel the land and, oh, crown him King. The ones I read seemed to be more stories of The Land, so they kind of put me off from "fantasy" as a genre. Yes, I'm brushing over genres with a spray game set on wide.

For me it's E, I, C, M. The I, C, and M are there to back up the event. If there are more than one story, then the I, C, and M can incrementally be built and expanded. But the E is what catches the interest, and propels the story.

 

[flykiller]

one aspect can always dominate the others.

then I can't see how it's a good story. if the character dominates then the story comes across as solipsistic. if the idea dominates then it comes across as preachy. if the milieu domintates then it's a travellogue. and I don't see how events could dominate, as events are defined by the character, milieu, and ideas.

when (if) I finish my story I'll take critiques, love to see this applied to it.

 

[Timerover51]

I did not vote, as it depends what sort of game I am writing the adventure for, and what is my object in writing it. I will put together a D&D adventure a bit differently than a Space: 1889 adventure that I want the players to learn some geography and natural history from as well as enjoy playing the game. It would also depend on the group that I am developing it for. Is this a regular group, a pick-up group, or a new group of beginning players?

 

[Enoki]

I couldn't pick one.
I just love seeing how the story unfolds, so every story needs characters, locations and events that interact to create the adventure.

I agree with this. It becomes all intertwined. You need solid characters and they have to have a reason behind what they're doing. It is like a novel or short story. No plot, no direction behind the play and you are dead in the water.

 

[kilemall]

One of the tricks I always do in writing is avoid Moby Dick/Michener/Clancy disease by describing what something means or character reaction to it, not library data facts.

Instead of

'the silicate-skinned bubbleworms of Psirack IV lurk in the geysers with just a motion sensing organ exposed that looks like a bubble- when close motion is detected, the worm spouts acidic water from the geyser, then drags their stunned prey into the geyser, where the acid does the work of killing and breaking down the prey's body, typing the bubbleworm as a rare exodigestive Filter/Trapper'

this

'Gavin always hated the geysers from the moment they landed, he just had this feeling they were watching him.

As per protocol, he reported the feeling and the colonization leader acted on it- 1000 years of colonization had taught humanity the hard lesson that such feelings were a valid survival reaction and need to be investigated.

A team worked the geysers over again- the LZ NAS sensors picked nothing up and the seismic/radar scan of the geysers showed only an unusual silicate structure in some of them that looked like an odd stalagmite formation.

So Gavin stayed away from them but was half convinced it was new planet jitters-

until the landing party mascot, Magellan the poodle, vanished, last seen sniffing around the geysers.....'

 

[Condottiere]

Sometimes, you have to be careful not to create impressions that you don't want PCs to carry around, compared to planting false ones.

I mentioned let sleeping dogs lie while examining the Moat House in Homlet, the Dee Emm quipped, you mean let sleeping dragons lie, and for the rest of the campaign I was convinced there was one down there.

 

[atpollard]

I agree with this. It becomes all intertwined. You need solid characters and they have to have a reason behind what they're doing. It is like a novel or short story. No plot, no direction behind the play and you are dead in the water.

Did you read his response about "When is the story over?"

'What marks the logical end of the adventure' will help point out which was dominant. If the story is over when the data chip is returned to Corporate office that it was stolen from, then it was an EVENT driven adventure. If the Adventure ends when the character finally learns Broker-1, then it was a Character driven adventure. And so on.

That helped me pick one for my current PbP adventure. The 30 day countdown is just a tool to get the adventure started. In my mind, when you can say "Been there, done that, Got the Tee Shirt" about the planet Biter, then the adventure is over ... time to look for another adventure. That is part of the reason the action keeps moving around the planet and dealing with different groups of people. The fact that the events are changing the characters are a result of the Player's desires and logical consequences. But I set out to explore a 'WHAT IF' about a culturally balkanized world on the brink of a crisis ... that makes it a Milieu driven sandbox Adventure (If I understood correctly).

 

[Vargas]

Probably by the very nature of the group I play with, where we rotate GMs and games on a pretty regular basis, I fall into the Event category. It's more about overcoming the challenge than character growth or exploring the setting, although there are elements of that as well. (I agree you can't really tell a good story without all four).

 

[Leitz]

I absolutely agree that great stories have all four aspects, and probably more. As atpollard pointed out, Traveller is a bit iffy on post chargen Character development. Since I like character development I consider the rules "more like guidelines, really..." :rofl:

This has already helped me. Now I know what sort of game my PC is in and what sort of game atpollard wants in the game I'm running. I can spend more time where it's wanted and less where it's not.

 

[ManOfGrey]

Shows you what I know.

Well, just as a lark, I took your poll, and it turned out I'm the only one who voted for "idea." I find that ironic since I stopped myself from voting for "milieu" since the question was how I would react as a player.

I certainly agree that all four aspects are important in a game. But as a player, I prefer a sense of accomplishment. I enjoy when the adventure is over and the mystery has been solved, or the hostage has been rescued. I enjoy when the plot for this week's adventure has been resolved. How that particular night's adventure fits into the bigger scheme of things is certainly icing on the cake. But as a player I take my instant gratification when I can.

Now as a referee, I find myself more reliant on milieu. It's the background in Traveller that gets my imagination going. For me, that's my starting place. Understanding how the big cogs work allows me to trickle the story down to the "little cogs" -- the players. I once ran a campaign where the characters were the command crew of the Azhanti High Lightning. By understanding the push and pull of the political situations in the Spinward Marches, that gave me an idea of where the high command might send the Azhanti that week, and what conundrum the players would have to overcome.

 

[mike wightman]

As a player I am split between idea and character - I went with idea because I prefer problem/mystery solving adventure, character development either happens or it doesn't (it's just me in a space suit right?).

As a referee milieu and event are important so the players have something to do...

 

[The Pakkrat]

Viewers, it has been this reporter and Referee's experience that the players are in a game for their character(s) experiences, development, improvement and the ability to tell a story from their point of view, worldview and character preferences. So the choice of Characters is the optimal choice in this poll.

Rarely have I seen players or groups of players sit down and devote their time to a game in the name of story/setting/period. I have not seen players stop playing at the end of a particular adventure or module. The goal for them is not something bigger than themselves. For players and their characters, there is nothing bigger or more important than themselves.

It has been my experience that players invest of themselves into their characters. It is when a character reaches the top of that Self-Actualization pyramid that they choose to try on another character concept, whether the current campaign or storyline is ready for them or not.

A good Referee can integrate a departing or arriving character into the story and setting at any time. Yes, Characters, their stories and their climb to the top of the pyramid take precedence over the story given in the adventure or the module.

As such, I do not run pre-published adventure modules. The authors cannot predict the makeup of the Travellers and all their aspects. A Referee must then modify the game to present a constant challenge to his individual cast of player-characters. Else, the game becomes boring or too complicated for the cast to have any level of success. Game balance and a clear finish line, or milestone, needs to be detectable by the players. Or they take their ball and go home. No more game.

Live via satellite, this is the Pakkrat for NET-7 News.

 

[G Sanz]

I agree with the other folks here that I think the feeling is a bit different as a player vs as a referee. I like Mileu as a ref, but less so as a PC since in that case it can feel like an info dump I may/may not care about.

In my recent game I have been trying to get a play style going where the players have a lot of license to make up what's going on in the story outside of their own characters. My hope is that this will make world-building less odious for them.

For example, if a player says their character was once involved in a drug deal gone bad with the Weeb-Waps of Hell Station over in New Tijuana, well for the purposes of our story that's all Canon now and is ammunition for future sessions and encounters.

Similarly, we ran the museum set piece from the Traveller Adventure, but each time the went to a new exhibit in the museum they got to make up something the universe based on a cue (maybe make a world religion, a fashion trend in the sector from 10 years ago, a 1000 year old mystery, etc.)

So far I think this is working ok. The universe is not saturated with bullshit yet. Some players are more receptive to the style than others though.