How story-driven VR can drive a better social experience instead of chaos
Many of the VR offerings at present have a strong focus on chat room style social systems. There are many often hilarious videos online showcasing the types of interactions that occur within these environments.
Roleplayers running around aimlessly with ridiculous outfits and even more absurd phony voices, jokers spending their time trying to be weird on purpose for laughs, giant characters stomping around and well-known pop-culture references every way you turn.
It sounds innocent enough but it can be pure chaos. In an open-world VR setting, actors have the agency to do whatever they want in whichever way they deem most outrageous and this leads to problems that aren’t funny. It’s a breeding ground for jokes at the expense of others or pranks teetering on the edge of abusive. Not only that, but it can detract from the experience as a whole, and with many people often entering an environment like this as their first experience with VR, it could be off-putting to more serious players or perhaps overwhelm younger gamers.
With VU being a combination of both a social platform as well as a story driven adventure, we are looking at some of the ways we can combat the more chaotic side of some of the social systems that already function within some VR titles. By implementing overarching story arcs for participants to engage with, we can encourage a common direction and share goals for players — though they may disagree on the best route to take or method to use.
The importance of structure or goal orientated gaming comes into play when designing a game that will keep players coming back long term. There needs to be aspects of the platform that they can become absorbed in, that offers a clear objective and is potentially something people can choose to work on together as a team. This helps the development of practical and respectful community relationships.
Promoting a fun, all-inclusive and respectful VR environment is possible as long as we move away from the free-for-all, intensive cacophony that currently plagues VR titles that effectively serve as chat rooms. Providing users with an environment where there is both freedom and underlying optional tasks, objectives and long-term goals within a persistent adventure offers a more invested, emotional experience.
There will always be the “class clowns” — those individuals that, intentionally or not, cause problems for those trying to enjoy an experience for what it is and knuckle down to reach a certain goal or complete an objective. A little-lighthearted fun is not an issue, it’s when it’s taken too far or has distasteful intentions that it leaves a sour taste in the mouth and oftentimes alienates the more dedicated.
By building a more balanced system and shifting focus towards the narrative of the game, we can cultivate a platform that embodies aspects of traditional role-playing games, where players motive frequently cross or align, allowing for collaboration and contest. Perhaps even those “class clowns” will find themselves swept away by the adventure, most simply because it’s available and weaved into the very fabric of the game, but more importantly — it offers something meaningful which deep down might be just what they are looking for.
Ciaran Foley is CEO of Ukledo and Immersive Entertainment, Inc. a Southern California virtual reality software company developing a new virtual engagement platform called Virtual Universe (VU).
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