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these shadowy forces manage to make us feel that we are
patients
—those
who are done unto, rather than those who do.
DESIGN HEURISTIC
Represent sources of agency.
As we discussed in Chapter 4, interactions among interactors make distinct
contributions to the unfolding of the whole action or plot. In computer-
supported collaborative work applications, for example, Löwgren and
Reimer (2013) remark on the relative lack of literature treating computers
as a medium for interactions among people. In CSCW as well as in multi-
player games, groups of people with common goals form and reform to act
in concert, for a time. These groups may be considered “characters” in their
own right. Once a group has formed—to carry out a quest, for example—
there are still very active dynamics among its members (perhaps including
treachery and secession), but the quest group as a whole tends to take ac-
tions as a unit toward reaching a particular in-game goal.
Technically, we can understand such “collective characters” in terms of
the aggregate of thought that is the material cause of their actions. We can
understand the quest as the action, and its success or failure has implica-
tions for the plot. By providing potential goals for collective characters, de-
signers create formal constraints that encourage their formation, adding a
new level of richness to the action.
DESIGN HEURISTIC
Groups of interactors with common goals may function as
collective characters where group dynamics serve as
t
r
aits.
Aristotle identifi ed the end cause of drama as catharsis—the arousal and
release of emotion. Emotional expression and communication are essen-
tial in dramatic art. It follows, then, that designers of dramatic interaction
pay close attention to the emotional dimension of their work. Certainly,
the scripting of game scenarios, situations, and characters shows strong
