thread: 2006-10-02 : Conflict resolution sans stakes
On 2006-10-03, James Nostack wrote:
Just to jump in with a somewhat tangential comment: I don't think that level of uncertainty is unique to RPG's at all. It's simply a trait of good stories. "Hamlet," for example, is nothing but uncertainty. And even though the plot of "Hamlet" hasn't contained a surprise for 400 years, some people still spend their academic careers trying to figure out what kind of a story it is, why Hamlet does what he does, and what conclusions we should draw from it.
(Incidentally, Vincent, you called it "genre uncertainty," but I kind of think it's "thematic uncertainty," since you're not really sure how the story's going to resolve its thematic crisis, or the stance its going to take on that resolution. The failure of the main character, or the revelation that they're not a main character at all, is really saying something about that character's issues, rather than the genre it's in.)
