Conflict, Controversy, Cows and Carbon-based Life Forms

A game without conflict is a pointless affair indeed.

A story without conflict might as well be a reference manual for an operating system. All bones, no giggles, no subplot, no conflict.

But what is conflict?

Conflict is created from encounters, created from motivation, created from drama - conflicting goals, conflicting paths, conflicting decisions and outcomes. Conflict comes from cross purposes.

It arises from differences in motivation, belief, purpose. Tragedy... comedy can hold conflict but must hold it gently and treat it with the delicate touch of humor. It arises from land wars, religious wars, property wars, personal wars, humanistic divergences.

So why is it that we pour so much effort into designing and building the non-conflict sides of the game, and so little into its conflicts? Aside from combat encounters in the scheme of the game itself, we provide very little to engender tension.

I think it is because of the very personal nature of conflict itself. We can provide a certain set of conditions. We can code in a few catalysts and set them loose upon the population. We can build swarms of orcs which invade the main city and cause great fear for a few hours.

Beyond that, though, we must sit on our hands and let the player's conflicting motivations begin to paint the walls, color the game, bend the will of the scene.

Several months ago, one of our staffers stole a cow of mine. This prompted a long-standing playful interchange (I want my cow back - he won't give it back, and for all I know he has slain it and is still munching on its hooves!). Those who observe our occasional banter on the topic smile hesitantly and listen, wondering if these two staffers have gone slightly off their rockers... but they do not participate - this isn't conflict to them. This isn't a condition they can influence.

Conflict in a game has to be something that the player feels he can influence - to his advantage or to the benefit of his future. Otherwise it's just an overheard conversation, of mild and passing interest, and probably falls into the category of spam.