Date: April 10, 2023

Time: 2pm - 4pm (EDT)

Location:  TSRB 132 | (Open to the public on Teams: Click here to join the meeting

Dissertation Title: Designing the Open Work World

Candidate: Claire Stricklin

Committee:

Dr. Michael Nitsche (advisor), Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Philip Auslander, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Jay Bolter, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Aaron Trammell,  Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California, Irvine

Abstract: 

Situated at the intersection of performance studies and game studies, this dissertation examines the shift in perspective between playing for one’s own entertainment and playing for the benefit of an outside audience. Its focus is in the genre of "actual play" — streamed or recorded audio / video programs featuring tabletop roleplaying games (TRPGs) as a core component of their content. 

When taken in isolation, traditional TRPGs offer clear models of interaction for each participant, with game designers, game masters, and players exerting differing degrees of agency and authority over a shared narrative. With the addition of digital mediation, however, that established constellation shifts. This dissertation considers the various socio-technical elements that shape such a move, emphasizing the role of the audience in shaping performance as much as the players’ transformation into performers beyond the game’s magic circle.

The three studies designed for this research include a corpus analysis of YouTube comments drawn from actual play audiences; a grounded theory exploration of the ways streamers change their habits and their gameplay for outside audiences; and a process of research through design that culminates in an experimental actual play using a mechanical audience proxy. Altogether, these efforts seek to reconfigure audience/performer relationships, open new avenues for game design, and situate actual play as a new site for experimentation and innovation between the producers and consumers of media