Speaker: Fred Wan

Date: September 17th, 5-6pm, EAE Game Studio(Bldg 72, 2nd Floor)

Talk title: Playing with Efficient Narratives

Description: It’s trite to say that a game with a more engaging story is “better”, but games are developed with time and resource constraints. How can we tell deeper stories with the tools we have? How can we get more narrative oomph without taking longer, or spending more in development?
We’ll examine different ways the narrative role within game development can support and be supported by other disciplines, and how teams and dev processes can be structured to make it easier for developers to create the experiences they want to instill in players.
We’ll also take a critical look at the idea of “interactive narrative” in multiplayer games, consider areas where the industry might not be fully exploring the space available, and look at how we might fill those gaps.

Bio: Fred Wan is a narrative designer and RPG tabletop writer with over 15 years in the industry. He spent 12 years as one of the Story Leads for the Legend of the Five Rings collectible card game and roleplaying game. Since then, he has written and consulted for both the tabletop and video game industries. Some of his current projects include working with Muse Games as a narrative consultant and writing for the Mutants & Masterminds RPG. He speaks at conventions such as GDC, PAX West, Magfest, and Shut Up and Sit Down Expo about gaming industry topics and storytelling in games. He is also a practicing attorney.