Introduction

Think back to the summer 2022. It was a sweltering season, and after a particularly hot and frustrating day at work, I switched off my computer, and made my way home (in that I stomped out of the dining room and into the living room). On a whim, I switched on my XBox and fired up a beloved old role playing game (RPG): Skyrim. Subconsciously, I guess I equate playing games with a positive mood, so this may well have played a large part in my decision.

As I played, I took out my frustration on a legion of orcs with my dragonbone war axe. Later, I paused to take in the breathtaking panorama from the top of a snow-covered mountain, beside a frozen river of ice. I rode my horse (Susan) to one of my many homesteads and rearranged some decor while admiring my collection of legendary armour and weapons. It was then that I realised that after playing I felt calmer, was no longer frustrated or irritable, and my overall wellbeing had improved.  Not only that, but I had entered state of flow as a result of being in an environment free of stress or anxiety. While in this state I had been able to 'mentally freewheel', and (thoeretically) solved a problem a team member had brought to me around adapting an elearning resource. 

I realised that these were unintended consequences of playing Skyrim, and something in me said: 'I think there's something in this.' 

It took several months of scribbling dozens of random notes and thoughts while considering the other unintended consequences I was experiencing. I played Assassin's Creed Origins, set in an historically accurate Ancient Egypt, where I learned about the Ptolemaic Period. (I also learned that early pregnancy tests involved tying a length of thread around a woman's neck with the knowledge that if she was pregnant, her neck would thicken, and the thread would eventually snap.) Other games in the Assassin's Creed franchise (namely Odyssey and Valhalla) taught me about the Peloponnesian War, and the Viking expansions into the British Isles. I was learning about all of this ancient history by accident, by being fully immersed in accurate digital representations of these times and places and people. And I was hacking bad guys to pieces with my daggers too, which is always therapeutic! 

By spring 2023, and with a lot of help from one of my now-Supervisors, I had a research question: What are the unintended consequences of playing open world role playing games on the student experience? In July of that year I officially enrolled as a part time PhD student, and as I write, I am working towards becoming a Doctor of Philosophy. 

Ideally, before I retire!

Why Open World Role Playing Games?

There are many, MANY types of RPG. Of course there's the grandfather of them all, Dungeons and Dragons, a traditional, much loved tabletop game, and one I have never really played or investigated. I'm not really a fan, and I think it's the whole 'being with people in the same room' thing that puts me off. I like to be able to play alone, when I want, and - importantly - switch off when I want.

When it comes to digital RPGs there are many sub-genres, all of which overlap (MasterClass, 2021): 

• Single Player: common and traditional with the gamer playing through one perspective

• Massive Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPGs): combining elements of massively multiplayer games (MMOs) and RPGs, with epic showdowns and battles between various players. Fortnite, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends are among the most popular of this kind of multiplayer RPG. The fights happen in real-time and gamers can flex their quick response battle skills. Some MMORPGs are co-op games, meaning gamers work together with party members to defeat opponents.

• Action RPGs: with a heavy emphasis on combat, focusing more on the battles and less on the character's story

• Open World RPGs: designed for world exploration and the longest to finish because they’re so big. 

• Tactical RPGs: the kind of RPG that takes the most inspiration from strategy games like chess and tabletop war games like Risk. I find these incredibly dull and not particularly immersive and will switch off a game the moment I realise it's a tactical / strategy game. Sorry not sorry.

• Roguelike RPGs: originating from the 1980 game Rogue, this role-playing subgenre is characterised less by theme or style, but by gameplay elements. Some of the common rogue RPG elements are a dungeon crawler character who navigates complex levels, permanent death of the main character, and randomised content.

If I were to focus my research around video game - based RPGs as a whole, the sheer size of my research base would make it prone to losing focus, and I worry that that my research wouldn't be as 'tight' as I'd like it to be. And to be completely honest, I don't feel confident enough at this stage to work with such a broad base. To that end, if I were to examine the unintended consequences of playing video games as a whole, I would certainly lose my way in too many unrelated rabbit holes, and likely veer off topic. That isn't to say that widening the lens at some point in the future is a bad idea. My current research may lead to wider investigation around, say, the unintended consequences experienced in all forms of RPG, or even in video games as a whole, but this is a first step, so needs to be more concentrated as I learn the research ropes and see what directions this investigation takes. 

The freedom an open world game RPG provides is also fundamental to my decision. It seems logical to me to assume that the more freedom the player has in terms of how they approach an open world game, the greater the chances of circumstances leading to unintended consequences arising. Put simply, the limited experiences I have while playing a video game that doesn't allow me to make choices about how I play and leaves me as little more than a passive actor means the ground for experiencing unintended consequences isn't as fertile as a game where the choices I make and the literal direction I take makes for a unique, personal experience.

Conversely, it took a while shaping my final research question, which was initially too focused and, as a result, very restrictive in its scope. I knew I wanted to examine the unintended consequences experienced specifically by playing open world RPGs; they were the games I had played when experiencing my own unintended consequences, after all. But my first question: can playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla improve History A-Level students' levels of wellbeing, their problem solving skills, and their overall assessment results? was too specific, meaning it would prove almost impossible to recruit enough participants to make the study fruitful. 

To sum up then, I want to keep my research focussed - but not so focussed as to be detrimental to the amount of data I can gather. Neither do I want to make the research theme so broad that it becomes unwieldy, unfocussed, or unmanageable. Focusing on a sub-genre of RPGs may sound limiting, but by choosing it I am ensuring participants have the freedom in-game to generate circumstances that can lead to unintended consequences. I am also a participant in the research, so need to be able to speak and understand the language of open world RPGs, and my participants. Finally, from a practical standpoint, if I wish to interview some participants in-game, I need to be able to access and play the game in question.

References

MasterClass, (2021), RPG Guide: 6 Types of Role Playing Games, located at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-an-rpg, date located: 2nd April 2024