tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post4369160480657242907..comments2024-03-28T07:16:05.720-07:00Comments on Experience Points: Braid's Personal AppealJorge Alborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-61877308265654466872010-02-20T14:44:25.109-08:002010-02-20T14:44:25.109-08:00@Michel
Thanks for sharing the quote; it's qu...@Michel<br /><br />Thanks for sharing the quote; it's quite thought provoking.<br /><br />I appreciate the challenge Blow presents to the players, as there are so many other works that assume the audience is stupid and then proceed to treat them condescendingly. Of course, I'm probably just riled up about how insulting "Lost" has been these days, what with its hanckneyed exposition and pointless flashbacks. :-)<br /><br />What worries me most is that, at least for a while, Blow seemed to challenge the audience only to scorn their efforts to meet his challenge.<br /><br />@Mario<br /><br />Every once in a while, I'll write or say something that I feel can only be interpreted one way, only to find someone who instantly either finds a hole in the logic or constructs a completely valid alternative interpretation based on the elements I provided. There is a small, petty part of my brain that shouts "No! You missed the point!" Of course, like you say, this is really displaced frustration: in reality I am frustrated that I didn't think of the interpretation and address it in my original work.<br /><br />If I spent years of my life and hundreds of thousands of dollars on a project, I can easily see how this feeling could be magnified. I think a lot of the Braid criticism happened fast, while everyone's emotions were a bit raw.<br /><br />@TheGameCritique<br /><br />That FFVIII thing was pretty neat, huh? It made me retroactively appreciate that game to a much greater extent. FFIX is still better though... ;-)<br /><br />While the creator's interpretation may not have any more authority once they release their work, it would still be interesting to hear them articulate their intention.<br /><br />Even the simple fact of discerning original intent can make a huge difference as to how people interpret something, so it would be a shame if we never hear Blow's interpretation of the game.Scott Justerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11775296635863850847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-24015910677996773722010-02-20T13:14:10.264-08:002010-02-20T13:14:10.264-08:00I covered this in my most recent long post about i...I covered this in my most recent long post about interpretation and autuerism: http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-nature-of-reading-interpretation-and-auteurism-using-final-fantasy-viii-and-mulholland-drive/2023/ <br /><br />Once a creator has finished with a work they have no more authority to interpret it than anyone else. Their authotative input on it ends once they release it into the wild. It's becomes the audiences work to place themselves in it. So whatever interpretation Mr. Blow has on Braid is just as valid, not moreso, than anyone elses so long as they can back it up.<br /><br />I didn't mention Braid or Blow in my post, because he has been misquoted on occation, but the concept of how he's being quoted here deserves to be responded to.<br /><br />Is Johnathan Blow an Auteur? Doesn't really matter. Auteur theory is about looking at a body of work and seeing the common elements that drove their creation. Blow doens't really have a body of work that we can examine. I think Braid is it and before that he was just a theorist. Correct me if I am wrong.TheGameCritiquehttp://www.thegamecritique.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-59269400576605146972010-02-20T09:21:42.052-08:002010-02-20T09:21:42.052-08:00@Michel
While that sort of intentionality is distu...@Michel<br />While that sort of intentionality is disturbing, Blow speaking down to his audience, I don’t really think it matters. Just as Scott pointed out, intentionality doesn’t really matter. It might on the surface level, the conceptual level, but as soon as something is released to the public, it becomes public analysis that ultimately shapes the piece. Just like artwork, a novel, a poem, anything. <br />I think Blow's frustration does have some ground though. I'm not familiar with any of Blow's other works, but based on Braid and his seeming desire to control every single aspect of interpretation, I can begin to imagine where he’s coming from. The way he voices his frustration is a little off though. I'd say he’s more upset that he didn’t guide the player to that interpretation. He is expressing his own shortcomings in the game by blaming it on the player, "You didn’t get it." No Blow, you didn't guide me to that interpretation. He’s expressing one the most frustrating parts of being an artist, whether it be with a paintbrush, a pen, or as a game designer. He wishes to be understood in the way it was intended, that’s a hefty task, Blow. I feel like his frustration is both belittling to his player base, but also amusing. As a writing major myself, I can sit back and say, “I feel ya brother. I feel ya.”mariohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11640227352737379763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-13774865849886297932010-02-19T23:47:09.215-08:002010-02-19T23:47:09.215-08:00I was actually just thinking of Blow and Braid ear...I was actually just thinking of Blow and Braid earlier tonight after reading this quote by Susan Sontag:<br /><br />"I guess I think I'm writing for people who are smarter than I am, because then I'll be doing something that's worth their time. I'd be very afraid to write from a position where I consciously thought I was smarter than most of my readers."<br /><br />I feel like Blow made Braid while consciously aware he was being smarter than his players. He is the puzzle master, and our acquisition of the puzzle pieces has us playing into his hands; it confirms his status as our intellectual superior. The most challenging and meaningful puzzle in Braid is, of course, its meaning. As long as we don't understand Blow's intended meaning, we're stupider than him. This is what he wants, if only subconsciously.<br /><br />If he had created Braid with an attitude of it being for people who were smarter than him than he would welcome our interpretations. He would have made it FOR our interpretations, like you say--not to say something unequivocal but to allow us to explore a possibility/meaning space.<br /><br />Anyway...that Sontag quote has been making me crazy and shaping the way I think about games and designers. I need to sleep on it.Michelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00302937491137230150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-45862365980384743152010-02-19T23:41:32.334-08:002010-02-19T23:41:32.334-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Michelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00302937491137230150noreply@blogger.com