The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

When Game Design and Narratives Unite

Dominic Arsenault's paper, presented as an extended version of a 2005 DiGRA conference talk, proposes the "dynamic range" as an analytical tool for examining how game systems grant players freedom, and uses that tool to explore the relationship between game design and narrative.

• Arsenault's central thesis is that game design actively shapes narrative content, and the two work well together only when the game system's openness matches the designer's narrative intentions.
• The paper introduces 'dynamic range' as a tool measuring how far a player can manipulate a game's internal dynamics to meet a challenge, drawing on the MDA framework of mechanics, dynamics, and aesthetics, and treats openness as a matter of degree rather than a binary.
• Diablo's resource-driven system offers wide internal manipulation, whereas Splinter Cell relies on external player skill and so offers a narrow dynamic range, as shown through character charts of a level-22 Warrior and Sam Fisher.