Interpretation, Performance, Play, and Seduction

Tubmud is an adventure-oriented Multi-User Dungeon
(MUD), an online text-based fantasy world. In this
study, Tubmud is approached from three theoretical
perspectives: First, from a game studies
perspective, trying to identify its essential
game-like qualities. This operation reveals a
variety of game types co-existing inside of Tubmud:
some of which exist also outside of the MUD (e.g.
Go), while others require the MUD as a medium to be
played. Examples of the latter are role-playing
games and quest adventures. These are games that
utilise features of representation, approaching
theatre and literature in a way that the
non-referential Go does not. In the second
perspective, role-play and character interaction in
Tubmud is analysed through a theoretical framework
of performativity, while in the third part of the
study, the quest adventure is examined from the
perspective of hermeneutics. It is argued that while
interpretation may be essential to solve a quest,
the hermeneutical perspective is inadequate to
analytically grasp questing as a process. Instead,
questing must be approached from the very opposite
angle: as a seductive discourse.

Autorentext

Ragnhild Tronstad is a researcher of new media art and aesthetics, game studies, and performance studies. "Interpretation, Performance, Play, and Seduction: Textual Adventures in Tubmud" is her doctoral thesis, defended in June 2004 at the University of Oslo.

Klappentext

Tubmud is an adventure-oriented Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), an online text-based fantasy world. In this study, Tubmud is approached from three theoretical perspectives: First, from a game studies perspective, trying to identify its essentialgame-like qualities. This operation reveals a variety of game types co-existing inside of Tubmud: some of which exist also outside of the MUD (e.g. Go), while others require the MUD as a medium to be played. Examples of the latter are role-playing games and quest adventures. These are games that utilise features of representation, approaching theatre and literature in a way that the non-referential Go does not. In the second perspective, role-play and character interaction in Tubmud is analysed through a theoretical framework of performativity, while in the third part of the study, the quest adventure is examined from the perspective of hermeneutics. It is argued that while interpretation may be essential to solve a quest, the hermeneutical perspective is inadequate to analytically grasp questing as a process. Instead, questing must be approached from the very opposite angle: as a seductive discourse.