We met at a local sandwich shop to talk about a number of things: how he feels about video games, in general, as well as adapting some of his novels into games - but that quickly became a footnote in the ensuing conversation. Tracy Hickman isn’t an author so much as he is a storyteller. It’s not any particular medium he’s concerned with, it’s the message, and as far as Hickman is concerned - there are always better ways to relay that message.
For anyone familiar with some of his more recent work this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Hickman’s latest fantasy role-playing book XDM: Xtreme Dungeon Mastery, calls itself “the cure for the common game” and is mainly a guide for Dungeon Masters to improve their storytelling skills through a variety of means. There are chapters that deal with theater arts, voice-acting, and even using elaborate magic tricks to spice up the role-playing experience.
Dragon’s Bard, another of Hickman’s projects, is like an online, episodic, interactive novel with a subscription plan. Hickman calls it “writing like the Dickens” because it combines 19th century literature serial techniques with a 21st century online delivery system.
As we talk about some of the ideas and approaches to storytelling, our conversation is peppered with words and phrases like “modern publishing restraints” and “arbitrary leveling” and “not fun.” It becomes increasingly clear that Hickman is frustrated with current atmosphere in gaming/storytelling. The approaches to writing (and playing) games as well as the way stories are published - an old-fashioned, archaic and, somewhat paradoxical, process that’s not as fun as it used to be.
It’s one thing to identify the problems, but what about solutions? So I ask him how to fix it. And then he tells me. Kind of.
He says the last sentence with a mischievous twinkle in his eye and even though I already know the answer to my next question I go ahead and ask it anyway.
He picks up the rest of his sandwich and takes a bite before casually threatening my life.
Since we’re talking about an idea that could potentially alter the way that games tell stories, maybe forever, I can kind of see his point. Still, I must seem slightly disgruntled because he raises his hand in a kind of semi-apology and expounds on his point.
At this point I really hope he finds one because the way that he talks about games is both passionate and fascinating. Most of all, the way that he talks about storytelling and advancement in gaming is refreshing. They’re not old ideas or, like he insists, maybe they are and they’ve just been forgotten. Seeing them realized could very well be the next evolution in the ongoing fusion of narrative and gameplay. But first some things will have to change. We’ll have to rethink the way that games are made from the ground up.
Hickman blames Dungeons & Dragons for a lot of that.
“So what would you do differently?”
Hickman pauses to collect his thoughts and when he speaks it’s obvious that he has a plan. This isn’t improv. He has a clear and definite idea as to how he believes that games should tell stories and by all accounts he should. He’s been doing this for almost thirty years.
“Well, what about something like BioShock? Are you familiar with the scene with Andrew Ryan? The big reveal?”
“Do you think that that kind of commentary on game design and storytelling is a step in the right direction?”
He ponders that idea for a second but ultimately discards it.
It’s a heavy thought. Is BioShock really as brilliant as I’d like to believe or is it just a case of subconscious misdirection with Ken Levine subliminally shouting, “Pay no attention to the developer behind the game!”?
We silently sip our sodas for a moment and I contemplate the idea.
“Okay,” I say finally, “So how do you make it better?”
I like the idea. A lot. But without going into specifics it’s hard to see how that would work out and Hickman is determined to play this one close to the vest.
Instead, we chat about some of his current favorite video games (Arkham Asylum and any LEGO game), stuff that he’s excited for (Kinect and trying out for the Moromon Tabernacle Choir), and why adapting his series The Death Gate Cycle into a game could be amazing (drawing magic runes using motion controls).
At some point I try to surreptitiously pick his brain again but he’s onto me.
And although that sounds a little arrogant, he says it with a kind of humble confidence that’s actually endearing. He’s not trying to insult the genre, he’s trying to help it. But just in case I don’t get it, he drives the point home.
And, hey, maybe he’s wrong. But I see one of the men responsible for inspiring a generation of storytellers, for harnessing and organizing games based on nothing more than imagination, and I really, really hope that he’s right.
