Researcher: so, opening question, you're playing through a story, that you both knew was multiplayer, when did you first notice the other player? Participant 1: so like the, the effects of the other player? Researcher: yeah Participant 2: when it said the player made a decision Researcher: okay, when was that? Participant 2: i don't remember Participant 1: it was about.... we were reading the memories, i think it was act 2, and there were like memories, and i was reading about... well the memories, i forget which one it was, it wasn't the cement truck one, it was one of the other ones. Researcher: right, gotcha Participant 2: i think the first time that the multiplayer thingy was when Sarah was defending todd in front of the boss, i think that was the first one Researcher: what did you think when that happened? Participant 1: well, since i was playing sarah, it didn't exactly feel like there was another player, yet. i'm not sure what was on [p2]'s end Researcher: interesting Participant 1: but she might have expected the player to have like, a bigger impact Researcher: okay, did you... Participant 2: what did we think when that happened? Researcher: yeah, when you first noticed the blue text pop up, saying the person made a decision, what did you think? Participant 2: i just expected it at some point, i didn't really think anything else, just that yeah, okay, now it happened, let's continue with the story Researcher: okay, so, is there any part of the story that particularly sticks out in your mind? Participant 2: eh, I don't know, no, everything was kind of cool. Researcher: any particular... whatever the first thing is that comes to your mind, it doesn't really matter which bit it is Participant 2: maybe the first one that was like... shock, that what the files contained was, were about sarah, that they found, in that build Researcher: the files thing? Participant 2: yeah, like, the USB stick, that was like, the gamechanger. for the first time, something happened actually. i think. i think that one. Researcher: interesting, why does that seem significant to you? Participant 2: because that's where the story kind of... became interesting, not smooth i guess, a little bit of a surprise Researcher: okay, so, you were playing Todd. So, you had the choice when it comes down to the USB stick. What did you choose? Participant 2: I chose to tell sarah that it was about her. Researcher: okay, why did you cfhoose to tell sarah? Participant 2: because, i guess she was my partner, i didn't think it would change much, i didn't expect what sarah did after that. i just thought like, why not tell her, i guess. Researcher: okay Participant 2: noone told me not to tell the person that the person what the files, you know, it was said. but afterwards as well, just afterwards i clicked the option that thefiles are about you, then sarah oh, you shouldn't have looked at them. but basically, it didn't say before it, so i thought why not have a look at them. why not tell. Participant 1: so you made the choice to look at the files? Participant 2: not to look at the files, that wasn't the choice. Participant 1: okay Participant 2: the choice was just to... i looked at the files, just from the story. the choice was to... either to tell sarah about it, tell sarah that it was about her, or not to tell her anything. so i looked at it already, yeah Researcher: did you know that that was a choice [p2] had made at the time? Participant 1: i think so? i don't remember, i have the feeling that i also had this choice whether to tell sarah or not... Researcher: okay, interesting. Participant 1: this part is a bit blurry. Researcher: it's alright, that's fine, let's focus on the choice that you made [p2]. so when you were making that choice to tell Sarah or not to tell Sarah, did you think much about the other player? Participant 2: a little bit, i suppose, i was thinking more about Sarah, than about [p1], you know. about the character in the story. Researcher: interesting, okay, what were you thinking about the character? Participant 2: that it's my partner, and that it won't do much harm to overall purpose of this mission if i tell her, i guess. i just wasn't expecting her to like, lie to the boss afterwards. i just thought that she would understand, alright, and let's just finish this mission and then think about what to do next, but okay. Researcher: okay, fair enough! So you didn't know what would happen as a result? Participant 2: yeah, no, i wasn't, i was expecting something else, more like... Researcher: alright, so, were there any moments for you [p1], where you particularly... where you reacted strongly to a particular event that happened in the story, or... Participant 1: i think towards the final choices, the live choices, we were doing them together more or less, where Sarah was at the van and I was trying to stop her... or let her go. like, there were choices that appeared, i think while [p2] was deciding, whether to shoot todd or go back with him. and i thought that i didn't want to go either of these things. Researcher: you just gasped [p2], why did you gasp? Participant 2: because I didn't know that he had an option to shoot Todd, that's all Participant 1: i suspected that you would know? Participant 2: no Researcher: interesting Participant 1: so i didn't want to do either of these three options... so it was good that there was a decision that came in that was beneficial Researcher: how did you feel when that happened? Participant 1: it was quite... relieving I think, because I didn't want to make any of those decisions Researcher: so why didn't you want to make any of those decisions? Participant 1: because todd was like a nice person, i think, he doesn't deserve to be shot. and going back with him is just... weird, it just doesn't feel good, because sarah would go all through trouble to fool him, and then try to steal the keys and then go away on her own, but then just decides to kind of go back with him. it just doesn't feel natural to the storyline Researcher: awesome, alright, so, were you thinking about the other player at all when you made that decision? or were you focused on the Participant 1: i already had like, a brief moment of oh, if I shoot Todd it might end the story for [p2]. But that wasn't really a factor in deciding. Researcher: okay, intersting, so you also mentioned earlier that when you were going through that final conversation, you were making choices together. Participant 1: it was like it was live, more or less, like i had... i pressed an option and made a decision then waited a few seconds for [p2] to make [their] own decision, that's what it looked like to me Researcher: what did you think of that? Participant 1: it was quite nice Researcher: can you elaborate? Participant 1: it definitely like, gave more of a life to the other player, as you know that they're actively making a decision as well, maybe some of the previous options were more like a decision made in the background, which might have affected what you see on your next selection, maybe. but in this case, you could actually wait in real time to see what the decision is before making your own, like shooting or not shooting Researcher: mm, intersting. what did you think [p2]? Participant 2: i didn't like the wait, because i had to click a lot of times, the thingy until... like i suppose, the player made a decision. Researcher: which wait was this? Participant 2: at the end, just, the sentence... decisions, just there was a little bit of a wait between the conversations, but it was kind of cool, yeah. Researcher: how did it compare to the earlier parts of the story for you? Participant 2: the endings... well, in which way? it was just... faster I suppose Participant 1: fast paced Researcher: okay. During the later parts of the story, during the, when you were having the conversation, when you were making the decision, how do you feel the other player affected your story. Participant 2: well, probably a lot, eveyr choice felt like quite a significant influence, even before, during those as well, obviously, yeah Researcher: you said it feels like a significant influence? Participant 2: yeah, of course, well, yeah Researcher: can you expand on that at all? Participant 2: well, because my next move, obviously depends on the other person's, what they pick... i don't know, I'm not sure about ... can you elaborate? Participant 1: like, the last part... Participant 2: yeah, yeah, like, a conversation, right Participant 1: so obviously that was like, a very, the other player was really current to the decision, obviously, and earlier I think, i'm not sure what could have happened if sarah didn't stand up for todd. Participant 2: yeah, i don't feel like there is a decision when it comes to like, how much it affects the story, like, even the previous decisions with like longer texts in between also affected the story quite much, so Researcher: interesting, how do you feel they affected the story? Participant 2: like, the effect of the story? Researcher: how do you feel like your decisions affected the story? Participant 2: quite a lot overall, obviously, because yeah, my decision basically, what happened next was based on it. like if i shoot sarah or not obviously in the end, but even before that, straight away, the first decision that i made to actually watch the door or go somewhere else and look for money, or whatever, that probably... i don't know, i mean sarah probably wouldn't get killed straight away, she wouldn't trust me later... every decision felt quite significant to all the story, so. Researcher: okay, what about you [p1]? what are your thoughts on how your decisions impacted the story? Participant 2: however, I was confused by one part, because it said the player read the other story, the one i didn't pick, at one point. Researcher: did it? Participant 2: yeah Researcher: oh, okay, that sounds like an error then Participant 1: yeah, there were a few moments where something with the other player appeared, which em Participant 2: it just said that, the other player read the other version, it said something, sometimes, this, just one time for me, at least, i thought it was weird, but Participant 1: I still think, i'm not sure, i might be wrong, might be remembering incorrectly, but i still have a feeling that, especially in the room with the safe, and where the man came in and started shooting or whatever, i still had the option to pick where Todd would go, i'm not sure if i'm not mistaken. i'm not sure if it wasn't like, tell todd to watch the door, or what sarah would tell him to do, not what he would do. im not sure. Researcher: that's fine, that's fine Participant 1: yeah, but the story, towards the end, it was quite important because it might have been the difference between either not at the last scene, in which the boss decided to be angry at him, if sarah didn't stand up for him, i don't know. Participant 2: mmm, Participant 1: and, shooting him would have been a bad thing... i'm not sure what, any of the other options would have been like Researcher: okay, so we've talked about how much you thought you sort of, affected the story. how much do you think you affected the other person's story with those choices? Participant 2: hopefully the same way, as i affected, since it's one story still, right. so, if we were actually like, having the multiplayer game, then obviously there was just one story, so the same way i affected it for me, i affected it for the other person, so. Participant 1: yeah, i think i was thinking about the whole story for both people, when you asked the first question, anyway Participant 2: yeah, significantly, for both. Researcher: did you... how often did you find yourselves thinking about the other player? Participant 2: i don't know about the player, more like just about the character Participant 1: yeah Participant 2: rather than the player itself, himself, herself, yeah Participant 1: yeah, probably the only time was when i was deciding whether to shoot todd or not Participant 2: i was feeling a todd myself, i wasn't thinking of me as [p2], i was todd in that situation. so... the same way that was just sarah Researcher: interesting, okay! So how much do you think you controlled how the finale ended? how much that conversation in act 3 ended? Participant 2: oh, quite significantly Researcher: yeah? Participant 2: yeah Participant 1: yeah, i think there would have been different endings Participant 2: yeah, for each choice Participant 1: i thikn we made a nice ending, i don't know. Participant 2: i'll tell you later Participant 1: okay Researcher: was it a difficult decision to make? Participant 2: yeah, i think so? especially like, i missed choices there, i would choose something entirely different, like i would add an option at some points, but... yeah, there was things to choose from Researcher: in that case, what made it difficult? Participant 2: well, just the, i was thinking about what will happen, basically, later, but it wasn't much of a... but it wasn't that much of a difficult decision because i just knew i wanted to help sarah, that's it, so Researcher: oh, okay Participant 1: and for sarah, it was about trying to not get todd punished by the big boss, which sounded like a tough task because he didn't like, he didn't sound like a very... Participant 2: nice person? Participant 1: no, like a person made for this place, work, so Participant 2: ah, yeah Researcher: okay, so before you read the story, how well did you know the other player? just in general, this is a bookkeeping question Participant 2: i mean, well, kinda, we've met a couple of times i guess... Researcher: come ooon. Participant 2: yes, we know each other very well, yes Participant 1: yeah Researcher: i was just going to say, if you just left it at that, there go my results... So, how do you think knowing the other player, this is to both of you, how much do you think knowing the other player affected the decisions you made and how you played the story? Participant 2: i think none. Participant 1: none. i, yeah, as long as we think about, our characters and others as characters as well, it doesn't affect it, if [p2] was thinking about me, and not sarah, it might have been different... Participant 2: the only that i was just annoyed, was because i had to wait, because i know you read slower than me, so that's why i was like waiting, and like, damn [p1], why are you reading so slowly. that's the only way that i actually remembered it was [p1], i was like 'oh, waiting, that's [1]'. no, i don't think so, even if it was a stranger, i would probably act the same way. Researcher: just a quick check, we're actually overrunning a little bit, do you guys have anywhere to be? Participant 2: no Participant 1: no Researcher: awesome, i'll keep going then. alright, so... looking at the big picture, at the whole experience you just had, how do you think having the other player there affected your experience? Participant 2: it was kind of fun. like, to think that the other, there is someone else making these decisions and not just a computer Researcher: ah, okay, can you elaborate on that? Participant 2: i like, i think the feeling of sarah was that it was more real, rather than if it was just computer based, because i knew that there is actually, yeah, i suppose a person there. Participant 1: i don't think i actually felt until it was the end, the end, er, dialog, basically Researcher: okay, was it just the final decision that you thought about at the end? what part of the end made you start thinking about it? Participant 1: oh, there's this other player, we're now going to make decisions in real time Researcher: interesting, okay Participant 1: otherwise i don't think it felt different to the storytelling games that i've played, decision based, i've played a lot of them. there, i think there might be slight... i think it depends really on how this game would be made, if it was just for one player. obviously, someone would have to decide on what the other character would do based on your decisions, but in this case... it's just give it to another person. i think it adds a bit of randomness to it, it's not completely set, it could have a different experience for different pairs of people playing Researcher: what do you think about that? how does that change things for you? Participant 1: it gives like, it gives a replaying potential, because you can make the same decisions as one character but the other player might not. you need to play with someone else probably, and have a different result, without even changing your position. which, this could be interesting. and obviously, it does give like, a bit of a, uncertainty to it as well i guess. maybe a little bit, in a longer game, knowing the other person might have a bigger impact, because these were not that, many decisions, but if the game lasts a couple of hours, there could be plenty of decisions you could probably expect the other person to make. Researcher: okay, yeah, i can see that if it was much longer. So, you also said that, at the end, it feels more like playing with another person. how did that affect the way you... let me rephrase the question. how did your experience at the end change? Participant 1: it was more lively, more exciting i think, because i was used to reading the paragraph, then making the decision in the next options screen, and then the options screen started changing and new stuff popping out in real time. that was interesting. Researcher: okay, right, cool. so, i've got one more question on here, so we'll go a little bit longer. so firstly, what experience have you got with interactive narratives previously? so have you played many storytelling games, much in the way of telltale's stuff.... Participant 1: yeah Participant 2: moderately yeah Participant 1: yeah, i've played a few telltales... Researcher: and what else have you done...? Participant 1: ...and the witchers... but the witcher's not as much of a telltale type of game, but it also has decisions... Participant 2: life is strange, right? Participant 1: life is stange is a telltale Participant 2: that's literally yeah... Participant 1: and the walking dead video game... which has 5 chapters, so it's quite long Participant 2: i don't know if skyrim is... i mean it has decisions, so yeah yeah, no, i guess... i would count skyrim... Participant 1: [p2]'s played skyrim, i haven't, all i've played is witcher 1 and 2... there are some decisions there as well Participant 2: i think at some point i've played some like, episodes on the phone, there's some decisions there as well Researcher: i didn't realise you could play that on mobile. But yeah, let's talk about the end of the story, right at the end, so... earlier, you said that... it felt like a good ending. do you have any comments on that? Participant 1: oh. oh boy. Participant 2: it wasn't the good ending for me. i got murdered by boss. because i let you go. so yeah. i mean, i was kind of dissapointed, but i mean, let's be honest, todd didn't really have anything else to do in his life anyway, it felt like sarah kind of had, so.... oh well, i mean he made.. Participant 1: i mean she was like, 70 Participant 2: was she? Participant 1: yeah... Participant 2: oh, i missed that part, i mean still, ah well, Todd... you did a good thing, so. and i wasn't expecting them to kill him, i was expecting maybe this was all a plot against todd, and this was just like testing his loyalty, and all these things... and at the end sarah, with the boss, hand in hand would come out and be like 'oh, you messed up, this was all a trick and you failed it!'. i was kind of still expecting right until the end. Researcher: the twist idea, yeah Participant 2: but then i realised there would not be that much of a good play for the other player, maybe. because then, the other player would know all along... that feels more like just for a 1 player game, i think Researcher: yeah Participant 2: but i like left it that, this probably won't happen, but still, i was still kind of expecting it in the end. i would give her the keys and then sarah would be like 'Oh, alright, i got you, you fucked up'. I don't know. Researcher: do you think it was worth it? Participant 1: well, i was about to click the 'go back with todd together', but he gave back the keys... so... Researcher: Participant 2: okay... well, i was kind of expecting sarah would like invite me, come with me, this is something that i was expecting to happen, but no, sarah just took off as well. like come on, this is what i was expecting. Researcher: interesting! see, had you played through... actually, i'll tell you that a bit more in a minute. i've got one more question right now, actually. Which is: you've had a chance to talk, you both know kind of how that narrative went now. Do you... how do you think, if you look at it now, and think of the narrative, and think what it was like to play though it, has your opinion or perspective on any part of the narrative changed, have you got any more thoughts on it, now you've sort of talked about it. Participant 2: I don't know, [p1] seems confused about some parts, i'm still kind of expecting plot twist from you, like, we weren't actually doing multiplayer but now it seems like... Researcher: no, there's no more plot twists from me! Participant 2: okay cool, other than that then, i suppose... it was just fun, i liked it, i enjoyed it. i liked the decisions that i made. but oh well. Researcher: how do you feel about it now that we've talked about it, [p1]? Participant 2: i'm happy that sarah went away, because i wasn't even sure, what happened to sarah in the end? maybe they'll call her as well, maybe we won't get even... Participant 1: no, not really, it's kind of open ended, but... it's okay Participant 2: like, driving into sunset style? Researcher: mmm Participant 2: i suppose, yeah... Participant 1: i was thinking what might happen to him, but there wasn't exactly an option to try and... i don't know, tell him to go away as well or something Participant 2: go with sarah, start a new organisation.. Participant 1: that was an option... it wasn't as an option, but it didn't list an option, but i didn't think that she as a character would... would consider this as well Participant 2: alright, just leave me behind, just leave poor todd behind. But yeah, it was fun, i liked it Participant 1: i can tell you how sarah looks at todd... i'm not sure how it's written, it's probably written more todd-sided for you, i think she thinks he's a newbite, a newb, and she wouldn't take him with her Participant 2: yeah, that was written there Participant 1: and she wouldn't take him with her, because he's more like a liability against like this organisation, if they try to look for her, so i don't think she'd take him with her Participant 2: i suppose. Alright then Researcher: so what i will say, is if you'd kept going through the conversation longer, todd would have gotten an option to go with sarah. Participant 2: OH! Realllly? Researcher: yeah... Participant 2: should i have picked... oh some of these options, like come on, you can't leave, something like that? You see... you see. I knew it. I knew there should have been an option like that Researcher: awesome, well thank you very much both of you, and I'll call it quits here.