Barbaros BOSTAN, Başak TİNLİ, Güven ÇATAK

Bilgisayar Rol Yapma Oyunlarının Kurgusal Dünya Yaratma Bileşenleri ve Transmedya Uzantıları

Bilgisayar oyunları diğer iletişim mecralarından kurgusal dünyalar ödünç alarak veya kendi eşsiz dünyalarını yaratarak daha geniş bir izleyici kitlesiyle buluşmayı hedefler ama bu sanal dünyaların nasıl yaratıldığı veya hangi bileşenler kullanılarak yaratıldığı soruları medya çalışmaları için cevabı verilmesi gereken sorulardır. Burada bir diğer önemli husus da bir medya türünde başarılı olan bir kurgusal dünyanın genelde diğer medya türlerine de geçiş yapmasıdır ve bu durum medya anlatı yakınsaması veya transmedya anlatı olarak isimlendirilmektedir. Bu çalışma bilgisayar rol yapma oyunlarının kurgusal dünyalarının yaratılmasındaki desenleri ve trendleri analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Sistematik içerik analizi yaklaşımı benimsenerek, 10 en başarılı bilgisayar rol yapma oyunu incelenmiş ve kurgusal dünya yaratma bileşenleri ile transmedya uzantıları tanımlanmıştır. İncelenen oyunlarda kurgusal dünya ile ilgili bilgiler (dünya tipi, dünya haritası, elementler), bu dünyaların ilgi çekici konumları ve bu konumların temsilleri, kurgusal dünyalarda bulunan türler (oynanabilir türler, bitki, mantar, hayvan, akıllı türler) ve kültürün kurgusal dünyalardaki bileşenleri (din, takvim, dil, para birimi, hükümet şekilleri, sosyal organizasyonlar, büyü veya teknoloji kullanımı) incelenmiştir. Bu bağlamda, incelenen oyunlarda tekrarlanan dünya yaratma yöntemleri sunulmuş ve kurgusal bir dünya yaratmak için mekân, tür ve kültür alt bileşenlerinden oluşan bir taslak ortaya çıkartılmıştır. Ayrıca her bir kurgusal dünyanın diğer medya türlerine ne şekilde yakınsadığı incelenmiştir.

Worldbuilding Components and Transmedial Extensions of Computer Role-Playing Games

Video games borrow fictional worlds from other media or create their own unique worlds to spread to a wider audience but how these virtual worlds are created or what kind of components are used to build them are important questions that can be studied well with a systematic analysis of their content. It is also important to note here that once a fictional world is successful for one type of media, it usually expands through different media, which is defined as media narrative convergence or transmedia storytelling. This study attempts to find out the patterns and trends of worldbuilding methods in the fictional worlds of computer role-playing games. Adopting a systematic content analysis approach, 10 most successful computer role- playing games are analyzed to identify their worldbuilding components and transmedial extensions. The analysis of video games includes information about the game world (world type, world map, distinct elements), points of interest and their corresponding map icons, species found in the fictional world (player species, flora, fungi, creatures, sentient species), information about culture (religion, language, government type, social organizations, the use of magic or technology). In this regard, repeating patterns of worldbuilding in games are presented and the framework that consists of three components (place, species, culture). The effects of each fictional world on different media are also given.

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