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<blockquote data-quote="Bawylie" data-source="post: 7448518" data-attributes="member: 6776133"><p>Ah, yes. Well known suspense thriller BABE. </p><p></p><p>I think I disagree with the premise here. Suspense doesn’t involve the cost of victory at all. Not directly anyway. I suppose it might seem that way after the fact, a sort of narrative rationale of how the conflict resolved. </p><p></p><p>IMO suspense is actually a pause or a break in between actions taken to resolve a conflict and the outcome/resolution itself. And tension is a sort of measure of the emotional strain between the action and resolution. </p><p></p><p>Easiest example I can think of is the cliffhanger ending. The protagonist dangling on the edge of peril with no salvation in sight and the narrative abruptly ends. You might think “there’s no way the protagonist dies here” and you may reasonably conclude “it’s just a matter of what it costs him to get out of this - physical strain, injury, whatever.” But, your assumption is faulty. You don’t know the protagonist will survive even though you are anticipating it: you won’t actually know the outcome until you see it happen. And so long as your anticipation of the resolution is put off, you’re in suspense, experiencing tension that won’t slacken until the conflict resolved. HOW that resolution comes to pass is emotionally irrelevant so long as it doesn’t violate or cheapen the conflict/stakes. </p><p></p><p>Imagine a protagonist dangling over peril and the next time we see them, the fall itself is six inches to the ground - unless you’re watching a comedy, you’ve been cheated and it feels cheap. Whereas if the story was a comedy, you’d be well paid with a good laugh from the dissonance. </p><p></p><p>Right. So pretty plainly, the means of resolving tension isn’t important to creating suspense in your game, even though it is important in terms of keeping to the overall theme. </p><p></p><p>Then - how do you create suspense? First, you need to have a conflict that does NOT have a predetermined outcome. There has to be some risks or stakes that mean something to the people in the conflict. Second, you need to have some endeavor, effort, or action undertaken to resolve that conflict. And finally, you need to create (perhaps force?) a break or pause between the endeavor and its outcome. It is probably best if that pause capitalizes on the emotional ties the participants have to the stakes. You’re looking for a kind of arrested feeling, like watching a tightrope walker or something like that. </p><p></p><p>In the end, you’re looking to capitalize on opportunities and play with your pacing. You’re not necessarily introducing markets or costs for victory, most probably because that’s simply transactional. No you want a feeling of gambling instead. More like a wager than a cost. And that’s why dice can feel suspenseful! But you might find other wagers within the game itself that have stronger emotional tension.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bawylie, post: 7448518, member: 6776133"] Ah, yes. Well known suspense thriller BABE. I think I disagree with the premise here. Suspense doesn’t involve the cost of victory at all. Not directly anyway. I suppose it might seem that way after the fact, a sort of narrative rationale of how the conflict resolved. IMO suspense is actually a pause or a break in between actions taken to resolve a conflict and the outcome/resolution itself. And tension is a sort of measure of the emotional strain between the action and resolution. Easiest example I can think of is the cliffhanger ending. The protagonist dangling on the edge of peril with no salvation in sight and the narrative abruptly ends. You might think “there’s no way the protagonist dies here” and you may reasonably conclude “it’s just a matter of what it costs him to get out of this - physical strain, injury, whatever.” But, your assumption is faulty. You don’t know the protagonist will survive even though you are anticipating it: you won’t actually know the outcome until you see it happen. And so long as your anticipation of the resolution is put off, you’re in suspense, experiencing tension that won’t slacken until the conflict resolved. HOW that resolution comes to pass is emotionally irrelevant so long as it doesn’t violate or cheapen the conflict/stakes. Imagine a protagonist dangling over peril and the next time we see them, the fall itself is six inches to the ground - unless you’re watching a comedy, you’ve been cheated and it feels cheap. Whereas if the story was a comedy, you’d be well paid with a good laugh from the dissonance. Right. So pretty plainly, the means of resolving tension isn’t important to creating suspense in your game, even though it is important in terms of keeping to the overall theme. Then - how do you create suspense? First, you need to have a conflict that does NOT have a predetermined outcome. There has to be some risks or stakes that mean something to the people in the conflict. Second, you need to have some endeavor, effort, or action undertaken to resolve that conflict. And finally, you need to create (perhaps force?) a break or pause between the endeavor and its outcome. It is probably best if that pause capitalizes on the emotional ties the participants have to the stakes. You’re looking for a kind of arrested feeling, like watching a tightrope walker or something like that. In the end, you’re looking to capitalize on opportunities and play with your pacing. You’re not necessarily introducing markets or costs for victory, most probably because that’s simply transactional. No you want a feeling of gambling instead. More like a wager than a cost. And that’s why dice can feel suspenseful! But you might find other wagers within the game itself that have stronger emotional tension. [/QUOTE]
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