Evolution of an Ageless Artform
Loyalty or passion, which is most important? Noel has obviously been as steadfast and loyal as any friend could be. A rock during this first stormy year away from home. Ben, however, has been the obsession for the past four years. And while he has been inconsistent at best, there is still something there that can not be denied. Faced with the decision to vacation for the summer with one or the other, the protagonist is at a crossroads.
Now, what if the audience can make that decision for themselves and push the story in whichever direction they choose? What would allow for that level of audience participation, and how does that affect how we engage with stories?
Introduction:
As we discuss the evolution of an ageless artform, we recognize that “ageless” is a powerful word. It denotes an element that has existed since the beginning of all time. In that way, we accept that the title of this essay is misleading. Storytelling more accurately has only been around as long as crude communication has happened between members of our species. Likely we were telling stories about the hunt as soon as we had families or tribes. And obviously through the millennia we have adapted and modified this communication into an artform. Big leaps in the history of storytelling happened as language was formalized, when the printing press was created, and as patronage became a way to employ storytellers to help create a social narrative. Currently the internet is playing a substantial role as storytelling now has the ability to move from one end of the globe to another instantaneously, bringing our world closer together.
As we at YOM talk about how our DePIN becomes the foundational infrastructure to the coming 3D internet, it is fair to ask what impact interactivity will have on the artform of storytelling. Games like God of War have used cutscenes interspersed throughout the experience to move the story forward, so we are certainly not the progenitor of the idea. We will suggest, however, that a significant modification of these types of stories is on the way with interactive storytelling available on the technology we are creating. And this will have a lasting impact on this timeless artform.
The Historical Context of Storytelling:
Historically, storytelling has come in the form of oral traditions, mythology, plays, and novels. As a comic book collector for many years, I would also include graphic storytelling. All throughout history, however, these formats should be considered passive, in that the person on the receiving end of the story plays no active role in shaping the direction and outcome of the tale.
Interactive storytelling, first seen in some ‘choose your own adventure’ books, has grown with the age of video games. In this form, the reader is progressing a game character through successive levels in service of telling the story. We are keeping in mind, however, that playing a game is inherently an active experience. When done well, game cutscenes do more than just progress the story. They also allow a player to catch their breath, strategize their next move, and serve as a reward, allowing players to ‘sit on the win’ of defeating a boss, for example. And while this has certainly created some fantastic experiences, there is a true distinction between that format and the next evolution that we believe is coming.
What this essay is going to suggest is that there is a different way to do storytelling that will emerge from the access to a 3D internet that leans more to the passive end, more resembling a movie than a game.
Why do we value Storytelling
As social beings, we use storytelling to a number of different ends. We employ stories as a way of forming a connection between each other, codifying our values through the examples we weave into our stories. We use stories to help guide our future, creating either fantastic worlds to aspire to or dystopian worlds we hope to avoid. Storytelling is employed to explore deep psychological aspects of our shared condition in expectation that the audience gains empathy for the characters and takes that empathy out into the world. And lastly we value stories because we can learn and grow as we see aspects of ourselves in the characters we get to know. As the characters grow from challenge and experience, we gain an understanding of our own challenges and where we can grow similarly.
Interactive storytelling in the coming format will build on these ends in a way that will profoundly bolster the power of the artform. We would anticipate a growth in connection, creativity, empathy, and internal awareness all to be built on the expansion of this new artform.
The Format for this New Version
Because the audience for a story is generally passive while experiencing the tale, the vision we have at YOM differs largely from cutscenes in a game. In this new form of storytelling, we generally are going to be passively enjoying the story, different from actively gaming and more like watching a series or film. The main arc will be shaped by the author and will be structured much like we are already accustomed to. However, during certain scenes, there will be decision moments that allow the audience to interact.
Imagine a prompt that asks you to create dialogue for the protagonist at a crucial moment in the story. And imagine that the other characters in the scene have been given the AI personality that allows them to react naturally to your dialogue. More than a simple branch structure used in legacy ‘interactive’ storytelling, this open ended version allows for wild variation in the grasp of each individual audience member. The story can either be gently edged along to agreement and cooperation or wildly shifted into conflict and challenge.
In this format, the audience will become even more invested in the characters of the story and their path to the conclusion. This format creates an outlet for creativity in each audience member, allowing exploration of various paths as wide as they can imagine. It builds a sense of agency in the story, further strengthening the sense of empathy that we use stories to foster. And it gives a safe way to explore each audience member’s own psychology and emotional awareness as each response plays out built from the dialogue they employ.
When presented in this way, it should be easy to understand why we believe we are on the cusp of a major change.
Our Vision
This coming form of storytelling, with real-time interactivity between the audience and the characters, will fundamentally change and strengthen this already powerful medium. Supported with AI and built on the accessibility that our YOM technology enables, streaming interactive video through our DePIN network, we are very excited to see what this new form of media will enable. We expect aspiring authors and playwrights to use this form to sharpen their skills, craft new stories and engagements, and further help us all explore our own empathy, creativity, and humanity.
Dénouement
Passion or loyalty, it is a choice that will obviously ripple into the future. The only certainty of each path is that the other will be lost forever, as the character who represents the road not taken is certain to be affected profoundly. But while life itself does not present us with many opportunities to hit reset, we are fortunate to have a new form of storytelling that allows us to explore each path. So we can participate, now, in helping our protagonist chart her way, and support her as the ripples wave through her story. And use what we learn through her adventures to better shape our own.
The CXO
About YOM:
YOM is the 1st cloud gaming DePIN powering white label metaverses, immersive experiences, and games at near-zero prices and at global low-latency coverage to any device and channel. YOM is providing studios with the tools, grants and an accelerator program they need to easily craft and deploy their own Unreal Engine 5 experiences built for their brand, clients, product, or interest. YOM’s pixel-streaming infrastructure is optimised for quality, performance, and flexibility. The project is backed by a network of top-tier advisors that are in the top 5% of their industries, including gaming, technology, and sustainability.
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