Some time ago, I wrote the following:
Labeling and categorizing scripts is actually a very wrong and foolish practice, especially for players who are accustomed to “following the rules,” giving them preconceived notions that certain tags indicate how a script should be played.
I recently played an emotional script called “Spring Day Short.” At the end of the game, a player complained (not aimed at me) that emotional scripts shouldn’t be played this way; the focus should be on immersing oneself in the characters and experiencing the emotions, rather than analyzing who the murderer is the whole time. They believed the focus shouldn’t be on reasoning.
This resonated with me. On one hand, the DM (Dungeon Master) said it was the phase to find the murderer, so everyone started looking for the murderer. What’s the problem with that? On the other hand, why can’t an emotional script focus on reasoning and murder? If the script’s story is weak and uninteresting, it won’t attract or move people and isn’t worth mentioning.
Recently, after a long time, I eagerly played a highly praised emotional script called “Ancient Tree Song,” but felt disappointed because others were focused on the murder mystery the whole time. Despite having a great plot and story, the script didn’t shine, and I didn’t experience the intended effects. I found myself mentally complaining about others, much like the person I once disliked.
I began to reflect: Is it right to classify scripts, label them, and divide them into different play styles?
The answer is yes.
Generally, the skill level of scriptwriters isn’t that high. You can’t expect an average scriptwriter to have a tightly logical reasoning section, a deeply moving story, and a fun and interesting mechanism section. That’s unrealistic.
Even in TV crime dramas and reality game shows, which spend a lot of money and involve many celebrities and resources, how many are actually good? Let alone scripts that can “deceive” the audience, leaving clues and suspense, with a great twist at the end. Such plots are rare even in American TV shows.
Just reaching a level of fun requires a scriptwriter of at least TV scriptwriting skill. Where would such a writer find time to write scripted murder mystery scripts, given their low cost? It’s already not easy for a scripted murder mystery script to have one or two highlights.
So, why classify scripts into genres? Because, limited by the scriptwriter’s skill, a script of a certain genre truly only has one way to play it. Playing an emotional script with a hardcore mystery approach is mismatched.
Why is there a misconception that “one script shouldn’t have only one way to play it”? Because many scripts are heavily homogenized, featuring murder mystery plots regardless of genre. Fortunately, this is gradually improving. For example, a popular script this year, “Incoming Call,” has no murder mystery but has interesting mechanics, a fun game, and a deeply meaningful twist at the end. Whether it’s the best script or not, at least it’s fun and avoids traditional clichés, which is a significant improvement.
So, as a player, should you check the script’s background information before the game to understand what type of script it is, know how to play it, and understand which aspects to focus on?
Of course not!
This is clearly the DM’s responsibility. The DM should first be thoroughly familiar with the script, then explain the key points before the game starts, letting players know the focus, and even provide individual guidance at different stages for players of different levels. The DM cannot assume all players are veterans, nor can they assume all players know how to play a particular script.
In fact, the DM’s control ability is crucial to the player’s gaming experience.
In fact, nine out of ten DMs are poor, and nine out of ten scripted murder mystery experiences are poor.
In the few good gaming sessions I’ve participated in, either the DM was professional and fully engaged, or there were veteran players who could spontaneously take control. In the poor experiences, it was almost always the DM’s fault—either not participating or not guiding the process, or worse, directly misleading the players and allocating too much time to unimportant parts. Some DMs even rush players to finish the game to complete their work tasks, disregarding the players’ experience.
Bad experiences are also a form of experience. I’m just trying different scripted murder mystery venues.
Back to the issue of script genres, the reasoning is similar. If a movie is promoted as a mix of romance, costume drama, fantasy, action, drama, ethics, comedy, and history, you know it’s going to be a bad film.
If there is a programming language claiming to support both FP and OOP, actors and pipelines, try…catch and union types, both static and dynamic typing, and type inference, suitable for people familiar with different programming styles, then this language…is JavaScript, right? :P
If someone says they are proficient in both front-end and back-end development, app development, embedded development, blockchain principles, neural network principles, and has deep research in big data processing and data platform construction, then this person…must be quite old…