Bond University
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Faculty of Society and Design Publications
Faculty of Society and Design
2015
Approaches to cultural heritage in role-playing
games
Jakub Majewski
Bond University, [email protected]
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Part of the Sociology of Culture Commons, and the Technology and Innovation Commons
Recommended Citation
Majewski, Jakub, "Approaches to cultural heritage in role-playing games" (2015). Faculty of Society and Design Publications. Paper 406.
http://epublications.bond.edu.au/fsd_papers/406
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Approaches to cultural heritage in
role-playing games
Jakub Majewski
Bond University
Faculty of Society & Design
Bond University QLD 4229
0459 686 094
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Role-playing games (RPGs) seek to immerse the player in a character and within a
specific imaginary world, usually based to some degree on reality, the non-fictional world
we inhabit. RPGs are thus potentially capable of transmitting real cultural knowledge as
cultural heritage tools. This paper interrogates a number of RPGs and RPG-like games to
examine how they transmit real cultural knowledge and the relevance of accuracy to the
transmission process. It is argued games involving cultural heritage can be divided into
four categories depending on their focus towards entertainment or non-entertainment and
emphasis on mass market or small market appeal.
Keywords
Role-playing games, cultural heritage, culture, serious games, modding, imaginary
worlds, world-building.
EXTENDED ABSTRACT
Role-playing games (RPGs) place a significant emphasis on the development of the
player character or avatar. Players improve and customize their avatars by managing their
appearance, quantifiable character skills and by obtaining and using progressively better
items (Barton, 2008, Hitchens & Drachen, 2008). It is thus vital for an RPG to immerse
the player in a character, and a significant body of research has examined the complexity
of player-avatar relationships (Hjorth, 2011). Characters do not exist in a vacuum, and
character immersion is strongly connected to immersion within a specific imaginary
world. This is achieved by world-building, a process described by Wolf (2012) as hinging
on the three characteristics of inventiveness, consistency, and a sense of completeness.
Given the importance of imaginary world-building for immersion in RPGs, they devote
considerable attention to culture (Monken, 2010; Johnson, 2013). This attention makes
RPGs potentially effective tools for cultural heritage purposes alongside other virtual
heritage applications. However, RPGs do not always serve well the virtual heritage
concept of cultural and social presence (Champion, 2007). While it is reasonable to argue
that world-building will demand steady improvements to presence-building over time, not
all RPGs that explore culture rely on presence to the same degree, and indeed not all
RPGs require substantial cultural content.
Furthermore, cultural accuracy is not intrinsically valuable in games development, and
developers frequently resort to popular culture stereotypes, distorted but readily
Proceedings of DiGRAA 2015: Inclusivity in Australian Games and Games Studies
© 2015 Authors & Digital Games Research Association DiGRA. Personal and educational classroom use of
this paper is allowed, commercial use requires specific permission from the author.
recognizable to audiences (Sołtysiak, 2014). Simultaneously, effective cultural
transmission relies not only on strong cultural content, but also on the appeal of the game.
A game that explores culture in depth and with accuracy while failing to meet audience
expectations, will not ultimately be successful.
Broadly, four categories of games can be distinguished with differing approaches towards
the emphasis on cultural content versus entertainment value, and the emphasis on mass
market or small market appeal. These four categories are serious games, commercial
games, culture-centric commercial-like games, and player-produced game mods.
Representatives of these four categories are reviewed here, focusing on RPGs dealing
with historical and endangered cultures.
Serious games prioritise non-entertainment utility (Sawyer, 2010). They also tend to be
designed for specific narrow markets, eschewing mass market appeal in order to achieve
this objective. For example, Virtual Warrane II: Sacred Tracks of the Gadigal
(Immersive Heritage, 2012) was designed for a museum exhibition about pre-European
Aboriginal culture in the Sydney area. Another example is RezWorld (Thornton Media,
Inc, unpublished), designed to facilitate learning Native American languages. In general,
a strong tradition of cultural heritage-oriented serious games exists (Anderson, et al.,
2009).
Commercial games are oriented to entertainment and mass market appeal. Such games
use real culture to build a convincing backdrop for the game. One example is The Elder
Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks, 2011). Though built on a layer of early medieval
Scandinavian culture, Skyrim modifies this culture extensively to fit into a fantasy world
of dragons and magic. Although not strictly an RPG, the Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft,
2007-2015) series provides another example. Set in the real world, this series places more
emphasis on accurate cultural backdrops, but still sacrifices accuracy for the sake of a
science-fiction/fantasy story.
A separate category are commercial titles or serious games designed to imitate
commercial titles. Such games either explicitly explore cultural heritage, or rely on
cultural heritage as a draw factor to the point where this becomes the game’s most
notable feature. This category constitutes a tension-filled combination of mass market
focus with an emphasis on cultural content. Two examples are World of Temasek
(Magma Studios, 2011), exploring 14th century Singapore in the context of a massively
multiplayer online game, and Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword (Studio Sich, 2011),
which depicts 17th century Eastern Europe. In both cases, the inherent tension between
cultural themes and mass appeal results in problems with culture, appeal, or both.
Player-developed mods are awkward carriers of cultural heritage, constrained by a lack of
funding and the need to fit within the framework of a particular game not necessarily
optimal to that particular culture. Produced by players, mods tend to emphasize
entertainment value, but their small market focus paradoxically enables them to devote
considerable attention to cultural details. Examples of culture-oriented mods are
Suvarnabhumi Mahayuth (Rasiya Team, 2012) and Brytenwalda (Brytenwalda Team,
2011) for the game Mount & Blade: Warband (Taleworlds Entertainment, 2010). The
former examines 16th century South-East Asia, while Brytenwalda is set in the melting
pot of 7th century Britain.
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Using games to preserve and popularize cultural heritage is at once promising and risky.
For professionals working in this area, it is crucial to examine the different approaches
available and learn from the benefits and limitations of each option in order to optimize
their own approach.
BIO
Jakub Majewski is currently pursuing PhD research at Bond University, with a focus on
open-world RPGs as a means of transmitting cultural knowledge. As an adjunct at Bond,
he has taught about interactive experience design, and game culture. Prior to returning to
the academia, Jakub had spent about a decade in games development in various capacities
from level designer to producer and creative director. His professional portfolio includes
forty games in multiple genres, and for multiple platforms.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, E. F., McLoughlin, L., Liarokapis, F., Peters, C., Petridis, P., & de Freitas,
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https://www.academia.edu/1003317/Social_Presence_and_Cultural_Presence_i
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Hitchens, M., & Drachen, A. The Many Faces of Role-Playing Games. In
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