The purpose of this post is to communicate the importance to transmedia storytelling of a good story, meaningful choices and less effort on the part of the audience.
I was inspired by this paper “Improving Computer Game Narrative Using Polti Ratios” by Richard Hall and Kirsty Baird to consider how I might create similar equations to evaluate the strength of transmedia experiences. Hall and Baird create three equations for assessing the strength of a narrative game..
Level of Drama(LoD)= P/E
–P = count of all Polti situations / E = events
Variety of Drama(VoD)= U/36
–U = Unique Polti situations / max 36 available
Involvement in Drama(IiD)= U/(M+5*C)
–U = Unique Polit situations /
–M = main characters
–C = minor characters
Here’s my version for transmedia which works towards a formula for “engagement” (for want of a better word) by looking at the author’s considerations when creating an experience – such as number of characters, channels of communication, touchpoints on and offline, impact of audience choices on the narrative and strength of the narrative.
Confusion Factor (Cf) = (M+C) * Ac
Immersion(I) = P/Cf
Agency* = (Consequences/Choices)
Engagement (E) = I * A / (T1 + 5*T2)
*For discussion of Agency I recommend reading this paper: “Commitment to Meaning: A Reframing of Agency in Games” by Karen & Joshua Tanenbaum