Darksign. These cursed are doomed to be resurrected each time they die, and with each resurrection they become Hollower until they remain a shell of their former selves, driven mad for all eternity. The player’ s character is one of these cursed humans, and with each death, the player becomes increasingly Hollow until they use a finite item called Humanity that, as the name suggests, restores the player’ s humanity. The more“ human” a player is, the more resistance the player has against various forms of damage, the more items the player finds, and overall experience of the player is better. However, over the normal course of play, the player will die, and thus loose his accrued humanity. As a gameplay mechanic, this instills a sense of frustration in the player, as in this case, it is the ineptitude and inadequacy of the player that makes it harder to continue, making each misstep even more harmful to progression. This happens a lot to the normal player, and over time, this frustration might lead to anger, as anger is the appropriate response to that frustration( Blair). This anger, as it hardly ever gets alleviated, might in turn breed hatred, either towards the player himself or to the developers, the gods of this dark universe the player finds himself. As emotions run ever-higher with each death, the player’ s character becomes increasingly zombie-like, showing visible signs of Hollowness. The player, in this sense, is much like the character he controls – he is becoming less human. Humans are pictured as being rational beings, capable of thought more advanced than purely cause-and-effect. With every death, the player allows anger and hate to cloud their judgement, letting it fuel them with each subsequent death, getting the motivation they need to continue. Some people reach a critical point, causing them to have to step back from the game and put the controller down, sometimes for good, lest their emotions consume them. Others complete the games several times over, embracing the madness.
Another one of the key aspects of the game are the multiplayer components. Players can choose to provide aid to other players, or simply invade them. This mechanic not only provides another enemy for the player to be constantly weary of, as other players can invade at any moment, but also another object of hatred and frustration for the player. People, especially when surprised, are generally more prone to“ irrational movements of the mind,” as Stoics claim, and as such are easier to anger( Wagoner). This seemed to be a major consideration when planning the multiplayer components of the game, as the other major one comes in the form of leaving messages on the ground in the game world, the only clear way of mass communication between players. The vocabulary able to be used is quite limited, but the scope of the messages left is broad. Some warn of a hidden enemy, others alert players to a treasure off the beaten path. Some, however, are not as helpful. The message system can be used to negatively impact the game experience of other players. Players can use these messages to lie to other players, leading them to a premature death. Other messages could be jokes, placed in a critical spot to distract the player from an oncoming enemy. This type of betrayal is particularly striking because frustration, as R. J. R. Blair states, occurs when an individual“ continues to do an action in the expectation of a reward but does not actually receive that reward.” The player continues to follow the messages left by players, as they bring with them rewards, and when they stop returning positively, frustration is experienced. This brings the player closer towards anger, an anger towards a large group of people, if not everyone else playing the game at the same time. It also introduces an anger that cannot be satiated – notes are left anonymously, and only specific notes appear in specific instances of the game. To find the writer of the note, to enact revenge, is impossible, so nothing can be done in retribution. That retribution would provide the“ rewarding experience” necessary to quiet anger, but it simply cannot be accomplished, leaving the player hurt and more alone than ever( Chester).
Within this atmosphere built specifically to illicit hostile emotions, the player is expected to complete a quest set for them by the game’ s developers, and against all better judgement, the player usually completes most, if not all, of the quest. The philosopher Śāntideva explained something comparable to this phenomenon when searching for the reason for enduring suffering. He believed that by enduring suffering, people will be happier, as“ the mind does not get piece, nor enjoy pleasure and happiness … when the dart of anger rests in the heart”( Lele). Scientifically, there is some merit for happiness as the result of frustration as well. Acting aggressively, in the pursuit of revenge, has been found to be“ hedonically rewarding,” allowing humans to associate pleasure to the expression of frustration( Chester). Dark Souls exploits this feature of human nature by creating a world so woefully oppressive that every new enemy slain by the player’ s blade gives a kind of cathartic effect. Each boss killed is grounds for jumping in pure joy. To the player, overcoming each of the challenges set forth by the de-
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