I worked for over 2 years as Copywriter & Narrative Designer on Avakin Life, a 3D virtual world wildly popular in places as diverse as the USA, Russia, Indonesia and Brazil.
As the only full-time writer on the team, it was my job to bring our world to life through the everyday experiences of our players. My biggest responsibility was creating narrative arcs, developing characters and writing dialogue for twice monthly LiveOps events. This involved understanding our audience and crafting exciting, fulfilling stories experienced by 7+ million players each month.
I also wrote pretty much all the copy needed in other areas of the app (and beyond): tutorials, UI text, promo copy, patch notes, press releases, website text and app store copy. I created Style Guides and Tone of Voice documents – and helped implement these across our team – to make sure we always spoke to players in the right way, for the right reasons.
Take a look below for examples of my work.
Nadia Fox and the Mystery of the Stolen Treasures
This event was designed to involve players in an exciting European mystery reminiscent of the adventures of Tintin, featuring a bold and unapologetic female protagonist who would resonate with our core audience of young women and teenagers.
Along with LiveOps Designers, I created the narrative arc for this event and the personality of its hero, Nadia Fox. I helped develop the theme and construct design documents, story summaries and characters bios. I wrote all the dialogue players experienced throughout the quest, using distinctive voices to bring vivid characters to life. I also playtested the final event to ensure its tone remained consistent throughout and the story was clear from a player’s perspective.
Narrative Structure
Strange thefts have been happening all over Europe. Priceless treasures like the Mona Lisa are going missing and then reappearing days later! Nadia Fox is on the case, and the player must help her solve the mystery.
Over the course of the event players solved simple puzzles to learn more and more about the thief responsible for stealing the treasures. At the end of each weekend a new piece of information was uncovered, eventually revealing that the master thief was none other than Nadia’s arch nemesis Siegfried von Bahr, who had masterminded the crimes just to test her.
For events like these, it’s important to drip-feed plot points to players in small chunks that keep them intrigued and returning to the game weeks at a time. I made sure each section of the narrative ended on a cliffhanger – encouraging players to come back and find out more.
Change is an inevitable part of all narrative design. Early on we decided on a modular approach to the story, which allowed us to adapt quickly and fluidly to a number of problems that arose during development. For example, when we realised we needed to set up the nemesis character sooner for him to be a convincing villain, I was able to thread mentions of him into earlier modules of the narrative.
Ultimately, as the event progressed we were able to build the narrative to a number of compelling, emotional moments, including:
- a security guard whose self-belief was shaken when he failed to protect a national treasure;
- a masquerade ball attended by both Nadia Fox and the thief in disguise, who delivered her a chilling message via the player;
- and Nadia’s final triumphant victory over her nemesis.
Character Bio
NADIA FOX
inquisitive, brave, determined
A precocious only child, Nadia had a grandfather who told her tales of travelling the world which inspired her dream of being an adventurer. Often an outsider, she uses her curiosity and drive to experience people, places and things most others would miss. Once Nadia gets stuck in a case, she can’t rest until she’s solved it.
• Appearance: Classic style with a bold modern twist. She likes to dress practically but with a fashion-forward flair.
• Personality: Confident and decisive, sometimes arrogant. Has a wry sense of humour and knows when to stop taking herself so seriously.
• Mannerisms: When stopping to think, often taps her chin with a finger. She can be a bit over-animated at times.
• Desires: To explore the world and uncover things nobody has seen before; to reveal the truth; to speak up for those who can’t.
• Frustrations: Nadia is afraid of dogs (and embarrassed about it). She can’t stand anyone trying to hide things from her.
Quest Dialogue
Here is a sample of some dialogue from the start of the quest. Each line was kept short and punchy so as to take up minimal space on small phone screens.
NADIA FOX
> Hey, {name}!
> Or should I say “bonjour”? This splendid train is hurtling us through France right now.
> I’m Nadia Fox – adventurer, detective, and solver of mysteries. Pleased to meet you!
> There have been troubling reports of theft all across Europe. That’s why I’m here.
> You look like the capable type. Fancy lending a hand? There’s talk the Mona Lisa has been stolen in Paris!
If the player does not agree:
> Hey, adventure isn’t for everyone. I bet I’ll solve this mystery before long, so hurry back if you change your mind.
If the player agrees:
> Great. No time to waste, so let’s get started!
> I’ve managed to track down a person of interest. We should speak to them and find out what they know.
> Apparently she was at the museum when the Mona Lisa was stolen. A first-hand witness!
Once the player arrives in Paris:
> There you are, {name}.
> Cool party, huh? Wish I could afford an apartment as nice as this!
> We’re looking for Geneviève Gagné. She should be wearing a black beret. Can you track her down?
> You’ll need to investigate, not just talk. Be sure to tap on the person of interest, then select “Investigate”.
The player then finds and investigates Geneviève:
GENEVIÈVE GAGNÉ
> Oh, hello… can I help you?
> What? I don’t know anything about a stolen painting. I don’t even like paintings!
If the player points out contradictory evidence – a painting in her apartment:
> OK, OK, I love paintings. I was there at the museum when the Mona Lisa was taken. But I’m not the thief!
> I saw it all. He was an older man. He snuck away with the painting, past all the police officers! It was chaos!
> That’s all I know, I swear. Please… I think you should leave now.
If the player selects the wrong piece of evidence to confront her with:
> I don’t understand. What has this got to do with anything?
If the player approaches her again after the conversation is over:
> Can you please just leave me in peace?
The player then returns to Nadia Fox:
NADIA FOX
> Hmm, so she claims an older man took the Mona Lisa in plain view. We have our first suspect!
> Leave this with me. I’ll see what else I can find in the way of evidence.
The quest continued over three weekends with more characters for the player to investigate, each one providing more information and slowly revealing the identity of the master thief.
