The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

There are plenty of times when you’ll play without having everything fully defined. That’s part of the process of interactive play. But when a lack of clarity gets in the way of your ability to play, a clarifying question is well in order.

The most common reason that players avoid asking clarifying questions is because they feel like their character should already know the answer. If not knowing gets in the way of playing, it’s better to just ask than wonder.

Bonnie, an inter-actor, is playing the role of the chief technical officer for Bazzazz, an online fashion company. The head of marketing asks her, “What’s the heat map on the website showing?”, but she has no idea what a heat map is. “What do you mean, heat map?” “You know, what are people looking at and clicking on?” Bonnie replies, “Well, the click-through rate on the home page is up eight percent.”

There are also times when an in-and-out-of-story clarifying question can give you information from a spect that can’t be gotten any other way.

Despite the cast’s best efforts, Cody has continued to play in a disconnected manner. In a quiet moment, an inter-actor turns to the spect and says with all sincerity, “Cody, what is it that really matters to you?” Cody is taken a little off guard. He thinks for a moment, and then replies, “Booze.”

The answers to this kind of clarifying question may not be fully satisfying, but they provide a place to begin that has been generated by the spect.

When uncertainty impedes your ability to play, ask a clarifying question.