Where is the setting?

Building a world that is immersive and meaningful for the protagonist is challenging. You can’t force someone to experience a world the way you want them to so it’s about setting up the conditions for them to map their own meaningful experiences.

Setting

How can you make the setting immersive and conducive to meaningful experiences? Is there any intrinsic value to the protagonist experiencing this environment? Are there opportunities for tangential or unexpected lessons to be learned?

Mechanisms

What mechanisms are at play to make the world engaging? Are there challenges or quests? How does the protagonist progress? What do they find along the way? How are they rewarded?

Experiences

In any creativity there is always the underlying question: compliment or contrast? Who is the protagonist in relation to the world? Is the protagonist in conflict with the world? If so, what path do they take to find their place or meaning?

Community

Is the protagonist acting alone? Who do they relay their experiences to? Is there a community of like-minded people experiencing the same thing? Are there mechanisms for discussion and cooperative engagement?

Bartles’s Taxonomy

To help stay orientated, Bartle’s Taxonomy can be a useful lens to view the motivations of people or characters interacting within your world:

Achievers: These are people who are motivated by collecting and completing.

Explorers: These people are more interested finding the borders of the world and discovering hidden experiences.

Socialisers: These people are motivated by interaction with others, either within the world or on external forums to discuss their experiences.

Killers: These people want to dominate and disrupt. They can be toxic if too many but equally they can present a threat that can raise stakes and engagement.