Good question, especially as I eye that bit of meta I have on novelization fanfic versus 'other' genres of fanfic (for a big bucket of many different kinds of 'other').
There is also the question of whether or not the word "novelization" is the best word to use although novelizations of 120 minute movies need to take 20,000 words of script and turn it into 80,000 - 120,000 words of prose so a lot of missing scenes are added. Also, for popular series the the official Star Trek novels, the novels expand on a singular canon rather than just retell scenes that have been shot using the various star trek actors + scripts. So, even traditionally, the word "novelization" means more than just straight up retelling.
I'm not entirely settled on a definition but the notion of singularity in canon seems central, although that becomes fuzzy in a game like DA:O or DA2.
So, the way I think I want to use the term "novelization" with respect to video game fanfic is "any story that follows some or all of the video game's plot and expands the original canon without directly contradicting it." So, a both a doorstopper novel titled How Warden Brosca Stopped The Fifth Blight and a small collection of short stories that provide missing scenes for Warden Brosca's life during the year 9:30 would probably count as "novelization" by my definition, as long as the stories are missing scenes that are canon compatible, backstory that explains and extends canon, and post-canon stories that take the logical next step. Basically, anything that slots right into the game play experience in a non-contradictory manner, but is focused ON the characters who greatly contributed to the plot of the game. For Dragon Age, if one can generally imagine the fanfic becoming a series of "official" Dragon Age stories for one canonical play through, then it falls into what I think I am going to call "video game novelization fanfic."
The idea here is that the fanfic expands on the life of one or more canonical character within the bounds of canon. So, FFXII's story (in 706 O.V.) from Basch's POV (with many missing scenes) plus Basch's post-game experience as Judge Gabranth would also be novelization by my definition. But FFXII's plot as a backdrop during a story told from Vaan's POV about his year long torrid, highly public romance with Ashe would not be novelization by my definition. That's invention despite using the FFXII plotline to mark time and events. Likewise, I want to classify novellas/novels like my "What He Wants" as definitely *NOT* novelization because even though plot points are referred to, the story adds incompatible (or original) "what ifs" (fem!Hawke gets pregnant & gives birth in in 9:32) and either pushes characterization beyond what is likely to be "true" in canon or creates characterization that is all but certainly not true (Cullen is extremely needy and extremely insecure, and spends 9:33-9:36 struggling with drug (lyrium) addiction). Obviously, a story about how Tabris never becomes a warden but, instead, is sold into slavery to Danarius would NOT be novelization because it has nothing to do with DA:O's or DA2's plot.
There is a large co-authored project I've been slowly working on for a year...-__- for a while, and should go live next month. Co-author+I are calling it a novelization although YMMV because it stretches the definition of novelization. The co-authored portion of the story slavishly follows DA2's plot quest by quest (sounds like novelization!) while providing the behind-the-scenes political/social/economic story as told through the POV's of a small collection of characters who are NOT Hawke (alt POV novelization?) in which the entire thing is really canon meta (hmmm) as various characters who aren't Hawke discuss the situations surrounding each of the quests (so, novelization as a device for writing metafiction).
On the other hand, this co-authored project happens to take place in my Mari Hawke's universe and anything I write separately about her experiences from her POV within the bounds of DA2's plot is definitely straight-forward "video game novelization" by my definition above... that is, until the complication of her extra-canonical LI is brought in, despite all of THAT being very purposefully written to slip into the framework of canon without changing it, much as if Cullen was a DLC character sort of like Sebastian's DLC, where this unofficial DLC (so to speak) provides additional insight into Kirkwall+Thedas's politics & economics while remaining grounded in the canon itself.
.
The reason I've been thinking about this is a little academic and has more to do with what people seem to be getting out of the act of reading and/or writing video game fanfic.
Sometimes people are very interested in telling their protagonists' story. They have THEIR Brosca or Tabris or Cousland and the video game *purposefully* leaves many elements to our imagination in order to create a more immersive experience, thus my Aeducan will never be the same as your Aeducan even if they make the same in-game choices via the dialogue menu. Thus, the power of this highly immersive experience calls for fanfic -- novelizational fanfic (as I am calling it right now).
Sometimes people are interested in extending canon with stories that could be read as official novels if the official Canon God blessed it as so, but, even if not, as long as it remains canon compatible, it feels like a novelization. Fleshing out Wynne's backstory while remaining canon compatible, for instance.
On the other hand, sometimes people are instead interested in taking the universe and running wild with what ifs or complete alternate constructions. For instance, Fenris never comes to Kirkwall but some of the cast ends up in Tevinter. Or "what if" romance stories: mage Hawke is forced into an arranged marriage to keep her (rarely him) out of the Circle.
Also, in the not-novelization bucket, sometimes people are just borrowing the characters to write erotica or porn, and what they write has little to do with canon events or even canon characterization. Nods to canon are merely excuses for an extended sex scene.
Going further, sometimes people are interested in writing AU or crossovers: modern day coffee shop fic, etc.
My reason for classification is that the novelization-style fanfic is written within the constraints of needing to work with canon while explaining or expanding on that canon. In an sense, the canon itself becomes the writing prompts. Readers judge it by how IC the characters feel, whether or not they find the protagonist's POV interesting, and/or whether the story illuminates or expands something in canon that they find valuable.
The non-novelization styles of fanfic are judged by different criteria that appear far more dependent on the genre of the fanfic. So, PWP/erotica is judged by a different set of criteria than coffee shop AU, etc.
no subject
There is also the question of whether or not the word "novelization" is the best word to use although novelizations of 120 minute movies need to take 20,000 words of script and turn it into 80,000 - 120,000 words of prose so a lot of missing scenes are added. Also, for popular series the the official Star Trek novels, the novels expand on a singular canon rather than just retell scenes that have been shot using the various star trek actors + scripts. So, even traditionally, the word "novelization" means more than just straight up retelling.
I'm not entirely settled on a definition but the notion of singularity in canon seems central, although that becomes fuzzy in a game like DA:O or DA2.
So, the way I think I want to use the term "novelization" with respect to video game fanfic is "any story that follows some or all of the video game's plot and expands the original canon without directly contradicting it." So, a both a doorstopper novel titled How Warden Brosca Stopped The Fifth Blight and a small collection of short stories that provide missing scenes for Warden Brosca's life during the year 9:30 would probably count as "novelization" by my definition, as long as the stories are missing scenes that are canon compatible, backstory that explains and extends canon, and post-canon stories that take the logical next step. Basically, anything that slots right into the game play experience in a non-contradictory manner, but is focused ON the characters who greatly contributed to the plot of the game. For Dragon Age, if one can generally imagine the fanfic becoming a series of "official" Dragon Age stories for one canonical play through, then it falls into what I think I am going to call "video game novelization fanfic."
The idea here is that the fanfic expands on the life of one or more canonical character within the bounds of canon. So, FFXII's story (in 706 O.V.) from Basch's POV (with many missing scenes) plus Basch's post-game experience as Judge Gabranth would also be novelization by my definition. But FFXII's plot as a backdrop during a story told from Vaan's POV about his year long torrid, highly public romance with Ashe would not be novelization by my definition. That's invention despite using the FFXII plotline to mark time and events. Likewise, I want to classify novellas/novels like my "What He Wants" as definitely *NOT* novelization because even though plot points are referred to, the story adds incompatible (or original) "what ifs" (fem!Hawke gets pregnant & gives birth in in 9:32) and either pushes characterization beyond what is likely to be "true" in canon or creates characterization that is all but certainly not true (Cullen is extremely needy and extremely insecure, and spends 9:33-9:36 struggling with drug (lyrium) addiction). Obviously, a story about how Tabris never becomes a warden but, instead, is sold into slavery to Danarius would NOT be novelization because it has nothing to do with DA:O's or DA2's plot.
There is a large co-authored project I've been slowly working on
for a year...-__-for a while, and should go live next month. Co-author+I are calling it a novelization although YMMV because it stretches the definition of novelization. The co-authored portion of the story slavishly follows DA2's plot quest by quest (sounds like novelization!) while providing the behind-the-scenes political/social/economic story as told through the POV's of a small collection of characters who are NOT Hawke (alt POV novelization?) in which the entire thing is really canon meta (hmmm) as various characters who aren't Hawke discuss the situations surrounding each of the quests (so, novelization as a device for writing metafiction).On the other hand, this co-authored project happens to take place in my Mari Hawke's universe and anything I write separately about her experiences from her POV within the bounds of DA2's plot is definitely straight-forward "video game novelization" by my definition above... that is, until the complication of her extra-canonical LI is brought in, despite all of THAT being very purposefully written to slip into the framework of canon without changing it, much as if Cullen was a DLC character sort of like Sebastian's DLC, where this unofficial DLC (so to speak) provides additional insight into Kirkwall+Thedas's politics & economics while remaining grounded in the canon itself.
.
The reason I've been thinking about this is a little academic and has more to do with what people seem to be getting out of the act of reading and/or writing video game fanfic.
Sometimes people are very interested in telling their protagonists' story. They have THEIR Brosca or Tabris or Cousland and the video game *purposefully* leaves many elements to our imagination in order to create a more immersive experience, thus my Aeducan will never be the same as your Aeducan even if they make the same in-game choices via the dialogue menu. Thus, the power of this highly immersive experience calls for fanfic -- novelizational fanfic (as I am calling it right now).
Sometimes people are interested in extending canon with stories that could be read as official novels if the official Canon God blessed it as so, but, even if not, as long as it remains canon compatible, it feels like a novelization. Fleshing out Wynne's backstory while remaining canon compatible, for instance.
On the other hand, sometimes people are instead interested in taking the universe and running wild with what ifs or complete alternate constructions. For instance, Fenris never comes to Kirkwall but some of the cast ends up in Tevinter. Or "what if" romance stories: mage Hawke is forced into an arranged marriage to keep her (rarely him) out of the Circle.
Also, in the not-novelization bucket, sometimes people are just borrowing the characters to write erotica or porn, and what they write has little to do with canon events or even canon characterization. Nods to canon are merely excuses for an extended sex scene.
Going further, sometimes people are interested in writing AU or crossovers: modern day coffee shop fic, etc.
My reason for classification is that the novelization-style fanfic is written within the constraints of needing to work with canon while explaining or expanding on that canon. In an sense, the canon itself becomes the writing prompts. Readers judge it by how IC the characters feel, whether or not they find the protagonist's POV interesting, and/or whether the story illuminates or expands something in canon that they find valuable.
The non-novelization styles of fanfic are judged by different criteria that appear far more dependent on the genre of the fanfic. So, PWP/erotica is judged by a different set of criteria than coffee shop AU, etc.