Cool Factor In Game Design?

[Nighthawk]

I currently play one CCG, A Game of Thrones (put out by FFG; based off the A Song of Ice and Fire books by George R. R. Martin). On the FFG website, there is a weekly column (Card of the Week) in which one of the game's designers explains some things about the game's design (or something related to it). The latest one, dated 1/27/2004, is titled "What Were They Thinking?! (Part 3). In it, the designer basically says that some cards in the card game exist because they are "cool." They are not made with the idea of strict game balance in mind, but instead are there as attractive hooks for some players who may get into the game because of them (initially). This is my interpretation of his words, by the way (not a direct quote).

This started me thinking about RPGs and whether or not this occurs and if so, how often? Does the D&D/d20 industry do this sort of thing as well? If it does, is it a good or bad thing, or is it simply irrelevant in the big picture?

I have to admit, I have been gaming for a long time (ccgs, rpgs, and wargames) and this concept has not occurred to me before I read that particular column. Now I am left to wondering what I might have thought as off-kilter might have actually been something designed with the coolness factor alone.

Right now, I am thinking it is neither good or bad, it just simply is. Am I just rambling here, or is there a point to be made? For that matter, am I even making sense to anyone?

Please note that I just realized that I do not know how to provide a link to the specific column in question, or even if I am allowed to. I would read the site, but for some reason, the site is very slow to load on my pc in the afternoons. I have no idea why, but I suspect the site is fine and it is something else that causes such to happen.

 

[RFisher]

Reading an RPG review in which the reviewer blasted a game for offering nothing original, I've been thinking along the same lines.

For a game that's played occasionally, like a board game or a "beer & pretzels" RPG, designing it around a cool hook is a good thing. Of course aspects like balance should be ignored...

For the RPG system that I play regularly and devote a lot of time to, innovation is, however, not a desired quality. The basic innovations of the hobby have been thoroughly explored for quite a while now. They aren't all completely compatible or are parametric so there can't be a single perfect RPG, but just about anybody can pick one out of a set of archetypical games (if it is still in print or you can find a copy) that--with a few house rules--is good enough for them.

(That's not to say that there aren't still a few core innovations to be discovered, but that they are much, much harder to come by these days.)

On the other hand, I not convinced the reviewer was wrong to bash that game for offering nothing new, but...but...

I don't know.

But, yeah. I do think you see the same thing in the RPG industry. In both core rules and supplements. Although, I think what I said above is reversed for a supplement. A good supplement is built around a hook. A supplement does not have to live up to the design standards of core rules. (Though it should aspire to.)