Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5522685" data-attributes="member: 3192">It depends upon the kind of difficulty you're talking about.Some games focus on emotional difficulty for the situation the players are addressing. Others work more like puzzle difficulty with low difficulty being akin to tic-tac-toe and the high end being games like chess.Another thing difficulty may refer to is simply odds. It's chance as in gambling games. The chance of success on the randomizing mechanism can be higher or lower based upon past outcomes.In D&D terms, here are some examples of each.  1. The PC is viewed by the player as a hero, but something happens and now other characters aren't treating him or her as such. This can lead to interesting stories, but it also is challenging the player to work out who the PC is and what they want them to be.2. The PC party is 1st level, but decided to try and get as far down the dungeon levels as possible. Now they are facing opponents not just numerically more powerful than before, but significantly more complex in combat tactics, out of encounter strategies, similarly powered allies, and commensurate quantity and effect in ability options. 5th level is not simply higher odds to a roll, but a more complex structure within which to learn how to accomplish one's goals.3. This is easiest really. The ACs of your foes, their attack bonuses, the DCs for your dice rolls, are all at a statistical chance.  If you're in the 4th level part of the dungeon (world) and about a 4th level party, you stand a solid chance at die rolls. The same party in an easier part of the dungeon faces easier odds. And conversely, they face lower odds for levels above the group's.IME, much of D&D play is mastering type 2 challenges to avoid type 3 difficulty (die rolls) in order to advance quickly and/or achieve one's goals more adeptly.Another type of difficulty often seen in videogames is the manual dexterity needed for joystick use. With different interfaces this type of challenge has really expanded with consoles like Wii.  Mario Bros. level 1-1 may be dead simple to most given the year is currently 2011, but when videogames first arrived most players weren't as capable with a game controller as they are now.  Level 8-4 requires significantly greater dexterity.  By playing the game that ability is increased by a dedicated player. This is part of computer game design, the learning curve the game requires for the actions the players are performing. Computer games really are "The greatest game of thumb wars ever created".</blockquote>

Verification