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Letting a Game feel like a Game ~ Mechanics and Simulationism
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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 8162357" data-attributes="member: 6790260"><p>The problem with wonder-as-mystery is that it can only work <em>once</em>. You can't un-solve a mystery. If that's the only source of wonder, gaming is destined to fail at producing it, because by its very nature of being a <em>system</em> with <em>rules</em>, the mystery must have a solution.</p><p></p><p>But!</p><p></p><p>There's a different source of wonder. A source that is inexhaustible. And that is things the players don't have total knowledge of yet. The difference between <em>mystery</em>, as in "this is an unknown to be solved," and <em>exploration</em>, as in "there's always a beyond-the-horizon."</p><p></p><p>Players will inevitably figure out how certain mechanics work, and if you give them yet another Tolkienesque pseudo-medieval fantasy, they're going to think they know what to expect. But if you offer different kinds of worlds, ones where the players <em>don't</em> have those internalized tropes, ones where they honestly <em>don't</em> have any real idea what might lie a thousand miles in an arbitrary direction, then there's no need to rely on systematic knowledge veiled from the player's eyes. Wonder will naturally arise as they encounter things they haven't seen before, both fantastical and mundane.</p><p></p><p>I have had players feel wonder about <em>dinnerplates</em> and <em>trees</em>, because they knew they had to ask questions, they knew they couldn't assume something worked like they ordinarily expect it to, because the world they're adventuring in doesn't run on familiar tropes. I've never had to conceal the abilities or overall combat prowess of creatures from my players to generate a feeling of wonder or dread in combat. (I don't personally speak HP or armor numbers aloud, but I do communicate these things through descriptions like "wow, that was a TELLING blow, another like that and it's definitely toast" or "you did make contact, but this thing doesn't have discernible anatomy, so what would have been lethal to a human has barely slowed it down" etc.)</p><p></p><p>Wonder is best cultivated by <em>breaking down expectations</em>, not by <em>building up mystery</em>. When you rely only on mystery, the wonder must always fade, sooner or later. When you don't know what to expect, every surprise is wondrous in its own way; the wonder never stops.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 8162357, member: 6790260"] The problem with wonder-as-mystery is that it can only work [I]once[/I]. You can't un-solve a mystery. If that's the only source of wonder, gaming is destined to fail at producing it, because by its very nature of being a [I]system[/I] with [I]rules[/I], the mystery must have a solution. But! There's a different source of wonder. A source that is inexhaustible. And that is things the players don't have total knowledge of yet. The difference between [I]mystery[/I], as in "this is an unknown to be solved," and [I]exploration[/I], as in "there's always a beyond-the-horizon." Players will inevitably figure out how certain mechanics work, and if you give them yet another Tolkienesque pseudo-medieval fantasy, they're going to think they know what to expect. But if you offer different kinds of worlds, ones where the players [I]don't[/I] have those internalized tropes, ones where they honestly [I]don't[/I] have any real idea what might lie a thousand miles in an arbitrary direction, then there's no need to rely on systematic knowledge veiled from the player's eyes. Wonder will naturally arise as they encounter things they haven't seen before, both fantastical and mundane. I have had players feel wonder about [I]dinnerplates[/I] and [I]trees[/I], because they knew they had to ask questions, they knew they couldn't assume something worked like they ordinarily expect it to, because the world they're adventuring in doesn't run on familiar tropes. I've never had to conceal the abilities or overall combat prowess of creatures from my players to generate a feeling of wonder or dread in combat. (I don't personally speak HP or armor numbers aloud, but I do communicate these things through descriptions like "wow, that was a TELLING blow, another like that and it's definitely toast" or "you did make contact, but this thing doesn't have discernible anatomy, so what would have been lethal to a human has barely slowed it down" etc.) Wonder is best cultivated by [I]breaking down expectations[/I], not by [I]building up mystery[/I]. When you rely only on mystery, the wonder must always fade, sooner or later. When you don't know what to expect, every surprise is wondrous in its own way; the wonder never stops. [/QUOTE]
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