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Not a Conspiracy Theory: Moving Toward Better Criticism in RPGs
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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8929119" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>I think it would help. Don't get me wrong- it's not like having common definitions would end the debates. Just because people agree on terminology in film, for example, doesn't stop people from arguing about cinema! But it would at least help provide some baseline to allow us to better critique and improve games without having to constantly re-invent the wheel.</p><p></p><p>For example, people often get caught up in over-arching debates about, oh, "typologies" of games. But what we don't look at are the smaller things that can be usefully examined to improve the gaming experience- the type of things that are worked out in videogames, which pay attention, and iterate, when it comes to basic concepts like "how should doors work."</p><p></p><p>Here, unless I've missed it, there doesn't seem to be any basic work on how underlying mechanics <em>feel</em>. IIRC, I remember that surveys were done that showed (while designing versions of D&D) that people prefer to "hit," which is why we have moved toward the "bag of hit points model." But there isn't a lot of shared vocabulary and testing specific to RPGs that goes into basic issues like the use of randomness.</p><p></p><p><em>Allow me to elaborate</em>. I once was in a discussion with another person here about why people prefer rolling dice to using averages. The other person asked why people wanted to roll dice for, say, weapon damage when they could just take the average. My reply was that it's for the same reason people like going to Vegas instead of just sending small amounts of money to the casinos on a regular basis. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>But do we really examine that? When does the illusion of control and thrill of randomness outweigh loss aversion? Why is it that people, generally, prefer rolling damage and "to hit," but get squirrely when it comes to rolling hit points and ability scores? This is something so basic you think we'd have more on it, and yet we often engage in endless arguments about it without having a real foundation.</p><p></p><p>If we can't answer specific and "simple," questions like this, what are we doing even thinking about discussing the variations in systems we see at a higher level?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8929119, member: 7023840"] I think it would help. Don't get me wrong- it's not like having common definitions would end the debates. Just because people agree on terminology in film, for example, doesn't stop people from arguing about cinema! But it would at least help provide some baseline to allow us to better critique and improve games without having to constantly re-invent the wheel. For example, people often get caught up in over-arching debates about, oh, "typologies" of games. But what we don't look at are the smaller things that can be usefully examined to improve the gaming experience- the type of things that are worked out in videogames, which pay attention, and iterate, when it comes to basic concepts like "how should doors work." Here, unless I've missed it, there doesn't seem to be any basic work on how underlying mechanics [I]feel[/I]. IIRC, I remember that surveys were done that showed (while designing versions of D&D) that people prefer to "hit," which is why we have moved toward the "bag of hit points model." But there isn't a lot of shared vocabulary and testing specific to RPGs that goes into basic issues like the use of randomness. [I]Allow me to elaborate[/I]. I once was in a discussion with another person here about why people prefer rolling dice to using averages. The other person asked why people wanted to roll dice for, say, weapon damage when they could just take the average. My reply was that it's for the same reason people like going to Vegas instead of just sending small amounts of money to the casinos on a regular basis. ;) But do we really examine that? When does the illusion of control and thrill of randomness outweigh loss aversion? Why is it that people, generally, prefer rolling damage and "to hit," but get squirrely when it comes to rolling hit points and ability scores? This is something so basic you think we'd have more on it, and yet we often engage in endless arguments about it without having a real foundation. If we can't answer specific and "simple," questions like this, what are we doing even thinking about discussing the variations in systems we see at a higher level? [/QUOTE]
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