Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 6354137" data-attributes="member: 6685730">By &quot;people get interrupted&quot; do you mean while playing games?&nbsp; Anyway, on-demand saving is a sort of double-edged sword.&nbsp; It can mean that 1) you don't have to constantly replay several scenes before a big battle (in which you keep dying), or 2) like with unlimited respawn, a player doesn't really have to think about HOW he gets to the big battle, he just needs to get there.&nbsp; Effect 2 is the dumbing-down effect.An interesting application to TRPGs: I've never seen a &quot;save game&quot; mechanic in an RPG.&nbsp; It would be nice in the event of a TPK, especially if it were more interesting than &quot;okay, you get all your hit points and potions back.&quot;&nbsp;Replayability is an interesting feature.&nbsp; Skyrim is loaded with it, in the sense that you can miss 80% of the game and still finish it.&nbsp; Yet, if games are being dumbed down, the target audience isn't interested in replayability.&nbsp; They have short attention spans, and love DLCs with new maps.Really, I don't think faction-exclusivity is a TRPG issue.&nbsp; Unless you apply it to classes and multiclassing.&nbsp; <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/glasses.png"&nbsp; class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt="B-)" title="Glasses&nbsp; &nbsp; B-)" data-shortname="B-)" />Dumbing down.&nbsp; Sure, the arrows were helpful.&nbsp; But what did you, as a player, not do?&nbsp; Take notes.&nbsp; Nor did your journal system allow you to record more useful info.&nbsp; Really, smart games would REQUIRE the player to take his own notes, and do his own thinking.&nbsp; Which might be less inconvenient now, with a player and game's ability to include PDAs in the game.This problem carries over into TRPGs.&nbsp; Personal experience: lots of info thrown at the PCs in the Mines of Madness (specifically, mineshafts named after dwarven kings), and did a single player bother to write anything down?&nbsp; You guessed it.Yes, that really does stink.&nbsp; But this is where problem 1 comes in: players can't fail.&nbsp; A GM can present the too-clever puzzle, and let the players solve it - or let them fail.&nbsp; Now, it's up to the RPG to explain, &quot;hey, genius, if your PCs can't solve your awesome puzzles, you can't let it derail your plot.&quot;&nbsp; CHANGE the plot?&nbsp; Yes, please.&nbsp; But don't derail the train.&nbsp; (EDIT: oops, bad metaphor!)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GMMichael, post: 6354137, member: 6685730"] By "people get interrupted" do you mean while playing games? Anyway, on-demand saving is a sort of double-edged sword. It can mean that 1) you don't have to constantly replay several scenes before a big battle (in which you keep dying), or 2) like with unlimited respawn, a player doesn't really have to think about HOW he gets to the big battle, he just needs to get there. Effect 2 is the dumbing-down effect. An interesting application to TRPGs: I've never seen a "save game" mechanic in an RPG. It would be nice in the event of a TPK, especially if it were more interesting than "okay, you get all your hit points and potions back." Replayability is an interesting feature. Skyrim is loaded with it, in the sense that you can miss 80% of the game and still finish it. Yet, if games are being dumbed down, the target audience isn't interested in replayability. They have short attention spans, and love DLCs with new maps. Really, I don't think faction-exclusivity is a TRPG issue. Unless you apply it to classes and multiclassing. B-) Dumbing down. Sure, the arrows were helpful. But what did you, as a player, not do? Take notes. Nor did your journal system allow you to record more useful info. Really, smart games would REQUIRE the player to take his own notes, and do his own thinking. Which might be less inconvenient now, with a player and game's ability to include PDAs in the game. This problem carries over into TRPGs. Personal experience: lots of info thrown at the PCs in the Mines of Madness (specifically, mineshafts named after dwarven kings), and did a single player bother to write anything down? You guessed it. Yes, that really does stink. But this is where problem 1 comes in: players can't fail. A GM can present the too-clever puzzle, and let the players solve it - or let them fail. Now, it's up to the RPG to explain, "hey, genius, if your PCs can't solve your awesome puzzles, you can't let it derail your plot." CHANGE the plot? Yes, please. But don't derail the train. (EDIT: oops, bad metaphor!) [/QUOTE]

Verification