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<blockquote data-quote="zakael19" data-source="post: 9341886" data-attributes="member: 7044099">To add something substantive, since I found the video in <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-term-gns-is-moronic-and-annoying-–-well-this-should-be-an-interesting-interview.704105/post-9341712" target="_blank">post #177</a> interesting, I understood the presenter's arguments are mostly this:&quot;A cursed problem is an unsolvable design problem, rooted in a conflict between core player promises.&quot; Essentially, a game will explicitly or implicitly promise things to a player that find themselves in tension such that you cannot fulfill both at the same time. He gives some compelling examples in the video.By unsolvable design problem he means one that you cannot simply use creativity or tweaks to fix; that would be solvable. If the designer wishes to truly address it, they must compromise on one of the promises to some degree.He then lays out some potential mechanisms to design around the &quot;cursed problem&quot; and enumerates the sacrifices this may entail. They can be very minor, or so significant it fundamentally changes the game being designed.A TTRPG example that sprung to mind was the tension between promises to a DM for significant control over a plot, and promises to player that they'd have significant narrative input. AW addressed this cursed problem by sacrificing the GM freedom to design plot via explicit constraints and admonishments, and explicit player action -&gt; resolution mechanics with direct implications.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="zakael19, post: 9341886, member: 7044099"] To add something substantive, since I found the video in [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-term-gns-is-moronic-and-annoying-–-well-this-should-be-an-interesting-interview.704105/post-9341712']post #177[/URL] interesting, I understood the presenter's arguments are mostly this: "A cursed problem is an unsolvable design problem, rooted in a conflict between core player promises." Essentially, a game will explicitly or implicitly promise things to a player that find themselves in tension such that you cannot fulfill both at the same time. He gives some compelling examples in the video. By unsolvable design problem he means one that you cannot simply use creativity or tweaks to fix; that would be solvable. If the designer wishes to truly address it, they must compromise on one of the promises to some degree. He then lays out some potential mechanisms to design around the "cursed problem" and enumerates the sacrifices this may entail. They can be very minor, or so significant it fundamentally changes the game being designed. A TTRPG example that sprung to mind was the tension between promises to a DM for significant control over a plot, and promises to player that they'd have significant narrative input. AW addressed this cursed problem by sacrificing the GM freedom to design plot via explicit constraints and admonishments, and explicit player action -> resolution mechanics with direct implications. [/QUOTE]

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