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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 3686160" data-attributes="member: 2067">For me, &quot;well designed&quot; applies directly to the rules.A novel can't be well designed...a movie can't be well designed. A watch may be well designed. A well designed watch works. A game is well designed when it accomplishes it's goal in an efficient way. &quot;Roll the dice and move that many spaces&quot; is good design. &quot;Roll the dice and consult this table to see how many spaces you move&quot; is poor design.Occam's Razor applies to design. If there is a simpler, faster, better way to do it, you have to do it that way.Game systems that don't work are poor design. The 3e grapple rules are poor design compared to the SAGA system grapple rules.Good design also has a goal: if the goal is to design something &quot;realistic,&quot; some complexity can be tolerated, if it makes the game feel more real. If the goal is &quot;Appropriate EL +0 Construct-type PC race,&quot; a lot of weirdness can be tolerated that wouldn't be tolerated in a different goal.Good design works towards it's goal as quickly and efficiently as possible. Poor design gets in the way of the goal.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 3686160, member: 2067"] For me, "well designed" applies directly to the rules. A novel can't be well designed...a movie can't be well designed. A watch may be well designed. A well designed watch [I]works[/I]. A game is well designed when it accomplishes it's goal in an efficient way. "Roll the dice and move that many spaces" is good design. "Roll the dice and consult this table to see how many spaces you move" is poor design. Occam's Razor applies to design. If there is a simpler, faster, better way to do it, you have to do it that way. Game systems that don't work are poor design. The 3e grapple rules are poor design compared to the SAGA system grapple rules. Good design also has a goal: if the goal is to design something "realistic," some complexity can be tolerated, if it makes the game feel more real. If the goal is "Appropriate EL +0 Construct-type PC race," a lot of weirdness can be tolerated that wouldn't be tolerated in a different goal. Good design works towards it's goal as quickly and efficiently as possible. Poor design gets in the way of the goal. [/QUOTE]

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