Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 6866820" data-attributes="member: 6775031">You're missing a fundamental point, that being kind of beaten up - even if it's only to the mechanical tune of being easier to kill later on - is a meaningful model that can represent a coherent state within the game world.It may not be realistic (which shouldn't be the goal anyway because elves and magic and stuff), but it's coherent and consistent and objectively measurable within the game world. It's not just a game mechanic.It's kind of like modeling hair color within an RPG. Even if it almost never matters, barring the unlikely situation where you go against a monster or NPC with a special grudge against certain hair colors, it's still an objectively true fact within this world that we're modeling. If you have red hair, then some people will treat you differently, and you can hide it if you wear a hat or shave your head. If you are injured, then some people will treat you differently, and you will be easier to kill for as long as the injury persists.The fact that Hit Points have an objective meaning within the game world is way more important than the degree to which its mechanical penalties (or lack thereof) mirror the real world.Edit: The minimum requirement for a playable RPG is that it models some sort of objective reality. The minimum requirement for a good RPG is that it models a reality which meets a minimum threshold of what an individual player finds acceptable.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 6866820, member: 6775031"] You're missing a fundamental point, that being kind of beaten up - even if it's only to the mechanical tune of being easier to kill later on - is a meaningful model that can represent a coherent state within the game world. It may not be realistic (which shouldn't be the goal anyway because elves and magic and stuff), but it's coherent and consistent and objectively measurable within the game world. It's not [I]just[/I] a game mechanic. It's kind of like modeling hair color within an RPG. Even if it almost never [I]matters[/I], barring the unlikely situation where you go against a monster or NPC with a special grudge against certain hair colors, it's still an objectively true fact within this world that we're modeling. If you have red hair, then some people will treat you differently, and you can hide it if you wear a hat or shave your head. If you are injured, then some people will treat you differently, and you will be easier to kill for as long as the injury persists. The fact that Hit Points [I]have[/I] an objective meaning [I]within[/I] the game world is way more important than the degree to which its mechanical penalties (or lack thereof) mirror the real world. Edit: The minimum requirement for a [I]playable[/I] RPG is that it models [I]some sort[/I] of objective reality. The minimum requirement for a [I]good[/I] RPG is that it models a reality which meets a minimum threshold of what an individual player finds acceptable. [/QUOTE]

Verification