[MUD-Dev] Types of game

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Sat, 20 Sep 1997 07:22:18 PST8PDT, Matt Chatterley
<root at mpc.dyn.ml.org> wrote:

>There are basically three types of game. Or rather, three types of game
>element. Each game is composed of these elements, which places it
>somewhere inbetween all three points, on a sliding scale with three ends
>(a three dimensional model works best if you want to actually draw this).

A triangle works well, viz. the objective scale in SSI's 'Stronghold'.
You might also consider this something like RGB color codes,
hue/saturation/brightness, or something like that. I think RGB works
best as a representation.

>Roleplaying, being those games with a very strict, hardcore roleplaying
>environment, total separation of IC/OOC, and many characteristics often
>associated with what people like to call "MUSHes". 

I think I'd characterise things a little differently here... I'll do so
a little later.

>Hack'n'Slash, being the other far end of the scale, games which are soley
>based around killing things, be it other players, or NPCs. 

Or any game in which killing things results in more immediate and/or
extensive benefits to the character.

>Adventure, being the third (and often seen as intermeditary type, although
>I would argue that it stands on its own as a separate and different entity
>as much as the other two). This is an altogether greyer area, or rather
>appears that way since it is hard to define. 

I've looked at this, and it occurs to me that this fits very well on a
linear scale when you look at it a little differently...

	HnS ----- Adv ----- RP

The distinction I draw here is as follows. A hack and slash game
actively encourages anti-social behavior (fighting and killing). A
roleplaying game, on the other end of the spectrum, actively encourages
social behavior, such as clubs, organisations, etc. An adventure game,
on the other hand, does not specifically reward either out of
proportion; it is instead oriented toward the character/player engaging
in his own freedom of choice in determining his goals, actions, and
experience. 

Your distinctions, I must add, are very well thought out and very well
put together. It's true that all of these are shades of grey, but it's
very difficult to classify this in any sort of 'perfect' fashion. The
alternate view I propose here is certainly a good deal more abstract,
and carries very little in the way of specific example. The way I see it
in game mechanics terms is:

Hack and slash generally provides a fully automated experience system.
Roleplaying generally provides a fully human-moderated experience
system.
Adventure generally provides something in the middle.

If, in the average hack and slash game, I were to spend all of my time
socialising with other characters... I would not advance. If in the
average roleplaying game I were to spend all my time going around
picking fights and killing things, I would not advance (in fact, I may
even be disciplined for such behavior). In an ideal adventure game, I
could advance satisfactorily with either course of action.

Or at least that's how I see it. The problem is balance; if I were to
discover that hack and slash gaming allowed me to progress more quickly,
I would probably pursue that. If I were to find that roleplaying allowed
me to advance more quickly, I would pursue that. If both were about
equal in terms of advancement, then I would have to decide which was
more appealing to me; chances are some balance of the two would work
best, as going around killing things is just plain boring. As in the
'real' world of P&P gaming, there are spurts; you go out killing things,
you go back to town and rest. This just makes sense. So I'm a big
proponent of the 'adventure' type, although I tend to push RP sorts of
things a lot -- RP tends to suffer the most in online game design.

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 You see me now, a veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I've been 
 living on the edge so long, where the winds of limbo roar. And 
 I'm young enough to get involved, too old to see, all the scars 
 are on the inside; I'm not sure that there's anything left of me
               -- Blue Oyster Cult, "Veteran of the Psychic Wars"
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