Hiding the Numbers (was Re: [MUD-Dev] Maintaining fiction.)

[John Buehler]

Scion Altera writes:

> I disagree, in part. Hiding internals is something that I've
> experimented with quite a bit. I once wrote a skill system and
> kept the internals secret to everyone: I was the only one who had
> any idea how it worked. The flaw, of course, was that after two
> weeks or so people started to gain some insight about the system
> by using the information they had available to them. The game
> didn't change at all now that nobody knew how it worked, and it
> didn't foster any cooperation at all. In fact, people were very
> secretive about the tidbits of information they learned about the
> system, because the small group of people that learned to work the
> system quickly gained an edge over the rest of the players.

> By making the majority of the numbers available to the players,
> you take away the "let's figure out the system" stage and move
> right along to the "how do I use the system the most effectively"
> stage. The benefit I see here is that everyone has the ability to
> work the numbers for themselves, and can be on an even footing
> with the experienced players in a much shorter time. Thus, the
> people who aren't interested in the numbers and just want to play
> the game can do so, and the ones who are interested in min/maxing
> are at liberty to do so as well.

> The point I'm trying to make is that people will min/max no matter
> what you do, so making it accessible to everyone seems to be the
> best way to reduce its impact.

I have no doubts that players will attempt to optimize certain
activities in gameplay (if not, in fact, all activities).  I have my
doubts that it's necessary to present all game internals in order to
level the playing field.  Consider a game where you can get into
combat with the bad guys and that the combat sequences use wonderful
animations combined with a simulation to manage the combat,
resulting in never-repeated combat engagements.  Further, when the
opponent is defeated, you don't get anything for your character.
For the most part, the game consists of managing your character's
assets to fight the bad guys and to watch the fighting.  Something
like an interactive kung fu movie.  In such an environment, knowing
the internals might permit you to arrange things such that the
specific combat move that you want to come about will happen, but
we're talking about a lot of effort for minor gain.  Even if you
figure out how to mow down opponents right and left, it accomplishes
nothing because the actual act of engaging in combat is the
entertainment that the game affords.  The fun is in seeing something
new, something unexpected.  Planning for it makes no sense.

This type of game is the one that I'm shooting for.  The interactive
experience is the primary entertainment, not the alteration of the
state of the player's character.  In such a game, I believe that
hiding the numbers is desireable and practical.  For one thing, I
think that those who are interested in optimizing game activity will
have other fish to fry.  Then again, I could be completely wrong and
the perverse minds of the players will find some reason that they
want to optimize their way through my game.  I may simply be myopic
to a certain type of player - the socializer/explorer.

JB

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