[MUD-Dev] Expected value and standard deviation.

[Fidelio Gwaihir]

From: Katie Lukas <katie at stickydata.com>
> And Raph Koster wrote:
>> Jeff Cole wrote:

>> I don't think it's in the Laws, but I've always treated it as a
>> Law:

>>      Players will do the boring thing rather than the fun thing,
>>      if they advance faster that way.

>> As a corollary:

>>      There's no way to get rid of the "boring" way to play your
>>      game. Players can always choose to play conservatively to
>>      maximize return while minimizing risk.

...

> When the players themselves focus solely on the details, game
> designers have failed.  When the players are unable to see the
> game as a holistic idea, one that either appeals or does not, the
> designers have failed.  When the questions and answers involve
> mathematical equations rather than what is honestly interesting
> about a game, the designers have *especially* failed.  Are most
> current games derived from D&D-style play? Yes, of course.  But
> why do we not use the technology and the talent at hand to
> abstract those concepts? Why do we have gamers behaving as if the
> game is actually rolling dice rather than immersing themselves in
> the world?

> "No way to get rid of the 'boring' way."  If I believed that, I
> would be neither playing nor designing games - what could the
> reason to do so possibly be?

Hello everyone.  Well, I really wanted to be left alone in a quiet
little corner and digest some of these nuggets of wisdom to gain
some insight into the world of game design .. but this thread
started off as being somewhat disturbing to me, as a player, when it
was inferred that mathematics is a property of good 'gameplay'
design.

Please, feel free to slap me back into my corner.  I do not wish to
offend or anything, as I am only a novice and a consumer and not a
devloper.  My experience, however, derives from spending lots of
time in arcades when I was 10 years old .. when pinball machines
were 25 cents a game, and you got 5 balls for that quarter .. and
'video games' didn't exist quite yet.  From there through Pong,
Advent, AD&D and everything in between regardless of platform to my
latest drug of choice, which is SWG.

In anycase.  I've always felt that psycology was a more appropriate
science to serve as a foundation of good 'gameplay'.

Advancement is the 'point' or the goal that is meant to be achieved
through good gameplay but advancement in of itself is not the single
most deciding factor in what constitutes good gameplay.

Now, granted, 'advancement' can take many forms .. it can be points
racked up on a pinball machine, getting to stage 99 in Pac Man, or
even becomming a Master Bounty Hunter in SWG .. but the 'gameplay'
itself is something entirely different.

The way I look at it is to describe it as stress over time.  An
appropriate amount of stress over an appropriate amount of time, but
the longer times making for more compelling and addictive gameplay.
Especially if the stress levels can rise over time approprately
without causing undue frustration to the player (too often).
Complexity of the moves needed to negotiate an encounter is also a
factor, but in reality this is more of a function of the 'stress'
but I felt worthwhile mentioning because repetitive tasks that yield
sparsely awarded advancements that are appropriate enough to make
the player want to continue in order to get the next advancement, is
not good gameplay design.

I don't know, maybe its me.  But then again I'm one of those folks
that consider himself to be a 'real gamer' and not some d00d.
d00d's are about power and image, gamers are about the challenge and
the skill.  I'm old school arcade, and having to be 'twitchy' also
constitutes a good game in my opinion.

Personally, my favorite designer is Shigeru Miyamoto .. and if ya
can figure out how he does it, then I'd say you have about the best
grasp you can get on what contitutes good gameplay.

-SGT
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