[MUD-Dev2] Risk vs Reward [was: Value]

cruise cruise at casual-tempest.net
Thu Sep 14 11:25:26 CEST 2006


Thus spake Matt Chatterley...
> Other than that, an interesting thought occurs.
> 
> Most (if not all) choices in "The Sims" are weak. Yet the game enjoys
> immense popularity (as does it's sequel), and many people will admit to
> having misplaced many hours of their lives playing this sort of game - even
> though the only more-or-less irreversable decisions are those which are
> dangerous or dumb. Or are they?
> 
> Some choices (e.g. should I buy that better TV, or spend the money on a new
> cooker) can have significant consequences which we may not even remember -
> having played and made those decisions. Wasted time particularly is used by
> this game as a harsh punishment for a poor choice - sure - the TV is great,
> but the cooker caught fire, and now everybody isn't getting enough to
> eat.....

In "Rules of Play" Salen and Zimmerman use the term "meaningful choices" 
- which is much more descriptive to my mind. It's a choice where the 
effect of the outcomes is obvious to the player at the time they make 
the choice, and they care about those effects.

Chosing the layout of your house, or the colour of the walls is actual a 
meaningful choice to that player. It matters a great deal to them how 
their house looks and what the decor is like. My wife isn't interested 
in playing CoH in the slightest, but she'll spend hours with the 
standalone character creator.

Some choices are given meaning by the context of the game, and others by 
the player themselves. The balance between those two defines how 
"sandboxy" the game feels, and also controls what risk and rewards will 
be effective.



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