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| [May 12, 2012, 10:25 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
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| 11. |
Re: etc. |
May 12, 2012, 18:05 |
NKD |
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Permanence of choice in gaming is a double edged sword. I am referring specifically to gameplay choice rather than story choice here.
I've always felt that there are three main factors in any choice. For example deciding what character ability to take.
Foreknowledge - How well has the game educated the player on the possible outcomes of the choice?
Impact - How strongly will a right or wrong choice affect the player's gameplay?
Permanence - How difficult is it to fix a choice that the player is unhappy with?
Obviously the most hardcore situation would have permanent, highly impactful choices that are made without any significant context being communicated to the player that they can use to make the choice.
But even then, that can be dodged by consulting out-of-game resources. Suddenly all three factors are trivialized and it ceases to be a choice at all. It becomes the illusion of choice. Why risk experimenting when you've got to live with the choice? Easier to simply copy someone else's answer. As a developer, there's nothing you can do to remedy this situation short of going in and randomly rebalancing your game in a very severe fashion every so often.
So faced with this problem, developers can choose to pretend no one is going to consult outside info, and act like their high level of Permanence and Impact is making a difference, when it really isn't. Alternatively, they can choose to do what has been done with Diablo 3, and embrace the tendency of the player base to want to tweak and perfect their character.
Since the developer no longer has to worry about players permanently screwing themselves, they are free to offer a wider range of choices, knowing the player can always try something else. It also adds a dynamic element where the player needs to be constantly aware of what abilities might be useful. Instead of deciding once, they are deciding all the time what they want to use.
You're still going to have the pros who know exactly what to use, and the copycats who read something on the Internet, and the noobs who have no clue what they are doing at all.
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