thread: 2011-02-21 : Into the Unknown?
On 2011-03-21, Vincent wrote:
Okay! So that's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!
1)
From the player's point of view, there's absolutely no connection between I browbeat the dad and I'm trying to sort this problem out EXCEPT through faith in the GM.
I browbeat the NPC...
...and the GM makes decisions I can't see and have no access to...
...so I hope it helps me sort this problem out!
The connection exists in the rules, but the players have no access to it. You can tell that this is so because in your section 1, all the rules and guidelines except "keep trying!" are addressd to the GM.
This isn't a strong connection for the player, which means that some prospective players who're excited by your game's promises are going to go blank when they learn how your game goes about fulfilling them.
This following is more complicated, so ask questions!
For the GM, you create the connection between a PC browbeats the dad and the PCs sort out this problem by instruction, not by game design. You only tell the GM what to do, you don't make it natural - or better, inevitable - for the GM to do it.
You can tell that this is so because you call "accept any valid solution" a rule, not a goal.
This isn't a strong connection for the GM, which means again that you're going to lose prospective GMs who're otherwise excited about what your game promises.
Have you considered making the connection on the players' side more concrete? Have you considered designing a way to GM, rather than just instructing us to do what you've trained yourself to do?
2)
You know my three insights? Tell me about your insight into real live human beings.
This is like, in Dogs in the Vineyard, the person who's losing the argument is the one who throws the first punch. That's something I think about real people, and Dogs is designed to treat its characters as real people in that way.
What about in your game? What's your insight into real people in real situations that underlies how your game's rules treat its characters?
