thread: 2011-05-11 : The Un-frickin-welcome
On 2011-05-18, Gordon wrote:
I think in my point about absolutes I was trying to get at the unwelcome as a thing of degrees rather than a mere on/off switch. I take part of Vincent's point to be that the unwelcome can't be merely trivialy unwelcome, it must be have some sting to it. On the other hand, I'd say that if you regularly get majorly unwelcome outcomes, well . . . not many groups will find that enjoyable.
Perhaps your particular subject matter, the group esthetic you're designing for, and all the usual design goals will influenece the degree and frequency of "sting" that you want the game to create. But I think Vincent has put his finger on something that, when *entirely* absent, really does make play kinda pointless to my taste. I can easily think of games where I knew no one would let the unwelcome happen, even if it meant breaking the rules. And that was no fun.
I'd say that making the game/fiction work despite the unwelcome is an important aspect of both design and play. Even if (or because of? Maybe, but that seems like a less important debate) there's the possibilty that we'll fail to make it work.
