thread: 2013-09-24 : What even IS the object of an rpg?
On 2013-09-25, Vincent wrote:
ctrail: If in Chess 2 you state in the text that the object is to take all your opponent's pawns, but the rule remains that if you checkmate your opponent's king you win the game, then you haven't changed the object, you've lied about the object in the text. If you change the rule, THEN you've changed the object.
The closer together the text describing the object of the game and the rules that create the object of the game are, the less likely you'll be able to lie convincingly, of course. "Wait, on page 1 it says that the object is to take all my opponent's pawns, but here on page 3 it says that I win if I checkmate my opponent's king! What gives?" But take a 300-page text where the game design isn't cleanly delineated from examples or from strategy- or style-guide advice. You can imply something plausible on page 1 that the non-obvious emergent qualities of the rules on pages 210-280 contradict, and get away with it.
