thread: 2005-06-03 : The Subtle Rules
On 2005-06-03, JasonL wrote:
Vincent:
Cool. Yes, the Subtle Rules are the soul of the game. I agree with Doug that it's about emergence, and with you again that emergent behavior can be designed with a specific goal in mind.
I do find it interesting that the fun in being >this close< to winning comes from our essential competitive nature.
That links back to the stuff Ben's posting on his blog about, forgive the jargon, Gamist facilitating design being a key to opening RPGs to a wider audience.
In my own experience, the friendly competition of games like Pit, Hearts, Bridge, Poker is a huge attraction - a huge part of the fun. I find that folks I know who aren't roleplayers are more interested in RPGs that have these competitive elements.
Also, to finish out this line of reasoning, the fact that all the players have the same credibility relative to the rules in games like Pit make them a lot more accessible to a wider variety of players.
Good stuff.
Cheers,
Jason
"Oh, it's you...
deadpanbob"
