thread: 2005-05-03 : Creating Theme
On 2005-05-03, xenopulse wrote:
Great job.
I am not quite through, but one thing just hit me—remember how I said that my problem with freeform play over the past 9 years is that people stay in their comfort zone and don't play out the fun conflicts? That totally correlates to the "no way out" part of your essay, where you say that people in real life try to avoid the conflict and go with an answer that lets them safely deposit the friend before they pursue the enemy.
That's *exactly* what's happening in a lot of freeform play. People have all the narrative power they want. A conflict arises. It can have great potential, but then, the players wimp out and make up some Deus Ex Machina to defuse the situation. Is that human nature? Maybe. But it takes the oomph out of the game.
And then we get situations where players get frustrated with one another because they ruin each other's conflict with easy resolution ("I insta-heal you so you don't have to sacrifice yourself!"), or they ignore other players' input so that they can go through with their theme.
So that's what I would love to get out of design: allow for the most creative freedom while at the same time making players get out of that damn comfort zone. And keep them from pushing me into mine, too!
- Christian
