What do you think? Should a role playing game provide calculation details about states and skills to help players understand them, or should the game attempt to keep the exact effects obscure while providing general descriptions? Here's a random example: 1. Anger: A 10% penalty is applied to dexterity, while a 10% bonus is applied to strength. Both of these effects are scaled by anger. For instance, an anger level of 50% will provide half of the effects. 2. Anger: Causes a moderate penalty to dexterity, while providing an equal bonus to strength. 3. Anger: Increases the potential for physical exertion, but also hinders coordination. If possible, don't judge by my literacy structural skills, which are suffering at the moment. If you could imagine them all being described in the most meaningful and interesting way, judge by that.

I'm going to reply to myself to give my own opinion.

1. Providing details allows players to make accurate decisions without a ton of guessing or trial and error. Especially when training character skills, or choosing between traits or perks.

2. Half and half.

3. I believe absolute knowledge of the universe results in a less engaging experience, and this counters that. Leaving out specifics helps avoid the mechanical feel for the game. Having most things not quite known helps to bestow some "magic" or "living essence" to the game world, if that makes any sense.

In the end, I'm equally attracted to both.

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should the game attempt to keep the exact effects obscure while providing general descriptions?

I am voting for that, but only if the effect of the change is actually noticeable , even if very slightly so. If the player fails to notice any change - there should be a detailed blurb somewhere, so that he may know that something has indeed happened.

I think it's okay to give details like that. You shouldn't show percentages in your on-screen description, but instead put it in your manual, so players who want to calculate whether Power Blasters or Megalasers give a higher attack bonus per crystal spent can have their fun, and players that just prefer to blast aliens don't have to bother about them -- they simply read the guides the former group posts on the forum.

If you have items/potions that affect your statuses, I'd say it is a good idea to make them more numerically specific, so players can then decide which course of action to take. Providing general descriptions, on the other hand, is a good way to add more flavor or enhance a game's tone/setting, so that everything just isn't about numbers, endless lists of emotionless calculation of numbers. I would use both.

It depends on the stat. I like knowing exactly how much defense, for example, something is, rather than seeing "Provides Moderate Defense". But I don't care about seeing exactly how much something like "Increases Nature Resistance" actually equals. And I don't need to know your formula's for damage, if I can ballpark it as attack-defense.

Min/maxers want actual numbers and formulas and will reverse-engineer them if you don't provide them.

I don't think other types care that much as long as there is enough information to mostly unambiguously differentiate between things. e.g. If I have a "shield of moderate defense" and find a "shield of so-so defense" it's going to be annoying because I can't tell which to use. If I can't tell even after playtesting the new one then I'll be even more annoyed.

I think giving numbers but withholding formulas is good. It's easy to compare (bigger numbers are always better right?) and there seems to be a sizable subculture of min/maxers that seems to have almost as much fun reverse-engineering formulas as they do actually playing the game.