Unhealthy Competition

Dauntless · 2001-07-25T23:44:06

I got to thinking about balancing issues, and how it can lead to UNhealthy competition. Everyone likes to win of course, but it got me to thinking about how people will rules-lawyer, or worse, brag about their victories because of how they can defeat other people. While I don''t really know of anyway to prevent this way of thinking. What bothers me is I think that game balancing can actually encourage it by making players think they are on equal footing. Therefore if I beat you, I''m a better/smarter player than you are because we were "equal" ...type of thinking. Any one have any ideas on how to create a more healthy way of playing against your opponent that doesn''t encourage an ego-boosting mentality? Maybe the reason I like the concept of unbalanced games stems from my martial arts training. If a student got cocky during sparring, the instructor made sure that he showed that student just how far he''d have to go to get better. Maybe that''s also the reason why I like the "Kobayashi Maru" type of mission...to make players learn how to deal with defeat. As Bruce Lee put it, "don''t think of your opponent as your enemy, but as your teacher and student. He will do his best to show you your weaknesses just as you will do your best to show him his". But I guess this requires some very mature players to do this. Any suggestions?

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Dauntless July 19, 2001 05:00 PM

10 comments, last by Dauntless 23 years, 5 months ago

DashZero

122

July 20, 2001 09:07 AM

Dauntless said "Instead of being ROLE playing games, they are more like ROLL playing games"

Oh, man! Here is a great site for anyone who has interest in MMORPG design. (http://mu.ranter.net/ - go to the Design Theory page) It is NOT for the faint of heart!!! Mu has a 70 or so page commentary on MMORPGs. History, current design issues, his dream implementation and why "things suck". He actually addresses Dauntless'' quote above...

Dash Zero
Credits: Fast Attack - Software Sorcery - Published by Sierra 1996

Dash ZeroCredits: Fast Attack - Software Sorcery - Published by Sierra 1996

Tom

352

July 25, 2001 11:41 PM

Wow!

This document should be a matter of course for anyone who is designing, or plans to design, an RPG. Fascinating read. Just make sure you've got a few hours to burn, because you'll want to take notes.

Everybody thank DashZero for this link. That other one you gave was pretty nice, too. I'm always interested in hearing people's philosophy regarding online games.

Edited by - Tom on July 25, 2001 12:44:06 AM

GDNet+. It's only $5 a month. You know you want it.

Unhealthy Competition

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Unhealthy Competition

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