Re: PBM design: give away the formulas?

From: skrenta@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Rich Skrenta)

Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1993 17:35:19 +0000

desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
> The main disadvantage is that you are giving yourself virtually zero
> replay or late-entry value.

I don't think that including some minor, fun things to discover gives
me "zero replay value".  I watch some movies twice, even though I know
the ending.

In many of these math number-grind minimax games, one trivial misstep at
the beginning means you might as well quit (many players seem to do just
that).  I doubt if being scolded by the Genie of the Sacred Wood means that
attainment of Olympia stardom is forever out of reach.

> So this just means that the game has a certain lifetime, after which the
> things that started out as secrets become known, and the game is no
> longer what you wanted it to be.

This is partly true.  As the game ages, more and more people will learn its
"secrets".  But I don't think that all of the value of the game comes from
learning secrets -- they're fun, but not an essential part of the balance.

If you're still not convinced, I can just throw up my arms and disclaim:
Olympia is an open-ended game.  So it has a lot of appeal for some people,
but they're hard to balance, and hard to keep fresh.

--
Rich Skrenta

References

Re: PBM design: give away the formulas?
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Mon, 28 Jun 1993 15:51:53 +0000

Referenced By

Re: PBM design: give away the formulas?
desj@ccr-p.ida.org (David desJardins)
Mon, 28 Jun 1993 15:51:53 +0000