Re: PBM design: give away the formulas?

From: gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl)

Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1993 23:57:29 +0000

In article <128@rt.com> skrenta@rt.com (Rich Skrenta) writes:
>
>I finally hit the rec.games.pbm jackpot.  :-)
>
>Here are my conclusions:
>
>    1.  Players want a sense of wonder.
>    2.  Explicit documentation is good.
>    3.  Obscuring the rules is a poor way to achieve a sense of wonder.

Give this man a cigar! That's an excellent summary of all the postings
on the topic.

>But hidden workings in major systems that are never explained, and
>difficult (or painful) to learn only cause grief.  PERSUADE in Oly I: lots
>of unexplained internal detail.  Not explained up front, not explained when
>invoked.  Result: "bug" reports and hate mail, from players who were
>unpleasantly surprised when PERSUADE didn't work the way they (intuitively)
>thought it should.

I'll second this. One unexplained detail was that any persuade attempt
just so happened to have a minimum 1% effect on morale. This Was
Important, because one player had a huge unit that was persuaded at by
a huge bunch of units. Needless to say, it switched sides, and the
owner was very surprised. Had he known, he would have kept it split
into a bunch of smaller units, which would have cost him nothing.
Instead, he was wiped out: a rather catastrophic result.

>But at the same time, I won't be "giving away all the formulae".
>The workings of unlearned magic spells will be a mystery.  Who knows
>what the Staff of Calyx really does?  What happens if I try to harvest
>wood in a sacred grove?  Mwah ha ha.

I think this is fine, as long as the design is Done Right, always a
nebulous concept. If the Staff of Calyx allows you to assassinate a
faction leader, which dissolved the faction in Oly I, then it's very,
very powerful, especially when there is no known defense. That's why
Oleg the Loudmouth hit the road on the last two turns of Oly I, so the
"other side" wouldn't know where he was. If, on the other hand, there
is a lore research skill which could allow me to find out (through
great effort) what the Staff is and how to possibly defend against it,
then I can sleep more soundly at night.

References

PBM design: give away the formulas?
skrenta@rt.com (Rich Skrenta)
Sat, 19 Jun 1993 18:12:59 +0000
Re: PBM design: give away the formulas?
skrenta@rt.com (Rich Skrenta)
Fri, 25 Jun 1993 13:00:52 +0000