A Question About Instincts

[noofy]

@fifth_child

I don’t really see a meaningful distinction between optimizing for dungeon survival in a game like Torchbearer vs. optimizing for combat effectiveness in a game like D&D4e. In both cases it’s a huge part of what the game’s about, and in both cases they might be rooted in a strong sense of character or might just be chosen for their mechanical effectiveness.

Burning games have never been about optimisation for me. In fact, its more about playing to the fragility of the characters and exposing this to tense situations. Its about seeing what they’ll do when faced with difficult choices and coming to understand your character as they grow through adversity and failure. The ‘non-optimal’ character in 'Burning games are just as much fun to play.

[fifth_child]

@noofy

Burning games have never been about optimisation for me. In fact, its more about playing to the fragility of the characters and exposing this to tense situations. Its about seeing what they’ll do when faced with difficult choices and coming to understand your character as they grow through adversity and failure. The ‘non-optimal’ character in 'Burning games are just as much fun to play.

The optimization aspect is still there. A big part of optimization in BW is about Beliefs and Traits–at the most basic level, it consists of making sure that you can both play to your Beliefs and find yourself in conflict with them, and making sure that your Traits can both help and hinder you. Doing so ensures that you get a steady supply of Artha, and Artha is what makes the wheel turn. Optimization is not a bad thing. Smart game designers build their games so that optimization leads to quality play. They do this by being mindful in how they design their reward cycles and other incentives.