tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post7063471505374002142..comments2024-03-26T15:35:56.004-04:00Comments on Delta's D&D Hotspot: Richard Garfield: Getting LuckyDeltahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-30317821340963213782021-05-19T21:53:34.679-04:002021-05-19T21:53:34.679-04:00Great point there. And meanwhile, I haven't pi...Great point there. And meanwhile, I haven't picked up many (um, any?) new video games in that time frame, so I may still be responding to things that are a bit dusty now. Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-14472821360567352692021-05-18T12:30:24.724-04:002021-05-18T12:30:24.724-04:00Yeah, fair point about when he wrote the article. ...Yeah, fair point about when he wrote the article. It definitely feels like there's been a trend in the last 10-15 years to make games that present as being difficult/skillful while actually focusing on broad accessibility and more homogeneous player experience. I don't think that's all bad, but I do miss that beating a single-player game seems more like a matter of time than a mark of accomplishment in most modern video games.Ash Adlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09930777908505063233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-60873854347277474122021-05-18T09:15:06.900-04:002021-05-18T09:15:06.900-04:00Well that's a good point, maybe the trend has ...Well that's a good point, maybe the trend has somewhat reversed since Garfield wrote that? Especially with the switch to the online world, a tighter feedback loop to see what draws customers and money, nonstop A/B testing, etc. Kind of thinking Zynga/Farmville here as an important inflection point. (Zynga was founded the year after Garfield wrote that, FWIW.)Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-27256872530639066032021-05-18T09:11:55.629-04:002021-05-18T09:11:55.629-04:00Hey, thanks for finding that! I always enjoyed GD,...Hey, thanks for finding that! I always enjoyed GD, some great stuff in there. Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-55095721130687355942021-05-17T12:24:47.937-04:002021-05-17T12:24:47.937-04:00Also, I haven't read the whole article yet, bu...Also, I haven't read the whole article yet, but I raise objections to the claim that games tend to tune towards increasing the impact of skill. Fighting games (like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, or Tekken) have tended towards being far more friendly for new players over time. Input leniency, damage mitigation/damage avoidance mechanics, and "comeback" mechanics are far more prevalent in recent releases than they were around 1990-2000. The same is also true in other genres, such as StarCraft 2 having far less requirement for multitasking and manual dexterity than Brood War did. Proponents of those changes like to excuse them as being "quality of life" improvements, but they have a huge impact on both the overall skill cap and the impact of player skill on a given match.Ash Adlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09930777908505063233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-76061101432698352312021-05-17T12:16:50.153-04:002021-05-17T12:16:50.153-04:00You can find an archive of Game Developer on GDC&#...You can find an archive of Game Developer on GDC's website. Here's a link:<br /><a href="https://www.gdcvault.com/gdmag" rel="nofollow">https://www.gdcvault.com/gdmag</a>Ash Adlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09930777908505063233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-87112575477207545732021-05-14T13:55:11.478-04:002021-05-14T13:55:11.478-04:00Yes - it's always interesting to me that there...Yes - it's always interesting to me that there are countless reddit threads bemoaing MtG's RNG and 'luck', where as in fact that is what has made the game so compelling over the years. <br /><br />The trick I think in modern game design is to try and make the luck less visible and less harsh, but still keep the wide RNG. This is very difficult to do though!Fanfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14047931982239997873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-26127330153768048552021-05-10T11:17:03.258-04:002021-05-10T11:17:03.258-04:00Great memory! Glad you liked my posting this, and ...Great memory! Glad you liked my posting this, and thank you for sharing that!Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-16709664071213276692021-05-09T05:51:40.513-04:002021-05-09T05:51:40.513-04:00Thanks for posting this! Really interesting stuff...Thanks for posting this! Really interesting stuff. I'm reminded of a couple of card games I designed for a friend's IPs several years ago. One of them is a tactical game involving a low to moderate amount of strategy. One of them has so much luck involved that I, even as the one who put it together, am still not sure that there are any sort of of optimal decisions to be made aside from not doing something really stupid with your cards. So...I'm sure you can guess which one was more popular among my friends by a very wide margin...Jonathan Linnemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04711517194240426383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-24303984075395419972021-05-08T21:39:55.415-04:002021-05-08T21:39:55.415-04:00Nice. I'm so glad you appreciated that like I ...Nice. I'm so glad you appreciated that like I have!Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-21134875284981639372021-05-06T22:06:44.761-04:002021-05-06T22:06:44.761-04:00Thank you Delta! This really helps me understand s...Thank you Delta! This really helps me understand some recent changes to a game I play. A new edition came out, as happens, and the old pros feel that luck has increased greatly thus diminishing the art, skill, pattern recognition, and suspense that comes from two skilled players playing each other. We aren't interested in playing tic tac toe against each other, we are interested in playing Blood Bowl against each other.<br /><br />Richard puts into words here much that I felt, but didn't understand and couldn't articulate. Cheers! Randohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07051785965103327520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-33788680790089896732021-05-05T09:33:44.682-04:002021-05-05T09:33:44.682-04:00Glad you liked that! :-DGlad you liked that! :-DDeltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-37491284651641469722021-05-05T09:33:30.662-04:002021-05-05T09:33:30.662-04:00Great example of that!Great example of that!Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-4824657723026434062021-05-03T12:23:40.956-04:002021-05-03T12:23:40.956-04:00I had this insight from a book about Monopoly I re...I had this insight from a book about Monopoly I read as a teen. It credited the success of the game in spite of everything to having enough luck to blame when you lost and enough skill to credit when you won.Roger G-Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08594440701279968693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170237526012357403.post-67461545074209588772021-05-03T10:09:52.875-04:002021-05-03T10:09:52.875-04:00Quite interesting. Quite interesting. JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.com