Taekwan Kim's Blog - Validation Theory. The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. Today, I’d like to propose a very basic idea: a consequence is a reward whenever it validates the player. Conversely, and more importantly, a consequence is a punishment whenever it invalidates the player. Simple, yes? If we take the premise as granted, however, a careful examination should produce some practical insights into how validation shapes player activity.
Validation: The Source of All Rewards The pursuit of validation—objectively, the psychological result when reality matches schema; subjectively, the feeling that an investment (intellectual, emotional, material, etc.) has been justified—is one of those things that, because it so thoroughly and expansively permeates human behavior, largely escape our conscious awareness. Let’s consider a particularly negative possibility. Footnotes. The Mathematics of Magic: The Gathering. Goal-oriented fantasy lite-RPG design: "Kingdom Siege" | Board G. ('mob' = 'mobile object'; monsters; goblins, skeletons, trolls, ogres, etc; bad stuff that needs to be killed) I've been doing an ongoing study of cooperative DM-less fantasy RPG boardgames with strong character building (experience, skills, equipment, special abilities, physical attributes, spellcasting), believable AI (semi-programmed, semi-random), tactical combat (as opposed to roll-and-compare), and procedurally-generated content.
I've noticed there are three types of goals in most of these games: 1. Defeat a particular monster (The Nameless, Margath, what have you) 2. Acquire a certain number of points, levels, experience (Magic Realm) 3. As opposed to an MMORPG where the point is to kill time, a board game should aim to finish in 2 or 3 hours, so the goal is important. I recently played the "Tower Defense"-style computer game GemCraft (google it). The AI is simple enough that it could be a board game- mobs run along a straight line toward your tower. Archives. 2001 Gamers' Choice Awards Nominees Committee member Greg Aleknevicus says a little bit about each of the multi-player nominees. 2002 Gamers' Choice Awards Nominees The finalists for this years' awards in both the multi-player and two-player categories. 2002 Gamers' Choice Awards Winners The results of this year's Gamers' Choice Awards in both the Multi-Player and Two-Player categories.
Basic Strategy 1.0 Greg Aleknevicus explains why it is sometimes good to get the short end of the stick. Basic Strategy 2.0 Greg Aleknevicus in the second of a series; this time on taking a long term approach in games. The Best of Times? Greg Aleknevicus does Dickens. Competition in Gaming Greg Aleknevicus discusses how seriously we should take playing games. Creating Black Vienna Online Greg Aleknevicus explains why he created an online moderator. Deduction Games 2.0 Greg Aleknevicus surveys some popular deduction games. Design Considerations Disturbing Themes Can Greg Aleknevicus get more disturbed? Essen 2000 Essen 2002.