4 ms·

For me, this is mostly about what kind of information a player expects to find in a game. For example in Overwatch 2, there are no numbers on abilities. It's j

by sfn42 2y ago

For me, this is mostly about what kind of information a player expects to find in a game. For example in Overwatch 2, there are no numbers on abilities. It's just something like "fires a rocket at the enemy" - how much damage does the rocket do? How long is the cooldown? Can it crit if it hits an enemy in the head? In other games there might be items or talents with tooltips like "increases your damage" - how much? Is it additive or multiplicative with other modifiers? I like games where this kind of information is easily available. I won't look up how to complete a quest or something unless I'm completely stuck on it, but I will look up numbers so I can make informed decisions instead of just guessing what might be good.

lmm 2y ago
> I like games where this kind of information is easily available. I won't look up how to complete a quest or something unless I'm completely stuck on it, but I will look up numbers so I can make informed decisions instead of just guessing what might be good. Isn't that even more immersion- and game-breaking? Figuring out what kind of attacks have what kind of effect on what kind of enemy is generally part of the game.
- noirscape 2y ago
  The difficulty with experimenting is that most powerful attacks in games like this tend to have some sort of limit associated with it. Players won't for example feel the need to use this super powerful item they found and see how well it works because they only have one copy of that item. The best way to avoid this is to give players access to low/zero opportunity cost versions of strong items so they can get a good "feel" of when to use stronger things in their arsenal. Players need to be able to safely experiment with their kit but that experimentation also has to happen in an environment where it can be meaningfully tested. (You can see this with the dark souls formula on both ends; because death and healing are both low cost resources to manage, players are more incentivized to experiment, since the cost for a "dud" attempt at a tough boss fight/figuring out a weapon is much lower. Meanwhile rarer items like summoning allies have a much greater cost attached to them, meaning players don't feel driven to use them since if they die, they now lost a rare and valuable resource they could've used elsewhere.)
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  it's a bit of an issue experimenting in PvP early on. Because odds are that vets have already distilled out that discovery and know exactly what each attack does, who counters it, and when and how to maximize synergy. Someone already did that legwork and will use the knowledge against you.

by sfn42 2y ago

lmm 2y ago

> I like games where this kind of information is easily available. I won't look up how to complete a quest or something unless I'm completely stuck on it, but I will look up numbers so I can make informed decisions instead of just guessing what might be good. Isn't that even more immersion- and game-breaking? Figuring out what kind of attacks have what kind of effect on what kind of enemy is generally part of the game.

noirscape 2y ago
The difficulty with experimenting is that most powerful attacks in games like this tend to have some sort of limit associated with it. Players won't for example feel the need to use this super powerful item they found and see how well it works because they only have one copy of that item. The best way to avoid this is to give players access to low/zero opportunity cost versions of strong items so they can get a good "feel" of when to use stronger things in their arsenal. Players need to be able to safely experiment with their kit but that experimentation also has to happen in an environment where it can be meaningfully tested. (You can see this with the dark souls formula on both ends; because death and healing are both low cost resources to manage, players are more incentivized to experiment, since the cost for a "dud" attempt at a tough boss fight/figuring out a weapon is much lower. Meanwhile rarer items like summoning allies have a much greater cost attached to them, meaning players don't feel driven to use them since if they die, they now lost a rare and valuable resource they could've used elsewhere.)
johnnyanmac 2y ago
it's a bit of an issue experimenting in PvP early on. Because odds are that vets have already distilled out that discovery and know exactly what each attack does, who counters it, and when and how to maximize synergy. Someone already did that legwork and will use the knowledge against you.