So, I'm going to be working through some of my thoughts on what characterizes the hobby I like, and how that doesn't necessarily match up with later definitions that attempt to circumscribe the type of play in conformation with post-hoc assumptions derived from marketing terminology, rather than facts of play that led to that terminology. How's that for obscurant writing? Anyway, this is more impulsive than truly systematic.
In addition to not preferring "Role Playing Game", I definitely don't like terms like "Story Games" either, as they almost completely fail to capture what I like about Adventure Games. Adventure Games are not Story Games, though they may - and usually do - result in stories. An Adventure Game attempts to take situations derived from adventure fiction, such as sword & sorcery, epic fantasy, or the like, and use them as the framework of inspiration for situations that can be resolved by the mix of logistics, strategy, puzzle-solving, and other game procedures that constitute an Adventure Game. It was never really meaningful to call them "Role Playing" games, though of course that ended up as the marketing term preferred. After all, nearly every war game sets the player into a role, such as General, King, or other leader. The unique factor of Adventure Games was not that there was a "role", but that they provided an open-ended framework in which adventurous activities could be played out, rather than a closely defined set of fixed options. This is, in fact, very similar to other refereed sorts of war game - such as many forms of Kriegsspiel! - but tends more toward games like Braunstein which offer an asymmetrical set of unequal player positions.
So, some definitions, maybe a little bit after the manner of the Devil's Dictionary. Yeah, it's biased. That's the point:
Adventure Game - A game depicting an adventurous scenario, often inspired by adventure fiction. Because adventurous scenarios involve conflict by definition, these are generally War Games. Normally, they apply logistic, tactical/strategic, and logic puzzles to fantastic settings. Some people, not understanding logistics, ignore those elements because they believe them to be boring. This generally has a similar effect to removing the auction rule from Monopoly, which is to say it is not a good idea. As a result, it may be a better choice to streamline those rules rather than ignoring them.
Asymmetric - A term used, in this context, to indicate that elements of the game are different for different players. Unlike a game like Chess, in which both players have the same goal of checkmating the opposing King and have pieces that mirror the opponent's pieces, an Asymmetric game may have differing goals, differing resources in quantity or function, or other different elements.
Braunstein - A type of Kriegsspiel defined by the fact that the players have Asymmetric positions, and normally includes more than two players and a Referee
Fog of War - The factor of limited information that, among other effects, inclines player choices away from optimized decisions.
Interpretive Resolution - Resolution of an action or event by means of resort to the assumptions and knowledge of a Referee or, rarely, some other player. The chosen player provides a narrative result that affects the game state and player positions within the scenario.
Kriegsspiel - A refereed war game, generally to allow limited information procedures ("Fog of War"), but also in some versions allowing interpretive rather than procedural resolution of actions taking place within the bounds of the scenario.
Procedural Resolution - Resolution of an action or event by means of resort to a systematic procedure. Often involves dice rolls, tables, variables, or other mathematical means converted into narrative results.
Referee - A type of player who interprets rules for the other players. Frequently the designer of the specific game scenario. Typically not part of most commercially-produced games.
Role - The position a player takes within a scenario.
Role Playing Game - A marketing term, usually applied to Adventure Games and Story Games interchangeably. Some people try to use the marketing term to reinterpret how the games should work.
Scenario - The parameters of a game, especially those involving the framework within which players are expected to make their decisions or choices.
Story Game - A game intended to result in a story. Often used in writer groups and workshops. The usual mechanical format is to determine which player is allowed to write the next portion of the story, with variations centering on how that player is determined and how much of the story they get to write before moving on to the next player or turn. Stories typically involve conflict, so many Story Games are War Games even when they try to pretend they aren't, but stories without conflict do exist, and so a Story Game may be designed to avoid conflict. I'm sure those are very interesting for some people to play.
War Game - A game intended to capture the decisions and events typically found in a conflict. Most are specific to military conflicts, but the category includes financial or business scenarios, among others. Public health was a rising favorite until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Train company expansion is a remarkably common topic.
No comments:
Post a Comment