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Old 09-06-2008, 09:31 AM   #73
MoriartyL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stepurhan View Post
And the player would quite reasonably say "Why does the story make the doorman kick me out and not my friend?" The player cries that the situation is unfair because it demonstrably IS unfair. Two people of equal ability will be treated differently because of an arbirtrary game mechanic. This is different from putting in a hard puzzle where the difference between success and failure depends on the ability of the player.
How so? It's not like the character himself has a different degree of intelligence when a different person starts playing him. Different players will get slightly different stories, and I don't see any problem with that.

Quote:
I also can't see how story could justify the difference. What possible reason could a doorman have for treating the same person (the lucky and unlucky player would still be the same PC) differently? I can see no logical explanation for this arbitrary behaviour (who would employ someone that unstable as a doorman?) so suspension of disbelief and trust in the story is lost.
I thought the point of the section was that there was no logical explanation. The writer's indicating the randomness and unfairness of the world, representing it by a doorman who doesn't have any apparent reason for doing what he's doing. Suspension of disbelief is not necessary.


But you want me to come up with my own example. Fine. How about, you're a cop. Most of the game is methodical and predictable, but then you get chase scenes with generous helpings of unpredictable randomness. The criminal tries shooting at you, and there's a chance he'll mildly wound your sidekick character. If you go around a corner and there are two ways to go forward, he could be in either one. Etc. This would have a dramatic impact on how the overall game feels. Instead of the player going "Oh yippee, something exciting's happening!", he constantly dreads having to chase after bad guys. Which makes the story more realistic, emotionally! You think a real cop looks forward to situations like that? No, because he never knows exactly how it's going to play out. The unknown is scary, and a game could mine that for dramatic effect.
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