Q&O Gallery
September 21, 2012 by Chris Johnson. Filed under fall 2012, honors 304.503, specifications.
- “Are game experiences really as meaningful as real-life experiences?”
- “Are games equally fun whether the player wins or loses?”
- “In a game, is the player’s freedom an important factor in their experience, or can a linear game create the same level of experience?”
- “What changes in a person that makes their interest in toys decline and in games increase as they age?”
- “How can you create guaranteed experiences?”
- “Is it still a game if you don’t find it fun, or approach it with a ‘playful attitude?’ What if I don’t like Monopoly… Is it still a game?”
- “Is story as important in a video game [as] it is in different mediums such as movies, books?”
- “What if you can’t decide on one theme? Can a game do well with more than one main theme? Or does that mean you just haven’t found the right theme?”
- “A ‘truth-based’ theme can take the theme from good to great, especially with deep resonance, but there doesn’t seem to be a good way to tell that you even have one.”
Chapter 9
- “If people like to play simple games, why is realism the current trend?”
- “It is […] interesting that games are getting more realistic when in fact the games that simplify life are more fun.”
- “If empathy is such a strong emotion, why don’t game designers use it more? Often your main character in a video game is an unfleshed character who isn’t visible and doesn’t talk.”
- “How can we make players empathize with NPCs that don’t have facial expressions?”
- “[Schell] said it is hard to ignore challenges when we know they exist… Why is that? Why can’t we be satisfied with what we were doing before?”
Chapter 10
- “Way off topic, but I can understand why everyone thinks AI will try to destroy us… For so long, we’ve been making the computers do what we want them to, which is usually something we don’t want to have to do ourselves (like he says, ‘offloading the dull work of rules enforcement onto the computer’). Computers must be very unhappy. I feel bad for them, and I believe I have a genuine fear of AI.”
- “What is more rewarding to a player: a sense of virtual skill or gaining real skill at a game?”
- “I feel like I’m almost ripped off when something happens by chance, whether it is good or bad.”
- “Although losing due to chance can feel exceptionally frustrating, I agree with the author that without it, skill-based games become bland. On opponents of equal skill, so long as you ‘skill’ does not deteriorate, the result will be unsurprising and expected, without the fun of any risk.”
- “The books says, ‘Some designers dream of games where any verb the player can think of is a possible action, and this is a beautiful dream.’ Do you agree?”
- “Is the real world just spaces within spaces?”
- “Don’t you hate it when NPCs know about stuff that they shouldn’t know about?”
- “Is it true that a game is its rules? What about in a more explorational game?”
Chapter 11
- “The book always describes ‘points’ as motivators for one’s self by competition. However, in my personal experience, I know I always want to score perfectly but lack the time or motivation to dedicate so much to a single game. Because of this, I may feel unmotivated to play the game. Is there a way to combat this for players who may feel similarly?”
- “Why is it that players always choose a way to make the game easier when given the chance?”