Physics and Punishment in games.

[stormlord]

No, this is not about gravity or Einstein or prisons or criminals.

Go here:
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/po...opic_id=181573

That's about one of the many things I could link from live.

Push is a kind of physics. Done right, you can work around it, most of the time. Done wrong, it can be annoying. It reminds me of adventuring in Velketor's Labyrinth on the (sometimes icy) twisting turns which rise far above the entrance from outside. Done right, you can navigate it most of the time without falling down or getting lost. Done wrong, it can be a source of annoyance, especially for new players.

Generally, most of these things require you to be AT YOUR KEYBOARD. You have to pay attention. It can be very twitch-like and/or reliant on your knowledge as a player. These things are indifferent in how they punish. They don't care if you're a veteran or a noob. They will kill you regardless.

Some players feel these things are old fashioned and don't belong in modern games. Most modern games don't punish you unnecessarily. They have in-game maps and radars (for tracking nearby creatures) and creatures that don't aggro unless attacked and creatures that won't assist their friends and cliffs that you cannot fall off and fire that doesn't burn you. Broadly, they attempt to avoid punishing players for something they might not know. They (mostly) resort to punishment only after generous amounts of forewarning.

I like choice-oriented gameplay and worlds with physics. I like to be punished for things I am unaware of. It gives me a goal and makes me feel like the world is worth conquering. I hate to enter a world that's too touchy feely. I like it when I have to pay attention. What I hate most of all is when I feel I have no control. A game that cannot bite me doesn't give me any feeling of reward even if it gives me the ability to control everything.

I've made a couple posts already relating to this. Like htis for example:
http://www.project1999.org/forums/sh...ad.php?t=51520