Thoughts on Win Conditions

Should a game last forever?

While there may be games that you think you could play forever, I have been meditating a lot on this topic and I believe that "No game lasts forever" is a valid and truth-telling phrase that we can and should seek wisdom from as we design any sort of game.

As someone who likes playing games, naturally there is some temptation to make games and make games we would like to play, and it reminds me of the interview I did with @alohaed talking to @yabapmatt, where he said something similar about Splinterlands being the type of game he would have loved, growing up.

How does a game end?

You might say that "every game is different", and while that is factual its not quite "true" is it? Because every game, for it to be a game (ie ipso facto), has a "win condition", the conditions around which a winner is determined, and the game ends.

Sometimes there are two teams, like a futball match, of whatever flavor, and sometimes its more complicated than 1v1, which means "losing" is more complicated too.

How do you measure performance in a 350 player free for all? You create a metagame, a game within the game, around metrics.

Layered gaming is not new, heck anyone with a job in a company is probably familiar with the layered social games being played between different roles inside just one corp. Just, these dont always seem like very fun games.

Social Aspects of Gaming

Joining a league, whether its League of Legends or Fantasy Baseball League, is an intensely social phenomenon. When we work together to achieve a goal - provided by the game's win condition - we engage in (hopefully) positive social cohesion.

The intensity with which we work together to achieve the goal is up for grabs but, generally "its just a game" applies here, so people can enjoy socially engaging to achieve goals without the pressures of "actual biological survival" coming into play.

In this way, team sports or team games are a healthy way to play, as humans. Its "fun", or at least its meant to be that way!

#OGC Open Gaming Content

Open gaming, often referred to as "pencil and paper" or "tabletop" gaming, takes some of these themes to a whole nother level. Giving players the tools to "make their own adventure", what would they create?

As any player can tell you, some are good and some are bad, but mostly we always have fun. There are ways to have fun for all types of people, "whatever you like", and different "gaming systems" appeal to different groups of people.

But as these systems are "open", they are also the most honest, you must define a win condition yourself. If having fun is the win condition, and most often it actually is, then you can know when you are winning, and get that healthy dopamine to your brain.

Take a look at these post by my colleague @thecrazygm

The 5 room dungeon
Just ask your players

A clever "GM", or game master, can use social prowess to make sure "everyone wins", within the context of having fun. It may seem counterintuitive at first, but a game must be challenging to produce fun - there must be a challenge.

_{Expertly designed by @hivetrending}

There must be a challenge

In the case of MOON, we have different challenges. Of course as someone involved with "making the game (work)", there are always challenges with developing on the fly, a first universe; there are things we've never tested before happening!

One of the cases that we are really testing "live", is the pay to win aspect of the game.

There are real, tangible % increases money can buy. But nobody can "do it" alone. Not against the server, it takes a team to achieve the win condition. One person with unlimited money still only has the same 24 hours in a day. Time is the real limiter.

As of now, several top teams have formed, but only two players really have taken the lead, @hurtlocker and @pharesim. It is on them to go for the win condition, or not.

But if the server full of other teams says "no", its going to be hard to achieve without a lot of teamwork. Gravitron 1 is no easy lift, it requires a lot of silicon and uranium, and a lot of logistics to achieve.

How will the midgame look?

I think its becoming clear that we are coming out of the early game and into the midgame of Moon season 1. Teams have formed, players have begun learning the tools of the game.

I hope to publish more posts about the game theory, and the "Moon" internal economy for resources.

And I have it on good authority the End of Season Reward Distribution will be announced "soon".

Stay tuned, and get Mooned.

Freedom and Friendship