Comments on: Immersion vs. #’s, p3 http://blog.bioware.com/2008/11/14/immersion-vs-%e2%80%99s-p3/ A look at story-based gaming Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:47:57 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: playable games online http://blog.bioware.com/2008/11/14/immersion-vs-%e2%80%99s-p3/#comment-114 playable games online Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:57:23 +0000 http://bioware.wordpress.com/?p=190#comment-114 <strong>playable games online...</strong> The provision that prohibited...... playable games online…

The provision that prohibited……

]]> By: Rod http://blog.bioware.com/2008/11/14/immersion-vs-%e2%80%99s-p3/#comment-22 Rod Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:52:16 +0000 http://bioware.wordpress.com/?p=190#comment-22 I don't even think it has to do with immersion. Numbers are just feedback on things your character(s) would gain from their perspective through normal means... they'll see that a type of attack sinks deeper in leather based armor, or that a blow to the shoulder made the creature cry in agony. We as players can't see those details so we need numbers. I hate games where I have many different attacks/spells yet I don't have enough information to decide which one is the most appropriate for a particular situation. Numbers are the player's representation of the character's senses. You could try to do something to hide the numbers, like showing lots of blood on screen for attacks that take a good % of the enemy's health, or have 10 different textures for each creature so we can see how damaged it is, but let's face it... it's too much work for the gain. Besides, many people play RPGs more for the mechanics than for the immersion. I like both, I want to see numbers to help me make decisions, but I don't necessarily need to see the exact formula like D&D's "I rolled 6 for damage +4 for my strength, +2 for my specialization, -1 for the creature's armor, +2 for my flaming sword" I don’t even think it has to do with immersion. Numbers are just feedback on things your character(s) would gain from their perspective through normal means… they’ll see that a type of attack sinks deeper in leather based armor, or that a blow to the shoulder made the creature cry in agony. We as players can’t see those details so we need numbers. I hate games where I have many different attacks/spells yet I don’t have enough information to decide which one is the most appropriate for a particular situation. Numbers are the player’s representation of the character’s senses.
You could try to do something to hide the numbers, like showing lots of blood on screen for attacks that take a good % of the enemy’s health, or have 10 different textures for each creature so we can see how damaged it is, but let’s face it… it’s too much work for the gain. Besides, many people play RPGs more for the mechanics than for the immersion. I like both, I want to see numbers to help me make decisions, but I don’t necessarily need to see the exact formula like D&D’s “I rolled 6 for damage +4 for my strength, +2 for my specialization, -1 for the creature’s armor, +2 for my flaming sword”

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