Filtering player temperament through game design
-
@Gashlycrumb Most of the methods I’ve seen used to success were all OOC transparency techniques. Players would have OOC conversations prior to conflict scenes between their characters to coordinate the conflict. It was sort of like pro wrestling in that the scene would be somewhat planned out prior to it starting, but the ultimate end result was left up to the dice (or other mechanics depending on the actual system being used). In some cases, the OOC conversation led to one player deciding that this was definitely their character’s loss, and the entire thing was somewhat pre-planned. Also, in all cases, the end of the session included a decompression exercise so that everybody could properly deal with whatever bleed they might have.
One of the biggest first steps a game can take toward a more healthy CVC environment is to stop calling it PVP. PVP is for Rainbow Six Siege or League of Legends. CVC is one avenue where roleplay meets conflict. CVE is another (though, as an IT professional, referring to PVE as CVE causes me to double take because CVE is a special IT term). I only call it PVP if the story of the characters doesn’t matter at all.
-
referring to PVE as CVE causes me to double take because CVE is a special IT term
Try being a therapist talking about CBT at a kink-friendly clinic…
-
I’m super unconvinced by the term CvC, tbh. Just seems like a company marketing themselves as “ethical capitalism”, I’m not sure the verbal rebrand makes any kind of difference.
-
I’m super unconvinced by the term CvC, tbh. Just seems like a company marketing themselves as “ethical capitalism”, I’m not sure the verbal rebrand makes any kind of difference.
if you’re competing against a player, it’s no longer a cooperative game
-
I’m super unconvinced by the term CvC, tbh. Just seems like a company marketing themselves as “ethical capitalism”, I’m not sure the verbal rebrand makes any kind of difference.
if you’re competing against a player, it’s no longer a cooperative game
i don’t think anyone’s confused about the definitional semantics. i agree with kestrel’s point in that i think both terms aremostly seen synonymously in practice and it doesn’t make any real difference to make up a new, less recognizable term for it. most people when talking about PVP in MUs are already talking about it being an IC thing between characters.
-
I guess it would eliminate any kind of game labeling preface. Like “what do you expect we’re a PVP game” or “of course we allow conflict in our PVE game!”
Presuming PVP and PVE both have character versus character in some fashion, even if the characters aren’t always played by staff.
-
@Kestrel It’s definitely a semantic difference, but I also think that it’s an important semantic difference. I think that seeing/using them synonymously can contribute to bleed and to feelings of competition rather than cooperation.
I don’t use CvC instead of PvP, I use it alongside PvP. You can have both on the same game (people working cooperatively OOCly to create a good story of competition between their characters versus people competing OOCly to have their characters win). I don’t even see PvP as a bad thing… it can be really fun sometimes if you’re doing it with folks that you trust. But I do think that it’s valuable to have terms for each, because they’re very different and—to bring things back full circle to the point of the thread—appeal to and bring in players of very different temperaments.
-
I’ve been on a humongous OSR kick for the past year and it’s really filtered out the worst people, like the ones who insist on putting their pronouns in their display name. I’ve played Adventurer, Conqueror, King for about a year and look forward to doing it again now that this campaign ended.
-
What kind of filtering do we think would keep this guy out?
-
@Juniper Oh that’s easy. If I find out that you’re in a game I would immediately lose interest.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login