Friday, April 20, 2012

Agony of the wait

It seems I spend a lot of my life waiting for the rest of my life to happen. That's not to say that I don't do a lot - I lead a pretty active and full life and perhaps that's the reason I notice when I have to wait on things. Often the things I have to wait the longest - not necessarily in actual time - for are the things that seemed like a good or great idea when they got planned just never live up.

So, I got to thinking about making players wait for something - anything - in a game setting. I've decided that's just an asshole thing to do. I've seen people invited to a game and never get to throw a die during the session. I've made players wait for rewards or punishments for their characters, often to pointless or useless effect on the game experience.

Am I condoning instant gratification? HELL NO!!!!! Earning things over the duration is kinda one of the core concepts of gaming. However, I am starting to see the appeal of getting the things you want (not the things you NEED) quickly. Do you need a +5 sword - no, do you need the clues to get you to the next stage of the story - yes.

I'm typing this from my phone as I wait in the CNN Center in Atlanta for my vehicle to return to a drive-able state. So if there are typos and no interesting graphics, sorry.

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