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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: The Unfairness of It All
Message-ID: <erkyrathDyruo4.LA6@netcom.com>
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Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 22:04:51 GMT
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Adrian (adrian@skyweb.net) wrote:
> Continuing with the game, I was making rather good progress and came
> upon another problem. So I contacted one of the sources who had helped
> me and found out something rather disturbing. Through an "innocent"
> action early on in the game, it was now impossible for me to complete
> it. I'm sure we've all had similar frustrating experiences, faced with
> the prospect of re-playing the entire game up to the point you left off
> just so you would be able to complete it or get by some obstacle. It's
> one of the major reasons I get fed up with I-F and take looong breaks
> from it.
>
> So what I'm wondering is this: how does everyone out there feels about
> this matter. Should a game be solvable in separate parts, should it be
> linear, should you have access to areas where you need certain
> information before you have it? Should there be some warning to the
> player, in the form of veiled threats, that going somewhere or answering
> a certain question without said knowledge could have devastating
> effects?

Well, I always put a notation in the intro to my games that says 
something like:

:It is possible to make mistakes which will prevent you from winning.
:Sometimes common sense will serve to avoid such mistakes; sometimes
:insight is necessary; sometimes neither will help. Save often, and keep
:your old saved games. 

I do quibble with your complaint: you haven't been wasting your time, and 
you haven't lost all your progress in the game. If you've pounded for 
hours on a later section of the game, and solved it, you'll be able to 
re-play it in a few minutes. You still have your maps.

This sort of stuckability is obviously something that authors should be 
aware of. Some authors want to avoid it entirely in their games; some 
like to give some level of warning; some like to leave it in.

I do prefer that I know what kind of author I'm dealing with right away. 
That's why I put in the notation.

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
