WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.090 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.090 --> 00:00:02.490 align:middle line:84% The following content is provided under a Creative 00:00:02.490 --> 00:00:04.030 align:middle line:90% Commons license. 00:00:04.030 --> 00:00:06.330 align:middle line:84% Your support will help MIT OpenCourseWare 00:00:06.330 --> 00:00:10.690 align:middle line:84% continue to offer high quality educational resources for free. 00:00:10.690 --> 00:00:13.320 align:middle line:84% To make a donation, or view additional materials 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:17.280 align:middle line:84% from hundreds of MIT courses, visit MIT OpenCourseWare 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:18.160 align:middle line:90% at ocw.mit.edu. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.015 align:middle line:90% 00:00:21.015 --> 00:00:22.890 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: All right, let's talk a little bit 00:00:22.890 --> 00:00:24.000 align:middle line:90% about today's reading. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.540 align:middle line:90% 00:00:26.540 --> 00:00:30.050 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE], this giant book that you see in front of you 00:00:30.050 --> 00:00:32.393 align:middle line:90% and that you have the link to-- 00:00:32.393 --> 00:00:34.110 align:middle line:84% how many of you, by the way, read 00:00:34.110 --> 00:00:36.500 align:middle line:84% the actual book and how many of you just went online? 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:40.190 align:middle line:84% How many got like a library copy? 00:00:40.190 --> 00:00:45.210 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] It is basically divided into three sections, 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:48.650 align:middle line:90% there's rules, play and culture. 00:00:48.650 --> 00:00:52.830 align:middle line:84% Basically it's a collection of just what other people 00:00:52.830 --> 00:00:56.990 align:middle line:84% have said, but tried to organize in a way that makes 00:00:56.990 --> 00:00:59.220 align:middle line:90% for a pretty good textbook. 00:00:59.220 --> 00:01:01.740 align:middle line:84% The first chunk is all about analyzing games, of systems, 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:05.430 align:middle line:84% of rules, the bits that actually go 00:01:05.430 --> 00:01:09.300 align:middle line:90% into the construction of games. 00:01:09.300 --> 00:01:12.360 align:middle line:84% The play section, which is what today's reading was from, 00:01:12.360 --> 00:01:15.800 align:middle line:84% is really about what people do with these games. 00:01:15.800 --> 00:01:17.820 align:middle line:84% And then culture comes after that, 00:01:17.820 --> 00:01:20.446 align:middle line:84% which is the world around the games, the world that 00:01:20.446 --> 00:01:21.945 align:middle line:84% might have been created by the games 00:01:21.945 --> 00:01:25.402 align:middle line:84% as people actually interact with them. 00:01:25.402 --> 00:01:27.110 align:middle line:84% I don't think we have that many readings, 00:01:27.110 --> 00:01:30.230 align:middle line:84% this might be the last reading from this book. 00:01:30.230 --> 00:01:31.500 align:middle line:90% Yeah, let's see, culture. 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:34.760 align:middle line:90% We've got-- oh, there is? 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:35.500 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:37.530 align:middle line:84% There is one more reading, but I don't know 00:01:37.530 --> 00:01:38.925 align:middle line:90% if it comes from this book. 00:01:38.925 --> 00:01:39.800 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:40.740 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:01:40.740 --> 00:01:43.020 align:middle line:84% Bernie De Koven is the last reading, 00:01:43.020 --> 00:01:47.230 align:middle line:84% and that's going to be Wednesday, I think? 00:01:47.230 --> 00:01:49.650 align:middle line:84% And that's going to be-- that's one 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:52.230 align:middle line:84% of actually the writers that's cited quite a lot 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:54.160 align:middle line:90% in today's reading. 00:01:54.160 --> 00:01:56.090 align:middle line:90% And it's a much smaller book. 00:01:56.090 --> 00:02:01.900 align:middle line:84% It's this thick and it's easy reading. 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:05.670 align:middle line:84% But it's a good jumping-off point for this class 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:10.889 align:middle line:84% because this is literally where the book ends on thinking 00:02:10.889 --> 00:02:12.990 align:middle line:90% of games as designed objects. 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:17.310 align:middle line:84% And things that could stand alone as a product, 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:19.900 align:middle line:84% there's a set of rules that can be passed on from generation, 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:27.120 align:middle line:84% this solid thing, into what people make out of all of this. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:28.654 align:middle line:84% And if you're interested in that, 00:02:28.654 --> 00:02:29.820 align:middle line:90% then there's another class-- 00:02:29.820 --> 00:02:33.690 align:middle line:84% I think it's CMS 616 Games and Culture. 00:02:33.690 --> 00:02:36.290 align:middle line:90% And it should be offered-- 00:02:36.290 --> 00:02:39.660 align:middle line:84% I can't remember if it's a fall class or a spring class. 00:02:39.660 --> 00:02:40.250 align:middle line:90% Spring class? 00:02:40.250 --> 00:02:42.470 align:middle line:84% OK so it's offered this semester. 00:02:42.470 --> 00:02:44.070 align:middle line:84% If you're not a senior and you're 00:02:44.070 --> 00:02:45.120 align:middle line:84% going to be around for another year 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:46.800 align:middle line:84% you might want to consider that if you're interested. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:48.660 align:middle line:84% To sort of see where it is going. 00:02:48.660 --> 00:02:50.493 align:middle line:84% And obviously there are a lot of researchers 00:02:50.493 --> 00:02:52.020 align:middle line:84% here at MIT that are starting to get 00:02:52.020 --> 00:02:54.397 align:middle line:90% into the realm of sociology. 00:02:54.397 --> 00:02:55.980 align:middle line:84% There are folks here who study history 00:02:55.980 --> 00:03:02.310 align:middle line:84% of games, folks who study what people currently do with games. 00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:06.230 align:middle line:84% For instance, how many of you have met or taken a class 00:03:06.230 --> 00:03:07.900 align:middle line:90% from T.L. Taylor? 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:08.850 align:middle line:90% A few people? 00:03:08.850 --> 00:03:09.470 align:middle line:90% Yeah, OK. 00:03:09.470 --> 00:03:13.560 align:middle line:84% So she comes from such a sociological background. 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.410 align:middle line:84% A lot of her work is ethnographic, 00:03:15.410 --> 00:03:20.020 align:middle line:84% which just means it's like a researcher going 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:24.990 align:middle line:84% into a native culture and seeing how people behave there. 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:28.890 align:middle line:84% And what they value, and what are the common practices. 00:03:28.890 --> 00:03:33.930 align:middle line:84% And she does it with massively multi-player online games. 00:03:33.930 --> 00:03:36.990 align:middle line:84% Now she did e-sports, that was the most recent book, 00:03:36.990 --> 00:03:39.690 align:middle line:84% now she's looking at live-streamers. 00:03:39.690 --> 00:03:41.950 align:middle line:84% And she has a lot of research, a lot of information. 00:03:41.950 --> 00:03:45.900 align:middle line:84% So that's a good person to learn from. 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:48.950 align:middle line:84% Some of you also have come from Todd Harper's class. 00:03:48.950 --> 00:03:52.260 align:middle line:90% He's a postdoc here in our lab. 00:03:52.260 --> 00:03:56.380 align:middle line:84% He's taught quite a number of classes, both CMS 300 and CMS 00:03:56.380 --> 00:03:58.230 align:middle line:84% 100, as well as his own game design 00:03:58.230 --> 00:04:02.240 align:middle line:84% for expression class, where he looks a lot 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.170 align:middle line:90% at competitive styles of play-- 00:04:05.170 --> 00:04:07.290 align:middle line:84% I'm sorry, competitive communities of play. 00:04:07.290 --> 00:04:13.170 align:middle line:84% So fighting games community was his dissertation. 00:04:13.170 --> 00:04:15.480 align:middle line:84% Looking at League of Legends right now, 00:04:15.480 --> 00:04:18.890 align:middle line:84% I think, pretty much what he is looking at now. 00:04:18.890 --> 00:04:24.240 align:middle line:84% As well as some other aspect like queer games and the people 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:25.650 align:middle line:90% who play and make them. 00:04:25.650 --> 00:04:31.990 align:middle line:84% So that's another good angle to look at. 00:04:31.990 --> 00:04:34.715 align:middle line:90% So fact to today's reading. 00:04:34.715 --> 00:04:39.390 align:middle line:84% There's a couple of really, really useful ideas in it 00:04:39.390 --> 00:04:43.470 align:middle line:84% that can be used for a variety of ways 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:44.812 align:middle line:90% to look and analyze your game. 00:04:44.812 --> 00:04:46.770 align:middle line:84% Especially when you're trying to observe people 00:04:46.770 --> 00:04:48.780 align:middle line:84% playing your game and trying to figure out 00:04:48.780 --> 00:04:50.540 align:middle line:90% what's going on here. 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:52.200 align:middle line:84% And the games that we've got today, 00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:56.100 align:middle line:84% including some of the games that John 00:04:56.100 --> 00:05:00.480 align:middle line:84% has are all the sorts of games where what's 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.850 align:middle line:84% interesting about the game isn't so much 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:05.207 align:middle line:84% what's written in the box, what's written in the rules, 00:05:05.207 --> 00:05:06.540 align:middle line:90% but what happens between people. 00:05:06.540 --> 00:05:09.210 align:middle line:84% And I would argue for many, many games, 00:05:09.210 --> 00:05:11.280 align:middle line:84% even the ones that are traditionally recognized 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:15.167 align:middle line:84% for the magic of what's inside the box, what's actually 00:05:15.167 --> 00:05:17.000 align:middle line:84% interesting is what happens around the game. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:19.280 align:middle line:84% Last week we talked about Go, for instance. 00:05:19.280 --> 00:05:21.780 align:middle line:84% And it's like, OK, what's actually 00:05:21.780 --> 00:05:25.907 align:middle line:84% written about the rules of Go is not that elaborate, right? 00:05:25.907 --> 00:05:27.615 align:middle line:84% Really, really simple, and mathematically 00:05:27.615 --> 00:05:29.544 align:middle line:90% is really elegant. 00:05:29.544 --> 00:05:30.960 align:middle line:84% Entrancing in the sort of way that 00:05:30.960 --> 00:05:34.260 align:middle line:84% mathematicians like an elegant formula. 00:05:34.260 --> 00:05:37.740 align:middle line:84% But what's also interesting is centuries and centuries 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:39.780 align:middle line:84% of strategies and culture that have built up 00:05:39.780 --> 00:05:42.985 align:middle line:84% around this particular way of playing. 00:05:42.985 --> 00:05:47.500 align:middle line:90% 00:05:47.500 --> 00:05:50.050 align:middle line:84% So there's a couple of useful tips 00:05:50.050 --> 00:05:59.790 align:middle line:84% that help us think about what happens in a game socially. 00:05:59.790 --> 00:06:03.420 align:middle line:84% That's internal-- internal interaction 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:05.800 align:middle line:90% and external interaction. 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:08.130 align:middle line:84% So let's talk about internal interaction. 00:06:08.130 --> 00:06:12.600 align:middle line:84% What do you think Zimmerman's talking 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:17.270 align:middle line:84% about when he says an internal social interaction in a game? 00:06:17.270 --> 00:06:20.854 align:middle line:90% 00:06:20.854 --> 00:06:24.152 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So I think he's talking about how 00:06:24.152 --> 00:06:28.100 align:middle line:90% you feel about your role. 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:32.900 align:middle line:84% So different people have different jobs in the game. 00:06:32.900 --> 00:06:35.420 align:middle line:84% So I'm supposed to be doing something different than you're 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:38.148 align:middle line:84% supposed to be doing, even though we both might have 00:06:38.148 --> 00:06:40.250 align:middle line:84% the same goal, might not even have the same goal, 00:06:40.250 --> 00:06:43.047 align:middle line:84% but the same ideas to win or whatever. 00:06:43.047 --> 00:06:45.380 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And the reason why you have those differences 00:06:45.380 --> 00:06:49.770 align:middle line:84% is set up by basically how the game's rules are set up, right? 00:06:49.770 --> 00:06:51.770 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And so the internal social [INAUDIBLE] 00:06:51.770 --> 00:06:53.536 align:middle line:90% might be my idea about that. 00:06:53.536 --> 00:06:55.160 align:middle line:84% My idea of what my role in the game is. 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:59.911 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK so I think I'm mafia, right, 00:06:59.911 --> 00:07:00.785 align:middle line:90% in the game of Mafia. 00:07:00.785 --> 00:07:03.060 align:middle line:84% I'm the mafia, or one of the members of the mafia, 00:07:03.060 --> 00:07:06.470 align:middle line:84% so I think I'm going to play this way. 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:10.310 align:middle line:84% The game rules tell me about when I can communicate and when 00:07:10.310 --> 00:07:10.896 align:middle line:90% I can't. 00:07:10.896 --> 00:07:13.020 align:middle line:84% Basically everyone can communicate at the same time 00:07:13.020 --> 00:07:15.509 align:middle line:84% then everyone shows [INAUDIBLE] And then 00:07:15.509 --> 00:07:18.050 align:middle line:84% you come up with the strategy of how you're going to play it. 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:21.590 align:middle line:84% It evolves from the roles that was given to you 00:07:21.590 --> 00:07:24.290 align:middle line:90% by the rules of the game. 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:30.480 align:middle line:84% How about external interactions when it comes to social play? 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:32.753 align:middle line:90% What's the flip side of that? 00:07:32.753 --> 00:07:35.994 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Friendship outside of the game [INAUDIBLE]. 00:07:35.994 --> 00:07:39.436 align:middle line:84% Mafia's [INAUDIBLE] Say your friends not one of the Mafia. 00:07:39.436 --> 00:07:41.390 align:middle line:84% You'd be like, oh, he's my friend. 00:07:41.390 --> 00:07:43.660 align:middle line:90% I'll save him for last. 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:46.230 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, I'll torment that guy for last 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:47.990 align:middle line:90% because he's my friend. 00:07:47.990 --> 00:07:50.960 align:middle line:84% I'm not going to eliminate him right away. 00:07:50.960 --> 00:07:52.460 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Another interesting one 00:07:52.460 --> 00:07:55.930 align:middle line:84% was, I think, also the past experience with Mafia. 00:07:55.930 --> 00:07:58.544 align:middle line:84% I know that a person's really, really good at Mafia, 00:07:58.544 --> 00:07:59.370 align:middle line:84% so I'm going to kill them on first round 00:07:59.370 --> 00:08:01.120 align:middle line:84% just because I don't want to deal with it. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:03.660 align:middle line:90% 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:07.130 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Right, I just want to get them out of this game. 00:08:07.130 --> 00:08:08.135 align:middle line:90% Sure, yeah. 00:08:08.135 --> 00:08:10.260 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think that happens with a lot of games. 00:08:10.260 --> 00:08:13.640 align:middle line:84% Just like you team up on [INAUDIBLE]. 00:08:13.640 --> 00:08:17.012 align:middle line:90% 00:08:17.012 --> 00:08:19.740 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Couples playing a game and that's 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:23.840 align:middle line:84% supposed to be all where everyone's supposed to be 00:08:23.840 --> 00:08:28.020 align:middle line:90% playing an individual game. 00:08:28.020 --> 00:08:30.760 align:middle line:84% Yeah, knowing that someone is a pathological liar. 00:08:30.760 --> 00:08:36.020 align:middle line:90% 00:08:36.020 --> 00:08:40.320 align:middle line:84% So that actually also comes in design, by the way. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:47.800 align:middle line:84% I used to write games for the MIT Assassins' Guild. 00:08:47.800 --> 00:08:50.130 align:middle line:84% And there were four people who were playing games 00:08:50.130 --> 00:08:52.020 align:middle line:84% at the same time when I was writing games, 00:08:52.020 --> 00:08:54.480 align:middle line:84% and we always used these four people as ways 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:56.970 align:middle line:84% that games are often broken mostly 00:08:56.970 --> 00:09:01.710 align:middle line:84% through weird social interactions. 00:09:01.710 --> 00:09:05.740 align:middle line:84% Someone who's going to be the rules lawyer, for instance. 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:09.360 align:middle line:84% And someone who's going to stop the game in order 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.210 align:middle line:84% to make sure that his interpretation of the rules 00:09:13.210 --> 00:09:15.140 align:middle line:84% is what everybody else is going to play with. 00:09:15.140 --> 00:09:17.520 align:middle line:84% Not necessarily to make sure that the rules are adhered to, 00:09:17.520 --> 00:09:18.690 align:middle line:84% just make sure that his interpretation 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:19.770 align:middle line:90% is going to work. 00:09:19.770 --> 00:09:22.080 align:middle line:84% Somebody who's going to stop a game because they're 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.450 align:middle line:84% always going to keep asking for reminders 00:09:24.450 --> 00:09:27.840 align:middle line:90% on how the rules work. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:32.094 align:middle line:84% Just like, uh, I can't handle this right now, 00:09:32.094 --> 00:09:34.260 align:middle line:84% all this is supposed to be happening simultaneously, 00:09:34.260 --> 00:09:35.880 align:middle line:90% too much math, stop. 00:09:35.880 --> 00:09:37.790 align:middle line:84% And I'm going to continue that, so this 00:09:37.790 --> 00:09:42.241 align:middle line:84% is the second kind of person that I had to design for. 00:09:42.241 --> 00:09:43.740 align:middle line:84% The third kind of person, the person 00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:47.040 align:middle line:84% who is so capable of just summoning 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:49.290 align:middle line:84% the collective brainpower of everybody 00:09:49.290 --> 00:09:54.690 align:middle line:84% to be able to churn through any kind of puzzle 00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:58.140 align:middle line:84% that I can create, because this person was 00:09:58.140 --> 00:10:03.780 align:middle line:84% such a convincing speaker that basically he 00:10:03.780 --> 00:10:08.340 align:middle line:84% can use your head like a node on a parallel computer. 00:10:08.340 --> 00:10:10.600 align:middle line:84% You would just say, can you do this thing for me, 00:10:10.600 --> 00:10:12.980 align:middle line:84% it won't take a minute, and somehow he will do it. 00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:15.756 align:middle line:84% This person had that social skill. 00:10:15.756 --> 00:10:18.090 align:middle line:84% I'm trying to remember what the fourth one was. 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:22.710 align:middle line:90% 00:10:22.710 --> 00:10:25.380 align:middle line:84% Oh yeah, there was one person who 00:10:25.380 --> 00:10:29.090 align:middle line:84% could do the same thing entirely on his own. 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:31.020 align:middle line:84% If you put a puzzle in the game, the puzzle 00:10:31.020 --> 00:10:32.670 align:middle line:84% will be solved by this one person 00:10:32.670 --> 00:10:36.220 align:middle line:84% sooner or later, if it wasn't already solved by someone else. 00:10:36.220 --> 00:10:38.790 align:middle line:84% So here's this giant macroeconomic system that I've 00:10:38.790 --> 00:10:40.140 align:middle line:90% set up, or something like that. 00:10:40.140 --> 00:10:42.380 align:middle line:84% And that one person will figure out the optimal way 00:10:42.380 --> 00:10:44.280 align:middle line:84% to solve everybody's problem simultaneously. 00:10:44.280 --> 00:10:47.150 align:middle line:90% 00:10:47.150 --> 00:10:48.150 align:middle line:90% I could design for that. 00:10:48.150 --> 00:10:50.980 align:middle line:84% So I could design to make sure that each of these people 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:55.084 align:middle line:84% don't break the game, but still can 00:10:55.084 --> 00:10:56.250 align:middle line:90% do the thing that they want. 00:10:56.250 --> 00:10:58.950 align:middle line:90% 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:01.560 align:middle line:84% Some of the folks that I'm describing actually 00:11:01.560 --> 00:11:03.900 align:middle line:84% enjoyed that, some of them didn't enjoy that. 00:11:03.900 --> 00:11:06.690 align:middle line:84% That's just how the brain works, but if the game falls 00:11:06.690 --> 00:11:11.510 align:middle line:84% to that then they I'm not having any more fun than anyone else. 00:11:11.510 --> 00:11:13.500 align:middle line:84% So I knew something about who was 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:17.795 align:middle line:84% going to be playing my games by knowing that these four people. 00:11:17.795 --> 00:11:20.280 align:middle line:84% I could cover a very wide range of different ways 00:11:20.280 --> 00:11:24.090 align:middle line:84% that my games could just fall flat on their faces. 00:11:24.090 --> 00:11:27.720 align:middle line:84% These are real people, but anybody who plays my games 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:32.400 align:middle line:84% could exhibit that same sort of behavior at an opportune time, 00:11:32.400 --> 00:11:35.013 align:middle line:84% I have to make sure that my rules could hold up to that. 00:11:35.013 --> 00:11:37.710 align:middle line:90% 00:11:37.710 --> 00:11:40.350 align:middle line:84% So when you design your games, how many of you 00:11:40.350 --> 00:11:42.360 align:middle line:90% have somebody in mind? 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:44.580 align:middle line:84% Someone particular about who's going 00:11:44.580 --> 00:11:48.100 align:middle line:90% to end up playing the game. 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:52.516 align:middle line:84% Friend, family member, person in class. 00:11:52.516 --> 00:11:57.240 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: For me, I think when I worked on the game 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:01.015 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] Hurricane, I think that it definitely reminded me 00:12:01.015 --> 00:12:04.250 align:middle line:84% of specific friends that I played Twister 00:12:04.250 --> 00:12:07.500 align:middle line:84% with in the past, a game that I felt was a game 00:12:07.500 --> 00:12:09.217 align:middle line:90% to get inspiration from. 00:12:09.217 --> 00:12:14.354 align:middle line:84% But sometimes I don't have [INAUDIBLE]. 00:12:14.354 --> 00:12:18.120 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The easiest one for me is just developing for myself. 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.280 align:middle line:84% And people who enjoy the same types of games that I do. 00:12:21.280 --> 00:12:24.266 align:middle line:84% If I find a game fun, then people 00:12:24.266 --> 00:12:26.058 align:middle line:84% who enjoy the same types of games that I do 00:12:26.058 --> 00:12:27.059 align:middle line:90% will likely find it fun. 00:12:27.059 --> 00:12:29.224 align:middle line:84% If I don't enjoy the game, I shouldn't be making it. 00:12:29.224 --> 00:12:31.220 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, you are a sample point, 00:12:31.220 --> 00:12:32.530 align:middle line:90% you are a valid sample point. 00:12:32.530 --> 00:12:37.570 align:middle line:84% It just happens to be one that you know very well-- yourself. 00:12:37.570 --> 00:12:42.610 align:middle line:84% There is a mantra out there that often mentioned 00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:45.560 align:middle line:84% by people in the indie game development 00:12:45.560 --> 00:12:49.250 align:middle line:84% community, which is you make a game that you want to play. 00:12:49.250 --> 00:12:51.967 align:middle line:84% And I'm not entirely sure that I agree with that. 00:12:51.967 --> 00:12:53.550 align:middle line:84% But I can see where it is coming from. 00:12:53.550 --> 00:12:55.479 align:middle line:84% Because if you can't satisfy yourself, 00:12:55.479 --> 00:12:57.020 align:middle line:84% then the likelihood that you're going 00:12:57.020 --> 00:13:01.386 align:middle line:84% to satisfy any other audience member out there 00:13:01.386 --> 00:13:06.470 align:middle line:84% who would actually play your game is lower. 00:13:06.470 --> 00:13:09.230 align:middle line:84% But I think there is something about having 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:15.400 align:middle line:84% to design for people who are not you which is also valid 00:13:15.400 --> 00:13:17.734 align:middle line:90% but obviously it's harder. 00:13:17.734 --> 00:13:21.980 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I've heard it described as a Venn diagram. 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:23.940 align:middle line:90% One is games I want to play. 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:25.981 align:middle line:84% The other one is games other people want to play. 00:13:25.981 --> 00:13:29.022 align:middle line:90% 00:13:29.022 --> 00:13:31.920 align:middle line:90% A third is games I can make. 00:13:31.920 --> 00:13:34.710 align:middle line:84% Ideally, you want to be right in the center. 00:13:34.710 --> 00:13:36.110 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:39.530 align:middle line:84% Vast set of ideas that you have in your head, only 00:13:39.530 --> 00:13:42.740 align:middle line:84% a small group of which are things that you actually 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:43.840 align:middle line:90% want to do. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:45.832 align:middle line:84% And then a smaller group of that are things 00:13:45.832 --> 00:13:47.040 align:middle line:90% that other people want to do. 00:13:47.040 --> 00:13:51.040 align:middle line:84% A smaller group of that is something you can [INAUDIBLE]. 00:13:51.040 --> 00:13:52.250 align:middle line:90% That makes sense. 00:13:52.250 --> 00:13:54.760 align:middle line:90% 00:13:54.760 --> 00:13:56.570 align:middle line:84% The feasibility thing is what we've been 00:13:56.570 --> 00:13:58.370 align:middle line:90% addressing this entire class. 00:13:58.370 --> 00:14:00.530 align:middle line:84% How do you actually make a game that you can make, 00:14:00.530 --> 00:14:03.328 align:middle line:84% as opposed to make a game you wish you could make. 00:14:03.328 --> 00:14:08.855 align:middle line:90% 00:14:08.855 --> 00:14:11.560 align:middle line:84% So if we've got lots of different kinds of people 00:14:11.560 --> 00:14:13.100 align:middle line:84% who you're making your games for, 00:14:13.100 --> 00:14:16.340 align:middle line:84% people who you played similar games with in the past, 00:14:16.340 --> 00:14:17.670 align:middle line:90% for instance. 00:14:17.670 --> 00:14:20.210 align:middle line:84% People who you know are the kind of people who tend 00:14:20.210 --> 00:14:22.414 align:middle line:90% to-- who won't break your game. 00:14:22.414 --> 00:14:24.830 align:middle line:84% When you're making the Twister game, you have to make sure 00:14:24.830 --> 00:14:27.260 align:middle line:84% that you can play the game without breaking it, 00:14:27.260 --> 00:14:29.515 align:middle line:84% because you are physically larger than a lot of folks 00:14:29.515 --> 00:14:33.670 align:middle line:90% and able to reach much further. 00:14:33.670 --> 00:14:37.250 align:middle line:84% And make sure there are rules, that you can design your rules 00:14:37.250 --> 00:14:40.650 align:middle line:90% for that sort of thing. 00:14:40.650 --> 00:14:45.690 align:middle line:84% But then there's also broad categories of people. 00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:49.730 align:middle line:84% And that's why we get into it the reference to Richard Bartle 00:14:49.730 --> 00:14:51.590 align:middle line:90% in today's meeting. 00:14:51.590 --> 00:14:53.140 align:middle line:84% I did not include the whole article, 00:14:53.140 --> 00:14:56.390 align:middle line:84% but the whole article is online in plain HTML. 00:14:56.390 --> 00:14:58.220 align:middle line:84% If you just do a search for Bartle-- 00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:05.220 align:middle line:90% 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:08.590 align:middle line:84% I forget the name of the article, 00:15:08.590 --> 00:15:11.650 align:middle line:84% but if you just do a search for diamonds, hearts, clubs, 00:15:11.650 --> 00:15:16.240 align:middle line:90% spades, Bartle, you'll find it. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.330 align:middle line:84% I think it's "Players Who Suit MUDs" or something like that. 00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:23.020 align:middle line:84% A lot of that work was created when he was basically 00:15:23.020 --> 00:15:25.960 align:middle line:84% the originator of the very first multi-user dungeon. 00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:29.570 align:middle line:84% Anyone heard of a multi-user dungeon? 00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:32.980 align:middle line:84% How many have played one of those. 00:15:32.980 --> 00:15:35.232 align:middle line:90% I've played way too many. 00:15:35.232 --> 00:15:36.690 align:middle line:84% You see people playing, when you're 00:15:36.690 --> 00:15:39.554 align:middle line:84% reading the text that is typed on the screen. 00:15:39.554 --> 00:15:43.970 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.450 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK, so how many of you 00:15:46.450 --> 00:15:50.500 align:middle line:84% have seen or played a text adventure? 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:56.620 align:middle line:84% So text adventure, basically everything is text. 00:15:56.620 --> 00:15:59.680 align:middle line:84% You've got verbal descriptions instead of graphics 00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:02.282 align:middle line:84% of the rooms that you are in, and the objects you can 00:16:02.282 --> 00:16:03.490 align:middle line:90% pick up, and what you can do. 00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:06.020 align:middle line:84% You got an inventory that's explained to you text. 00:16:06.020 --> 00:16:08.350 align:middle line:84% You've got text commands you can enter. 00:16:08.350 --> 00:16:10.300 align:middle line:84% Usually when you're entering commands 00:16:10.300 --> 00:16:11.950 align:middle line:90% it's a verb and a noun. 00:16:11.950 --> 00:16:15.480 align:middle line:84% Get key, open mailbox, get [INAUDIBLE], 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:17.840 align:middle line:90% that sort of thing. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.400 align:middle line:90% Some are just single words. 00:16:19.400 --> 00:16:22.070 align:middle line:90% Inventory, north. 00:16:22.070 --> 00:16:25.680 align:middle line:84% Actually the full north command is actually go north, 00:16:25.680 --> 00:16:28.100 align:middle line:84% but there are shortcuts where you can just type 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:32.430 align:middle line:90% N. North, south, east, west. 00:16:32.430 --> 00:16:34.960 align:middle line:84% A multi-user dungeon, traditionally, 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.270 align:middle line:84% was a multi-player text adventure. 00:16:37.270 --> 00:16:40.480 align:middle line:84% Everyone would just occupy the same space on a server, 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:45.005 align:middle line:84% they would use something like Telnet, or maybe a dial-up, 00:16:45.005 --> 00:16:46.100 align:middle line:90% on [INAUDIBLE]. 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:51.440 align:middle line:84% And call into a server that will be serving them ASCII text. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.960 align:middle line:84% And then simultaneously going to two other people. 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:56.320 align:middle line:84% It's very, very important that in multi-user dungeons, 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.222 align:middle line:84% multiple people are connected simultaneously. 00:16:58.222 --> 00:16:59.680 align:middle line:84% It's not like an asynchronous thing 00:16:59.680 --> 00:17:01.060 align:middle line:84% where one person connects at a time, 00:17:01.060 --> 00:17:03.268 align:middle line:84% even though they're all logging in to the same world. 00:17:03.268 --> 00:17:05.690 align:middle line:90% 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:10.870 align:middle line:84% So not all that different from what you expect from MMO RPG 00:17:10.870 --> 00:17:12.369 align:middle line:84% nowadays, the massively multi-player 00:17:12.369 --> 00:17:13.452 align:middle line:90% online role-playing games. 00:17:13.452 --> 00:17:17.602 align:middle line:84% Only obviously no graphics, and much slower pace of game, 00:17:17.602 --> 00:17:19.060 align:middle line:84% because everything has to be typed. 00:17:19.060 --> 00:17:22.359 align:middle line:84% You don't just [? walk ?] [? off, ?] you have this 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:25.150 align:middle line:90% inventory. 00:17:25.150 --> 00:17:28.760 align:middle line:84% All my examples are really fast examples. 00:17:28.760 --> 00:17:32.584 align:middle line:90% Give envelope to Bob. 00:17:32.584 --> 00:17:34.750 align:middle line:84% It's like you could actually give that kind of thing 00:17:34.750 --> 00:17:36.250 align:middle line:84% and then you just transfer an object 00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:40.450 align:middle line:84% to somebody else named Bob in your space. 00:17:40.450 --> 00:17:44.230 align:middle line:84% And he described four different categories of people 00:17:44.230 --> 00:17:48.580 align:middle line:84% that he often saw play his games that I think still 00:17:48.580 --> 00:17:50.440 align:middle line:90% holds up pretty darn well. 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:53.771 align:middle line:84% So who remembers any of the four categories? 00:17:53.771 --> 00:17:56.416 align:middle line:90% 00:17:56.416 --> 00:17:58.040 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The kind of people who really 00:17:58.040 --> 00:18:03.100 align:middle line:84% get deep into underlying [INAUDIBLE], 00:18:03.100 --> 00:18:05.811 align:middle line:84% who want to learn about how things work. 00:18:05.811 --> 00:18:07.060 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: The diggers, right? 00:18:07.060 --> 00:18:07.570 align:middle line:90% The miners. 00:18:07.570 --> 00:18:08.839 align:middle line:90% The people who-- 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.380 align:middle line:84% Minecraft is a great example for a game that is designed just 00:18:11.380 --> 00:18:11.860 align:middle line:90% for those people. 00:18:11.860 --> 00:18:13.568 align:middle line:84% People want explore how the system works, 00:18:13.568 --> 00:18:16.120 align:middle line:84% how the environment works, who want to discover things 00:18:16.120 --> 00:18:19.986 align:middle line:84% and to see what's behind that next mountain. 00:18:19.986 --> 00:18:24.220 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I'll go with [INAUDIBLE]. 00:18:24.220 --> 00:18:29.260 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Killers or plugs, and what 00:18:29.260 --> 00:18:33.280 align:middle line:84% was the justification for what they do? 00:18:33.280 --> 00:18:34.230 align:middle line:90% What do they do? 00:18:34.230 --> 00:18:44.765 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:18:44.765 --> 00:18:47.140 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: The people who are there for the other people, 00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:48.250 align:middle line:90% primarily. 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:51.110 align:middle line:84% In a way, killers and the socializers 00:18:51.110 --> 00:18:53.989 align:middle line:84% are there because other people are there. 00:18:53.989 --> 00:18:55.155 align:middle line:90% There are different reasons. 00:18:55.155 --> 00:18:59.610 align:middle line:90% 00:18:59.610 --> 00:19:00.805 align:middle line:90% The diamonds want to win. 00:19:00.805 --> 00:19:03.580 align:middle line:84% That is by any definition of winning. 00:19:03.580 --> 00:19:06.140 align:middle line:84% Now MUDs traditionally did not have a definition of winning. 00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:07.265 align:middle line:90% You couldn't win that game. 00:19:07.265 --> 00:19:09.880 align:middle line:84% There wasn't any final bosses you could kill, 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:13.210 align:middle line:84% so you had to find your own metrics for winning. 00:19:13.210 --> 00:19:17.940 align:middle line:84% So it could be there are PDP type diamonds. 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:21.100 align:middle line:84% You want to rack up the highest tournament score or something, 00:19:21.100 --> 00:19:23.790 align:middle line:84% but you're not there explicitly to cause people grief. 00:19:23.790 --> 00:19:29.980 align:middle line:84% You're not trying to hit them when they're not looking. 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:33.120 align:middle line:84% Sort of like we're going to organize a duel kind of thing. 00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:35.440 align:middle line:84% We're going to see who can play this game the best, as 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.893 align:middle line:90% opposed to making people upset. 00:19:37.893 --> 00:19:40.440 align:middle line:90% 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:42.250 align:middle line:84% There's a way to remember this that I 00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:44.350 align:middle line:90% think has really been useful. 00:19:44.350 --> 00:19:49.540 align:middle line:84% I find the playing card suits not so easy to remember, 00:19:49.540 --> 00:19:54.760 align:middle line:84% but I could actually remember the categories pretty easily 00:19:54.760 --> 00:19:59.170 align:middle line:84% by whether you are acting on something 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:03.050 align:middle line:90% or you're acting with something. 00:20:03.050 --> 00:20:07.196 align:middle line:84% And the question is whether you are acting or interacting. 00:20:07.196 --> 00:20:16.751 align:middle line:90% 00:20:16.751 --> 00:20:18.250 align:middle line:84% I just put two different [INAUDIBLE] 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:24.150 align:middle line:84% that meant [INAUDIBLE] It's also supposed to be this. 00:20:24.150 --> 00:20:29.149 align:middle line:90% Interacting with [INAUDIBLE]. 00:20:29.149 --> 00:20:34.560 align:middle line:84% And then at the world, all the systems, and then 00:20:34.560 --> 00:20:35.350 align:middle line:90% other players. 00:20:35.350 --> 00:20:38.720 align:middle line:90% 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.620 align:middle line:84% So if you're interacting with other players, 00:20:40.620 --> 00:20:45.240 align:middle line:90% we've got the socializers. 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:49.100 align:middle line:84% And people who are acting on other players are the killers. 00:20:49.100 --> 00:20:52.920 align:middle line:90% 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.280 align:middle line:90% Acting on the world. 00:20:56.280 --> 00:20:57.690 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:20:57.690 --> 00:21:05.150 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:09.450 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: [? Assignments, ?] which leads this to be the 00:21:09.450 --> 00:21:14.750 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:17.100 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] 00:21:17.100 --> 00:21:19.470 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: These are the glitch finders. 00:21:19.470 --> 00:21:21.650 align:middle line:84% These are the people who figure out 00:21:21.650 --> 00:21:23.860 align:middle line:84% how to get outside the boundaries, 00:21:23.860 --> 00:21:25.940 align:middle line:90% your invisible walls. 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:27.780 align:middle line:84% Who want to see whether there's a way 00:21:27.780 --> 00:21:31.830 align:middle line:84% they can get below the very lowest layer on Minecraft. 00:21:31.830 --> 00:21:36.411 align:middle line:84% And what happens when you cram so much explosives in one area 00:21:36.411 --> 00:21:38.660 align:middle line:84% that you can't perform this experiment without killing 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:39.710 align:middle line:90% yourself. 00:21:39.710 --> 00:21:41.570 align:middle line:84% They're the ones who are going to do it. 00:21:41.570 --> 00:21:44.480 align:middle line:84% Because they want to see what happens. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:47.570 align:middle line:84% Whereas these folks are really a little bit more about how do 00:21:47.570 --> 00:21:50.950 align:middle line:84% I use this world to be able to obtain some sort of other goal. 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:53.136 align:middle line:84% Which is usually points, some sort 00:21:53.136 --> 00:21:55.880 align:middle line:84% of achievement, some sort of recognition 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.146 align:middle line:90% from the other players. 00:21:59.146 --> 00:22:00.770 align:middle line:84% They don't usually get the recognition, 00:22:00.770 --> 00:22:02.482 align:middle line:84% but they have a numerical number to show 00:22:02.482 --> 00:22:03.690 align:middle line:90% that they're deserving of it. 00:22:03.690 --> 00:22:07.310 align:middle line:90% 00:22:07.310 --> 00:22:10.070 align:middle line:84% And I find this to be a really useful way 00:22:10.070 --> 00:22:14.960 align:middle line:84% to think about what games can do to be 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.670 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] to different people. 00:22:16.670 --> 00:22:20.510 align:middle line:84% Because the truth is that even though when 00:22:20.510 --> 00:22:22.250 align:middle line:84% you play a single game, you may be 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:24.930 align:middle line:84% primarily one of these people, you may not 00:22:24.930 --> 00:22:26.350 align:middle line:90% play every game this way. 00:22:26.350 --> 00:22:29.810 align:middle line:90% 00:22:29.810 --> 00:22:35.210 align:middle line:84% Say I'm a [INAUDIBLE] someone who's 00:22:35.210 --> 00:22:36.634 align:middle line:90% trying to chase all the points. 00:22:36.634 --> 00:22:38.925 align:middle line:84% Someone who is trying to get the top of the leaderboard 00:22:38.925 --> 00:22:42.230 align:middle line:90% in [INAUDIBLE] or something. 00:22:42.230 --> 00:22:44.060 align:middle line:84% But that may not be the way that I'm going 00:22:44.060 --> 00:22:45.890 align:middle line:90% to play World of Warcraft. 00:22:45.890 --> 00:22:50.690 align:middle line:84% That may not be the way that I play contract bridge. 00:22:50.690 --> 00:22:52.520 align:middle line:84% I might be playing more socializer when 00:22:52.520 --> 00:22:54.100 align:middle line:90% it comes to contract bridge. 00:22:54.100 --> 00:22:57.185 align:middle line:84% And different people are often different things 00:22:57.185 --> 00:22:58.470 align:middle line:90% in different games. 00:22:58.470 --> 00:23:02.090 align:middle line:84% And sometimes different things in the same game. 00:23:02.090 --> 00:23:04.627 align:middle line:90% Right now, I am trying-- 00:23:04.627 --> 00:23:06.460 align:middle line:84% everyone in this room probably knows by now, 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:09.050 align:middle line:84% I play too much StarCraft, right? 00:23:09.050 --> 00:23:11.180 align:middle line:90% Usually, I am trying to win. 00:23:11.180 --> 00:23:13.370 align:middle line:90% I am trying to raise my rank. 00:23:13.370 --> 00:23:15.500 align:middle line:90% They have a ladder system. 00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:19.085 align:middle line:84% Sometimes, I just want to zone out and talk to people. 00:23:19.085 --> 00:23:19.960 align:middle line:90% I just want to type-- 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:21.501 align:middle line:84% I just want to go into free-text chat 00:23:21.501 --> 00:23:23.270 align:middle line:90% and be friendly for awhile. 00:23:23.270 --> 00:23:25.980 align:middle line:84% I'll do something very dumb that takes no actions whatsoever. 00:23:25.980 --> 00:23:27.900 align:middle line:84% And I'm just like, at least my fingers 00:23:27.900 --> 00:23:29.733 align:middle line:84% are going to be able to type my [INAUDIBLE]. 00:23:29.733 --> 00:23:31.010 align:middle line:90% And that's what [INAUDIBLE]. 00:23:31.010 --> 00:23:33.720 align:middle line:84% Different times of the day, different moods that I'm in, 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.450 align:middle line:90% I'll do something different. 00:23:36.450 --> 00:23:38.166 align:middle line:84% And if you can make a game that would 00:23:38.166 --> 00:23:43.190 align:middle line:84% be able to cater to people in different moods, 00:23:43.190 --> 00:23:43.959 align:middle line:90% then that's great. 00:23:43.959 --> 00:23:46.500 align:middle line:84% You've got a game that can be played in different situations, 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:49.145 align:middle line:84% or more importantly, among a group of people who are all 00:23:49.145 --> 00:23:50.270 align:middle line:90% feeling kind of different-- 00:23:50.270 --> 00:23:52.880 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] type. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:55.700 align:middle line:84% This is not the only breakdown that I've seen. 00:23:55.700 --> 00:24:02.990 align:middle line:84% There is a system that's been pitched by, I believe, 00:24:02.990 --> 00:24:05.890 align:middle line:84% a developer at Ubisoft Montreal-- 00:24:05.890 --> 00:24:08.900 align:middle line:84% although don't take my word for that-- 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.390 align:middle line:90% Jason Vandenberghe. 00:24:11.390 --> 00:24:14.420 align:middle line:84% And he suggests, actually, a system 00:24:14.420 --> 00:24:17.570 align:middle line:84% on the OCEAN model of psychology. 00:24:17.570 --> 00:24:19.142 align:middle line:90% Has anyone heard of this? 00:24:19.142 --> 00:24:22.704 align:middle line:84% It's five big drivers of motivation 00:24:22.704 --> 00:24:24.495 align:middle line:84% that psychologists have, basically, created 00:24:24.495 --> 00:24:26.740 align:middle line:90% as a framework. 00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:32.370 align:middle line:90% And one of them is neuroticism. 00:24:32.370 --> 00:24:33.860 align:middle line:84% There are people who are motivated 00:24:33.860 --> 00:24:35.180 align:middle line:90% because they are neurotic. 00:24:35.180 --> 00:24:37.880 align:middle line:84% And I can totally identify with that. 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:39.590 align:middle line:90% It's like they want to be-- 00:24:39.590 --> 00:24:43.130 align:middle line:84% it gives them comfort to be performing neurotic things-- 00:24:43.130 --> 00:24:47.767 align:middle line:84% things like hundred-percenting a level, or a game, 00:24:47.767 --> 00:24:48.725 align:middle line:90% or something like that. 00:24:48.725 --> 00:24:49.880 align:middle line:90% It's a motivator. 00:24:49.880 --> 00:24:51.089 align:middle line:90% It's a driver. 00:24:51.089 --> 00:24:53.130 align:middle line:84% It's no particular achievement to hundred-percent 00:24:53.130 --> 00:24:56.420 align:middle line:84% a level in Metroid, because a lot of people do it. 00:24:56.420 --> 00:24:58.520 align:middle line:84% But the fact that that number is there 00:24:58.520 --> 00:25:00.050 align:middle line:84% motivates a certain group of people 00:25:00.050 --> 00:25:05.250 align:middle line:84% to be able to bring that number from 99% to 100%. 00:25:05.250 --> 00:25:08.660 align:middle line:84% So I want to make clear that this is just a theory. 00:25:08.660 --> 00:25:09.950 align:middle line:90% This is just-- 00:25:09.950 --> 00:25:14.320 align:middle line:84% Richard Bartle-- creator of the very first MUD in Oxford, 00:25:14.320 --> 00:25:16.240 align:middle line:90% I believe-- 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:22.125 align:middle line:84% United Kingdom-- and he just wrote an article on a website-- 00:25:22.125 --> 00:25:23.500 align:middle line:84% he would have put it up on a blog 00:25:23.500 --> 00:25:25.960 align:middle line:90% and blogged it at the time-- 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:28.670 align:middle line:84% about, these are the people that I happen to see play my games. 00:25:28.670 --> 00:25:31.910 align:middle line:84% And if I-- I can generalize these people 00:25:31.910 --> 00:25:33.210 align:middle line:90% in these four categories. 00:25:33.210 --> 00:25:35.880 align:middle line:90% 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:36.380 align:middle line:90% Let's see. 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:39.300 align:middle line:90% 00:25:39.300 --> 00:25:43.280 align:middle line:84% Other stuff that's covered in today's reading 00:25:43.280 --> 00:25:50.760 align:middle line:84% includes the idea of people bringing things from outside 00:25:50.760 --> 00:25:52.570 align:middle line:90% of the game into the game. 00:25:52.570 --> 00:25:55.070 align:middle line:84% And we talked a little bit about metagames. 00:25:55.070 --> 00:25:57.540 align:middle line:84% And this article goes into a little bit more detail 00:25:57.540 --> 00:25:58.810 align:middle line:90% about that. 00:25:58.810 --> 00:26:04.320 align:middle line:84% So there's-- that's, again, four things that the book goes 00:26:04.320 --> 00:26:06.600 align:middle line:84% into when it comes to metagaming that-- 00:26:06.600 --> 00:26:10.020 align:middle line:84% and these were posited by Richard Garfield, designer 00:26:10.020 --> 00:26:11.120 align:middle line:90% of Magic: The Gathering. 00:26:11.120 --> 00:26:13.320 align:middle line:84% But he was-- the way how he was describing 00:26:13.320 --> 00:26:17.040 align:middle line:84% it is that these are all kinds of metagaming experiences. 00:26:17.040 --> 00:26:22.512 align:middle line:84% And I'm trying to make a game that capitalizes on people 00:26:22.512 --> 00:26:24.720 align:middle line:84% playing the game when they're not even really playing 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:26.140 align:middle line:90% the game. 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:27.750 align:middle line:84% When they're not sitting in front 00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:29.760 align:middle line:84% with their decks of magic, they're 00:26:29.760 --> 00:26:34.780 align:middle line:84% still playing the game, because they can do something else. 00:26:34.780 --> 00:26:37.915 align:middle line:84% And so, anyone remember what those four things are? 00:26:37.915 --> 00:26:39.790 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Things that you bring to the game-- 00:26:39.790 --> 00:26:40.276 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yep. 00:26:40.276 --> 00:26:42.192 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Things that you take from the game-- 00:26:42.192 --> 00:26:43.126 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:26:43.126 --> 00:26:45.928 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Things that you do between-- 00:26:45.928 --> 00:26:47.594 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Mm-hmm-- between games-- yep. 00:26:47.594 --> 00:26:49.506 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: --people-- between games. 00:26:49.506 --> 00:26:51.900 align:middle line:90% And the last one is-- 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.570 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Last one is, actually, probably the more traditional 00:26:54.570 --> 00:26:57.520 align:middle line:90% understanding of metagaming. 00:26:57.520 --> 00:27:01.580 align:middle line:84% So if-- even if you haven't read, you might have an-- 00:27:01.580 --> 00:27:03.660 align:middle line:84% or, you might be able to hazard a guess. 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:04.680 align:middle line:90% You got through-- 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:05.430 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [LAUGHS] 00:27:05.430 --> 00:27:07.884 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: --spot on. 00:27:07.884 --> 00:27:10.370 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]. 00:27:10.370 --> 00:27:12.350 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: That's right-- things that are-- 00:27:12.350 --> 00:27:14.660 align:middle line:84% things that you do during the game that are not, 00:27:14.660 --> 00:27:17.570 align:middle line:84% actually, part of the game rules. 00:27:17.570 --> 00:27:20.910 align:middle line:84% So what do-- what are some examples of things that players 00:27:20.910 --> 00:27:22.120 align:middle line:90% bring to the game-- 00:27:22.120 --> 00:27:24.676 align:middle line:84% from outside of the game they bring into the game? 00:27:24.676 --> 00:27:27.093 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So there's physical objects, but also knowledge. 00:27:27.093 --> 00:27:27.800 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:27:27.800 --> 00:27:29.440 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So to the baseball game, 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:30.560 align:middle line:90% it would be like your bat. 00:27:30.560 --> 00:27:32.720 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right-- your ball-- 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:34.670 align:middle line:84% things that you might require to-- not have 00:27:34.670 --> 00:27:36.496 align:middle line:84% even start the game in the first place. 00:27:36.496 --> 00:27:37.960 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] it might be cards, I guess. 00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:38.448 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Mm-hmm. 00:27:38.448 --> 00:27:40.280 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: But you can also bring knowledge. 00:27:40.280 --> 00:27:42.848 align:middle line:84% So if chess is a game that you're not familiar with that 00:27:42.848 --> 00:27:45.364 align:middle line:84% you study up-- they call it booking up-- 00:27:45.364 --> 00:27:47.965 align:middle line:84% on opening, different tactics, things 00:27:47.965 --> 00:27:50.090 align:middle line:84% like that that you can study, bring into the game-- 00:27:50.090 --> 00:27:51.740 align:middle line:90% basically, like preparation. 00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:54.800 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, yeah-- so if you 00:27:54.800 --> 00:27:58.310 align:middle line:84% are going to call into a competitive game, 00:27:58.310 --> 00:28:01.040 align:middle line:84% you might come in with a strategy 00:28:01.040 --> 00:28:02.890 align:middle line:90% that you intend to execute. 00:28:02.890 --> 00:28:04.370 align:middle line:90% That happens in sports a lot. 00:28:04.370 --> 00:28:07.100 align:middle line:84% We train these particular maneuvers-- 00:28:07.100 --> 00:28:08.737 align:middle line:90% these particular plays. 00:28:08.737 --> 00:28:10.820 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Even, like, metagaming [INAUDIBLE] that. 00:28:10.820 --> 00:28:12.820 align:middle line:84% I guess that might be [INAUDIBLE]. 00:28:12.820 --> 00:28:16.748 align:middle line:84% Magnus Carlsen-- the world's best chess player-- 00:28:16.748 --> 00:28:20.550 align:middle line:84% he played openings that are not that good, just 00:28:20.550 --> 00:28:21.469 align:middle line:90% to screw with people. 00:28:21.469 --> 00:28:23.260 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: When you're playing the players? 00:28:23.260 --> 00:28:23.757 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Preparation, yeah. 00:28:23.757 --> 00:28:25.881 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, and if you're playing the player-- 00:28:25.881 --> 00:28:28.130 align:middle line:84% I think that still fits within the category of fix 00:28:28.130 --> 00:28:29.990 align:middle line:84% your brain to the game, because that 00:28:29.990 --> 00:28:31.880 align:middle line:84% means that you are bringing to the game 00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:36.080 align:middle line:84% an understanding, or a guess, about what your opponent is 00:28:36.080 --> 00:28:39.200 align:middle line:84% like, and how your opponent may have played before. 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:40.730 align:middle line:84% Someone's reputation is, actually, 00:28:40.730 --> 00:28:42.814 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] in today's reading as something 00:28:42.814 --> 00:28:43.980 align:middle line:90% that you bring to your game. 00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:46.770 align:middle line:84% It's not something that you voluntarily bring to the game. 00:28:46.770 --> 00:28:50.630 align:middle line:84% It's just something that precedes you. 00:28:50.630 --> 00:28:54.100 align:middle line:84% So then, what stuff do you take from the game? 00:28:54.100 --> 00:28:58.092 align:middle line:90% 00:28:58.092 --> 00:29:00.655 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I mean, so I guess the typical items 00:29:00.655 --> 00:29:03.070 align:middle line:84% might be enjoyment from the game, or whatever. 00:29:03.070 --> 00:29:04.854 align:middle line:84% And Avery talked about [INAUDIBLE] Magic, 00:29:04.854 --> 00:29:07.080 align:middle line:84% where you win a card if you win the game. 00:29:07.080 --> 00:29:10.050 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, yeah, there can be prizes. 00:29:10.050 --> 00:29:11.500 align:middle line:90% There can be cash prizes. 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:13.170 align:middle line:90% There can be stakes. 00:29:13.170 --> 00:29:14.420 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: If you're gambling-- 00:29:14.420 --> 00:29:15.724 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:29:15.724 --> 00:29:17.140 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: --incentive [INAUDIBLE]. 00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:18.944 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yep, again, reputation. 00:29:18.944 --> 00:29:21.110 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You can also take knowledge from the game. 00:29:21.110 --> 00:29:24.461 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Sure, especially a game that you lost, right? 00:29:24.461 --> 00:29:25.460 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah, exactly. 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:26.190 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:29:26.190 --> 00:29:27.940 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think that's what [INAUDIBLE]. 00:29:27.940 --> 00:29:31.220 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, you-- hopefully, 00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:33.430 align:middle line:90% especially in a game that-- 00:29:33.430 --> 00:29:35.730 align:middle line:84% in the kind of game that I wish I could design one day, 00:29:35.730 --> 00:29:38.660 align:middle line:84% you take away something that deepens 00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:43.820 align:middle line:84% your understanding of the system that you just played. 00:29:43.820 --> 00:29:48.190 align:middle line:84% And that's wonderfully intrinsic motivation of something 00:29:48.190 --> 00:29:50.670 align:middle line:90% that arises from the rules. 00:29:50.670 --> 00:29:53.897 align:middle line:84% But it's not going to affect the game that you just played. 00:29:53.897 --> 00:29:55.730 align:middle line:84% It's going to, maybe, affect your next game. 00:29:55.730 --> 00:29:58.021 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: This is super cheesy, but you could take away 00:29:58.021 --> 00:29:59.124 align:middle line:90% new friendships. 00:29:59.124 --> 00:30:00.790 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Oh yeah, well, social games-- 00:30:00.790 --> 00:30:03.743 align:middle line:84% there are people who end up in this area during-- 00:30:03.743 --> 00:30:04.992 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] enemies. 00:30:04.992 --> 00:30:05.460 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:06.266 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Or new enemies, yeah. 00:30:06.266 --> 00:30:06.940 align:middle line:90% You can-- 00:30:06.940 --> 00:30:08.523 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] diplomacy games. 00:30:08.523 --> 00:30:10.690 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, well-- yeah, diplomacy 00:30:10.690 --> 00:30:16.590 align:middle line:84% is great at creating bad relationships. 00:30:16.590 --> 00:30:17.910 align:middle line:90% So yeah, OK. 00:30:17.910 --> 00:30:20.180 align:middle line:84% So the stuff that you take away from the game 00:30:20.180 --> 00:30:21.310 align:middle line:90% makes a lot of sense. 00:30:21.310 --> 00:30:24.930 align:middle line:84% The interesting thing about the ante situation 00:30:24.930 --> 00:30:27.240 align:middle line:84% is that that almost moves into a third category, which 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:29.250 align:middle line:84% is the stuff that you do between games. 00:30:29.250 --> 00:30:32.180 align:middle line:84% Specifically, you're taking out of the game something-- 00:30:32.180 --> 00:30:33.496 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] you said that Richard Garfield made 00:30:33.496 --> 00:30:33.992 align:middle line:90% that game. 00:30:33.992 --> 00:30:35.170 align:middle line:84% Was he the first person to do that? 00:30:35.170 --> 00:30:35.970 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I'm not sure about that. 00:30:35.970 --> 00:30:37.080 align:middle line:84% But he made Magic: The Gathering. 00:30:37.080 --> 00:30:37.910 align:middle line:90% He's the designer of it. 00:30:37.910 --> 00:30:38.451 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: OK. 00:30:38.451 --> 00:30:40.600 align:middle line:84% You said that he was [INAUDIBLE]. 00:30:40.600 --> 00:30:42.090 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: No, no, no, no, no, no. 00:30:42.090 --> 00:30:44.540 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] as soon as the game was created. 00:30:44.540 --> 00:30:45.380 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:30:45.380 --> 00:30:45.800 align:middle line:90% No, no. 00:30:45.800 --> 00:30:46.220 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [LAUGHS] 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:47.760 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Well, I mean, he wrote it 00:30:47.760 --> 00:30:48.830 align:middle line:90% into the original rules. 00:30:48.830 --> 00:30:49.955 align:middle line:90% And nobody liked that part. 00:30:49.955 --> 00:30:51.371 align:middle line:84% Oh, I think very few people seemed 00:30:51.371 --> 00:30:52.770 align:middle line:90% to like that part of the rules. 00:30:52.770 --> 00:30:52.980 align:middle line:90% So-- 00:30:52.980 --> 00:30:54.465 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, every [INAUDIBLE] 00:30:54.465 --> 00:30:56.800 align:middle line:84% been banned for as long as the game's been around. 00:30:56.800 --> 00:30:57.750 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Well, OK. 00:30:57.750 --> 00:31:02.860 align:middle line:90% But it is original rules. 00:31:02.860 --> 00:31:06.670 align:middle line:90% But that's a mechanic that-- 00:31:06.670 --> 00:31:09.497 align:middle line:84% it's a mechanic imposed on top of the game. 00:31:09.497 --> 00:31:11.330 align:middle line:84% I guess it was part of the game, originally. 00:31:11.330 --> 00:31:13.050 align:middle line:84% But now, if it's played for ante, 00:31:13.050 --> 00:31:14.570 align:middle line:84% it's being played outside of the game, because it's not 00:31:14.570 --> 00:31:15.910 align:middle line:90% part of the rules anymore. 00:31:15.910 --> 00:31:18.180 align:middle line:90% Where, if you put your game-- 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:20.632 align:middle line:84% if both of you are putting a card up-- 00:31:20.632 --> 00:31:23.500 align:middle line:84% say, a really, really skilled player 00:31:23.500 --> 00:31:26.670 align:middle line:84% is going to play a really, really not skilled player. 00:31:26.670 --> 00:31:29.670 align:middle line:84% And the not skilled player says, well, chances are, 00:31:29.670 --> 00:31:30.650 align:middle line:90% I'm going to lose. 00:31:30.650 --> 00:31:33.030 align:middle line:84% But the skilled player is anteing up 00:31:33.030 --> 00:31:36.780 align:middle line:84% an incredibly valuable card that I might not, otherwise, 00:31:36.780 --> 00:31:38.130 align:middle line:90% be able to get. 00:31:38.130 --> 00:31:41.670 align:middle line:84% So I'm going to ante up this crap card that I will always be 00:31:41.670 --> 00:31:43.440 align:middle line:90% able to replace if I lose it. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:48.340 align:middle line:84% But it makes it worth playing that round, and then the game 00:31:48.340 --> 00:31:50.304 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:31:50.304 --> 00:31:52.080 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's an interesting [INAUDIBLE]. 00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:55.514 align:middle line:84% So playing [INAUDIBLE] a game that 00:31:55.514 --> 00:31:58.800 align:middle line:84% would have some luck in it, where it actually 00:31:58.800 --> 00:32:02.024 align:middle line:84% has a very high [? appearance ?] of luck involved in there. 00:32:02.024 --> 00:32:04.200 align:middle line:84% And so, it's really, really easy to play this game 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:06.410 align:middle line:84% and talk about-- and say that you got really, 00:32:06.410 --> 00:32:08.586 align:middle line:84% really, really unlucky-- or to say 00:32:08.586 --> 00:32:09.752 align:middle line:90% that you got really unlucky. 00:32:09.752 --> 00:32:15.540 align:middle line:84% And I have definite [INAUDIBLE] after playing this game. 00:32:15.540 --> 00:32:18.069 align:middle line:84% It was [INAUDIBLE], but how unlucky they 00:32:18.069 --> 00:32:19.410 align:middle line:90% were during that game. 00:32:19.410 --> 00:32:20.284 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Well, OK. 00:32:20.284 --> 00:32:22.200 align:middle line:84% I mean, that's something-- yeah, sorry, sorry. 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:22.700 align:middle line:90% Go on. 00:32:22.700 --> 00:32:25.560 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Oh yeah, that's just-- 00:32:25.560 --> 00:32:30.460 align:middle line:84% oftentimes [INAUDIBLE] people have a tendency 00:32:30.460 --> 00:32:34.680 align:middle line:84% to be lucky or unlucky in this game. 00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:38.105 align:middle line:84% And they're, like, well, I've lost-- and someone might say, 00:32:38.105 --> 00:32:39.020 align:middle line:90% I've lost-- 00:32:39.020 --> 00:32:40.067 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:32:40.067 --> 00:32:42.150 align:middle line:84% Oh, I've lost a lot of [INAUDIBLE] games in a row. 00:32:42.150 --> 00:32:43.649 align:middle line:84% But I'm just unlucky in all of them. 00:32:43.649 --> 00:32:45.060 align:middle line:90% Something like that there. 00:32:45.060 --> 00:32:47.760 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Well, something that happens between games-- 00:32:47.760 --> 00:32:49.920 align:middle line:84% it's like-- you brought up a couple of things. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:54.420 align:middle line:84% One is the discussion about how this game seems 00:32:54.420 --> 00:32:56.940 align:middle line:90% to be operating. 00:32:56.940 --> 00:33:03.390 align:middle line:84% And on Reddit, that tends to be a very angry conversation 00:33:03.390 --> 00:33:06.120 align:middle line:84% among friends who have played games of Twilight Struggle, 00:33:06.120 --> 00:33:07.560 align:middle line:90% or something. 00:33:07.560 --> 00:33:10.150 align:middle line:84% It's a combination of storytelling, 00:33:10.150 --> 00:33:13.890 align:middle line:84% which is, man, we're just being able to recollect 00:33:13.890 --> 00:33:16.360 align:middle line:84% how that game went, and how unlucky I was. 00:33:16.360 --> 00:33:19.920 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] all the time. 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:22.085 align:middle line:84% Man, that dice just does not want to roll sixes. 00:33:22.085 --> 00:33:26.770 align:middle line:90% 00:33:26.770 --> 00:33:29.457 align:middle line:84% And I think that's more something that you take away 00:33:29.457 --> 00:33:30.040 align:middle line:90% from the game. 00:33:30.040 --> 00:33:31.890 align:middle line:84% But if you're going to go back into the game 00:33:31.890 --> 00:33:33.480 align:middle line:84% and then understand, OK, I thought 00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:34.955 align:middle line:90% this was a game all about logic. 00:33:34.955 --> 00:33:38.044 align:middle line:90% Now it's really just luck-based. 00:33:38.044 --> 00:33:40.210 align:middle line:84% And then you're going to the next game of the same-- 00:33:40.210 --> 00:33:41.490 align:middle line:84% you're going to play the same game again. 00:33:41.490 --> 00:33:42.760 align:middle line:84% You're bringing different expectations. 00:33:42.760 --> 00:33:44.343 align:middle line:84% So you're adjusting your expectations. 00:33:44.343 --> 00:33:48.340 align:middle line:84% So I will put that in a category of something 00:33:48.340 --> 00:33:54.990 align:middle line:84% you take between games, in adjusting your expectations. 00:33:54.990 --> 00:33:57.630 align:middle line:84% Then what happens during a game, other than the game itself-- 00:33:57.630 --> 00:34:00.190 align:middle line:90% 00:34:00.190 --> 00:34:01.460 align:middle line:90% stuff that's not in the rules? 00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:01.960 align:middle line:90% Yeah? 00:34:01.960 --> 00:34:04.019 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: There's taunting, or-- 00:34:04.019 --> 00:34:05.060 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Trash talking? 00:34:05.060 --> 00:34:05.880 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Yeah. 00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:09.670 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, trying to mess with your opponents psyche 00:34:09.670 --> 00:34:11.442 align:middle line:90% while the game is going on. 00:34:11.442 --> 00:34:13.246 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Also just more metagame 00:34:13.246 --> 00:34:15.504 align:middle line:84% stuff-- thinking strategies over in your head, 00:34:15.504 --> 00:34:18.712 align:middle line:84% and playing out different scenarios of what might happen. 00:34:18.712 --> 00:34:19.420 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:34:19.420 --> 00:34:21.850 align:middle line:84% Does this person even know about this strategy? 00:34:21.850 --> 00:34:25.489 align:middle line:84% I am seeing something that looks like the player might. 00:34:25.489 --> 00:34:28.800 align:middle line:84% But really-- are you really going to do that? 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:31.809 align:middle line:84% It happens in card games all the time. 00:34:31.809 --> 00:34:34.350 align:middle line:90% 00:34:34.350 --> 00:34:36.551 align:middle line:84% What else happens during the game other 00:34:36.551 --> 00:34:37.426 align:middle line:90% than the game itself? 00:34:37.426 --> 00:34:40.320 align:middle line:90% 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:42.570 align:middle line:84% There are times when gameplay just stops. 00:34:42.570 --> 00:34:46.476 align:middle line:84% And I, actually, gave a couple of examples of that. 00:34:46.476 --> 00:34:48.630 align:middle line:84% What's the out-of-game considerations 00:34:48.630 --> 00:34:53.190 align:middle line:84% that forces the game to stop, or things you 00:34:53.190 --> 00:34:56.653 align:middle line:90% have to do to keep it going? 00:34:56.653 --> 00:34:58.920 align:middle line:90% Remember any of these things? 00:34:58.920 --> 00:35:01.680 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Shuffling a deck of cards? 00:35:01.680 --> 00:35:05.094 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Those are usually mentioned in the rules. 00:35:05.094 --> 00:35:06.885 align:middle line:84% You reach the end of the deck, and then you 00:35:06.885 --> 00:35:08.250 align:middle line:90% have to reshuffle your deck. 00:35:08.250 --> 00:35:11.534 align:middle line:84% I meant physical, safety considerations, for instance. 00:35:11.534 --> 00:35:14.200 align:middle line:84% Somebody fell down in the middle of a game of tag, or something. 00:35:14.200 --> 00:35:15.960 align:middle line:84% And then it's, like, nothing in the rules 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:17.790 align:middle line:84% say that you have to stop the game. 00:35:17.790 --> 00:35:20.250 align:middle line:84% But people do, because you want to make sure 00:35:20.250 --> 00:35:23.025 align:middle line:90% the person's not hurt. 00:35:23.025 --> 00:35:24.150 align:middle line:90% It happens during the game. 00:35:24.150 --> 00:35:26.370 align:middle line:84% And metagaming is sort of concerned. 00:35:26.370 --> 00:35:29.166 align:middle line:90% But it's not, necessarily-- 00:35:29.166 --> 00:35:31.350 align:middle line:84% and the reason why it's important to the game 00:35:31.350 --> 00:35:33.430 align:middle line:84% is because you want people to say, 00:35:33.430 --> 00:35:35.179 align:middle line:90% hey, I want to play tag again. 00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:35.970 align:middle line:90% I want to play tag. 00:35:35.970 --> 00:35:38.440 align:middle line:84% But I want to know that I'm safe while I play tag. 00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:42.840 align:middle line:84% So if people understand, on the metagaming level, 00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:44.910 align:middle line:84% that if somebody looks like they might be hurt, 00:35:44.910 --> 00:35:47.680 align:middle line:84% the game will not continue until we verify this person is not 00:35:47.680 --> 00:35:50.140 align:middle line:84% hurt or got this person adequate medical attention, 00:35:50.140 --> 00:35:52.844 align:middle line:90% for instance. 00:35:52.844 --> 00:35:54.510 align:middle line:84% But that doesn't necessarily always have 00:35:54.510 --> 00:35:56.920 align:middle line:90% to be like a physical hurt. 00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:59.310 align:middle line:84% That can be-- there's a great account 00:35:59.310 --> 00:36:04.050 align:middle line:84% in the reading about playground groups fighting over what 00:36:04.050 --> 00:36:05.870 align:middle line:84% nice rules meant, and the words that they 00:36:05.870 --> 00:36:08.520 align:middle line:84% were using to be able to describe what nice rules meant. 00:36:08.520 --> 00:36:10.810 align:middle line:84% And they had become increasingly-- 00:36:10.810 --> 00:36:12.870 align:middle line:84% at first, they were just starting with, well, 00:36:12.870 --> 00:36:14.161 align:middle line:90% we're going to be playing nice. 00:36:14.161 --> 00:36:15.930 align:middle line:84% They call that [INAUDIBLE] rules. 00:36:15.930 --> 00:36:19.020 align:middle line:84% And then, people who didn't want to play nice 00:36:19.020 --> 00:36:21.330 align:middle line:84% started joining the group to play Four Square. 00:36:21.330 --> 00:36:23.189 align:middle line:84% This is not the mobile game, Foursquare. 00:36:23.189 --> 00:36:25.230 align:middle line:84% This is the bouncing ball version of Four Square. 00:36:25.230 --> 00:36:27.682 align:middle line:84% And then every time they did something outside 00:36:27.682 --> 00:36:29.890 align:middle line:84% of the rules, the people who were trying to play nice 00:36:29.890 --> 00:36:31.840 align:middle line:90% then had to add in-- 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:35.370 align:middle line:84% get more, and more, and more specific about what nice meant. 00:36:35.370 --> 00:36:36.870 align:middle line:84% And that wasn't actually the intent. 00:36:36.870 --> 00:36:38.520 align:middle line:84% They didn't actually want to get all that specific. 00:36:38.520 --> 00:36:39.660 align:middle line:84% They just wanted people to play nice. 00:36:39.660 --> 00:36:41.410 align:middle line:84% Because once you get more and more specific-- 00:36:41.410 --> 00:36:43.743 align:middle line:84% because there's so many kinds of rules-- lawyering mode, 00:36:43.743 --> 00:36:46.350 align:middle line:90% then the context should be nice. 00:36:46.350 --> 00:36:49.430 align:middle line:90% 00:36:49.430 --> 00:36:51.660 align:middle line:84% So that's something that's happening during the game. 00:36:51.660 --> 00:36:54.385 align:middle line:84% The game's actually still being played. 00:36:54.385 --> 00:36:56.010 align:middle line:84% Part of the game of four square is just 00:36:56.010 --> 00:36:57.600 align:middle line:90% bouncing this ball around. 00:36:57.600 --> 00:36:59.460 align:middle line:84% But if all these rules-- negotiation-- 00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:01.710 align:middle line:84% that's happening to be able to try 00:37:01.710 --> 00:37:03.704 align:middle line:84% to steer the game into the direction 00:37:03.704 --> 00:37:05.370 align:middle line:84% of different-- in this particular case-- 00:37:05.370 --> 00:37:09.700 align:middle line:84% different groups of kids prefer to play the game. 00:37:09.700 --> 00:37:12.765 align:middle line:84% One of them-- one group wants to be very competitive 00:37:12.765 --> 00:37:13.640 align:middle line:90% and winner takes all. 00:37:13.640 --> 00:37:15.306 align:middle line:84% The other side was like, the whole point 00:37:15.306 --> 00:37:17.220 align:middle line:84% of playing this game is so that we're not 00:37:17.220 --> 00:37:18.950 align:middle line:90% annoying other people-- 00:37:18.950 --> 00:37:21.300 align:middle line:84% the traditional-- this divide, I guess. 00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:24.890 align:middle line:90% 00:37:24.890 --> 00:37:30.520 align:middle line:84% So Magic: The Gathering was, ostensibly-- 00:37:30.520 --> 00:37:33.090 align:middle line:84% this could be something that he came up 00:37:33.090 --> 00:37:34.799 align:middle line:84% with after he had designed the card game, 00:37:34.799 --> 00:37:37.089 align:middle line:84% in order to justify why he decided [INAUDIBLE] the card 00:37:37.089 --> 00:37:37.630 align:middle line:90% game. 00:37:37.630 --> 00:37:41.490 align:middle line:84% Often when you ask a designer or a writer, why didn't you 00:37:41.490 --> 00:37:43.207 align:middle line:84% do this, it's very easy to come up 00:37:43.207 --> 00:37:44.790 align:middle line:84% with a justification that sounds good. 00:37:44.790 --> 00:37:46.612 align:middle line:84% But really it isn't necessarily what 00:37:46.612 --> 00:37:48.070 align:middle line:84% they were thinking at the time when 00:37:48.070 --> 00:37:49.590 align:middle line:90% they came up with the game. 00:37:49.590 --> 00:37:51.290 align:middle line:90% So we have no way of knowing. 00:37:51.290 --> 00:37:54.780 align:middle line:84% Even Richard Garfield will not be able to tell you honestly 00:37:54.780 --> 00:37:57.606 align:middle line:84% whether that was the case or not, because no one really 00:37:57.606 --> 00:37:59.730 align:middle line:84% remembers very clearly what they were thinking when 00:37:59.730 --> 00:38:00.938 align:middle line:90% they were designing the game. 00:38:00.938 --> 00:38:03.780 align:middle line:84% But it's a good justification, I think, 00:38:03.780 --> 00:38:06.750 align:middle line:84% which is, what does a player bring to a game of Magic? 00:38:06.750 --> 00:38:10.154 align:middle line:84% Well, they bring their deck of cards and the knowledge 00:38:10.154 --> 00:38:11.820 align:middle line:84% about how that deck is supposed to work, 00:38:11.820 --> 00:38:13.500 align:middle line:84% because they built that deck themselves. 00:38:13.500 --> 00:38:15.444 align:middle line:84% And it's supposed to be this little engine 00:38:15.444 --> 00:38:17.610 align:middle line:84% to be able to play our very specific strategy, which 00:38:17.610 --> 00:38:20.603 align:middle line:84% is something that they want to try for the next game. 00:38:20.603 --> 00:38:23.310 align:middle line:90% They may take the ante away-- 00:38:23.310 --> 00:38:25.920 align:middle line:84% but suddenly all of that knowledge about, OK, now 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:30.645 align:middle line:84% I know that my deck is actually a pile of crap, for instance. 00:38:30.645 --> 00:38:31.770 align:middle line:90% What happens between games? 00:38:31.770 --> 00:38:33.000 align:middle line:90% You assemble new decks. 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:34.325 align:middle line:90% You chat on forums. 00:38:34.325 --> 00:38:38.044 align:middle line:90% 00:38:38.044 --> 00:38:39.680 align:middle line:90% Maybe new cards get released. 00:38:39.680 --> 00:38:41.263 align:middle line:84% And then you have to try to figure out 00:38:41.263 --> 00:38:43.155 align:middle line:84% how your deck is going to work against them, 00:38:43.155 --> 00:38:45.030 align:middle line:84% and then what happens during the game itself. 00:38:45.030 --> 00:38:48.300 align:middle line:84% I don't know, actually, how much taunting 00:38:48.300 --> 00:38:51.090 align:middle line:90% happens on Magic tournaments. 00:38:51.090 --> 00:38:53.526 align:middle line:90% Anyone play Magic competitively? 00:38:53.526 --> 00:38:54.370 align:middle line:90% Is there taunting? 00:38:54.370 --> 00:38:56.770 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's never anyone actually taunting them, 00:38:56.770 --> 00:38:57.860 align:middle line:90% like, you suck. 00:38:57.860 --> 00:38:59.584 align:middle line:90% I'm going to destroy you. 00:38:59.584 --> 00:39:00.500 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: All right-- 00:39:00.500 --> 00:39:01.710 align:middle line:90% [INTERPOSING VOICES] 00:39:01.710 --> 00:39:03.460 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK, the Magic people are going, 00:39:03.460 --> 00:39:04.751 align:middle line:90% you sure you want to play that? 00:39:04.751 --> 00:39:07.030 align:middle line:90% You know, that sort of thing. 00:39:07.030 --> 00:39:10.468 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I got goaded into that once-- yeah, actually-- 00:39:10.468 --> 00:39:11.875 align:middle line:90% being competitive [INAUDIBLE]. 00:39:11.875 --> 00:39:12.670 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: [LAUGHS] 00:39:12.670 --> 00:39:14.253 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's also a huge backlash 00:39:14.253 --> 00:39:16.060 align:middle line:84% right now of people just being animals 00:39:16.060 --> 00:39:17.060 align:middle line:90% during games, and just-- 00:39:17.060 --> 00:39:18.061 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Well, yeah. 00:39:18.061 --> 00:39:20.310 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The tournament organizers are, specifically, 00:39:20.310 --> 00:39:22.905 align:middle line:84% supposed to look out for that and try to not do that, 00:39:22.905 --> 00:39:25.570 align:middle line:84% because [INAUDIBLE] bring them back to play. 00:39:25.570 --> 00:39:28.360 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Right, because they're trying 00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:31.488 align:middle line:90% to build up a social community. 00:39:31.488 --> 00:39:35.472 align:middle line:90% 00:39:35.472 --> 00:39:37.464 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I've already-- 00:39:37.464 --> 00:39:40.892 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] admit that you have something that's-- that you 00:39:40.892 --> 00:39:44.806 align:middle line:84% have a [INAUDIBLE] you can finally use. 00:39:44.806 --> 00:39:47.050 align:middle line:84% Or if you've gotten to a position where 00:39:47.050 --> 00:39:49.510 align:middle line:84% you're about to use an ability that will almost win you 00:39:49.510 --> 00:39:50.010 align:middle line:90% the game. 00:39:50.010 --> 00:39:51.690 align:middle line:84% And sometimes your opponent will realize 00:39:51.690 --> 00:39:53.720 align:middle line:84% that he's unable to stop it and [INAUDIBLE]. 00:39:53.720 --> 00:39:57.844 align:middle line:84% And so, I read a comic which was about someone like, oh, my God. 00:39:57.844 --> 00:39:59.510 align:middle line:84% I'm going to get to use my play blockers 00:39:59.510 --> 00:40:01.050 align:middle line:90% all for the first time. 00:40:01.050 --> 00:40:01.550 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:40:01.550 --> 00:40:02.966 align:middle line:84% And he's, like, I'll pay you money 00:40:02.966 --> 00:40:04.990 align:middle line:84% if you just want to keep playing [INAUDIBLE]. 00:40:04.990 --> 00:40:05.942 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:40:05.942 --> 00:40:07.803 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Wow! 00:40:07.803 --> 00:40:09.970 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: This didn't actually happen. 00:40:09.970 --> 00:40:12.070 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But that would be hilarious. 00:40:12.070 --> 00:40:12.760 align:middle line:90% OK. 00:40:12.760 --> 00:40:13.744 align:middle line:90% All right. 00:40:13.744 --> 00:40:15.910 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] to an entirely different level 00:40:15.910 --> 00:40:17.697 align:middle line:90% of gameplay. 00:40:17.697 --> 00:40:19.530 align:middle line:84% There's a famous story about one of the best 00:40:19.530 --> 00:40:21.230 align:middle line:90% players in the game-- 00:40:21.230 --> 00:40:24.414 align:middle line:84% forgot to bring the one card in the deck he could win. 00:40:24.414 --> 00:40:27.056 align:middle line:84% So he completely controlled the game 00:40:27.056 --> 00:40:29.307 align:middle line:84% and then couldn't do anything [INAUDIBLE]. 00:40:29.307 --> 00:40:29.890 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:40:29.890 --> 00:40:31.150 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: He won the whole tournament. 00:40:31.150 --> 00:40:31.570 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: He won the whole-- 00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:33.986 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: He got every, single person to concede before he 00:40:33.986 --> 00:40:35.070 align:middle line:90% had to play [INAUDIBLE]. 00:40:35.070 --> 00:40:35.896 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah, sure, sure. 00:40:35.896 --> 00:40:36.812 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]. 00:40:36.812 --> 00:40:37.770 align:middle line:90% Why wouldn't he? 00:40:37.770 --> 00:40:38.436 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:40:38.436 --> 00:40:39.077 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:40:39.077 --> 00:40:39.785 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Well-- 00:40:39.785 --> 00:40:40.230 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And it brings another level 00:40:40.230 --> 00:40:42.919 align:middle line:84% to the metagame, where everyone knew the deck. 00:40:42.919 --> 00:40:45.002 align:middle line:84% So everyone knew exactly what he was trying to do. 00:40:45.002 --> 00:40:47.055 align:middle line:84% And at the time, where he was just going through the motions, 00:40:47.055 --> 00:40:48.138 align:middle line:90% they were, like, OK, sure. 00:40:48.138 --> 00:40:49.469 align:middle line:90% I know what happens. 00:40:49.469 --> 00:40:51.385 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You know this person has this card. 00:40:51.385 --> 00:40:53.600 align:middle line:84% You just don't know that person had the card at the moment. 00:40:53.600 --> 00:40:53.670 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:40:53.670 --> 00:40:54.500 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:40:54.500 --> 00:40:56.232 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: OK. 00:40:56.232 --> 00:40:58.579 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Just building off of that, [INAUDIBLE] 00:40:58.579 --> 00:41:03.509 align:middle line:84% very limited StarCraft higher-up games that I've [INAUDIBLE]. 00:41:03.509 --> 00:41:06.990 align:middle line:84% There would be often times where neither base were destroyed. 00:41:06.990 --> 00:41:09.472 align:middle line:84% But one person would, automatically, concede defeat. 00:41:09.472 --> 00:41:12.400 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: That's the majority of StarCraft games, actually. 00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:14.010 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: I never understood it. 00:41:14.010 --> 00:41:15.214 align:middle line:90% But they're not still going. 00:41:15.214 --> 00:41:15.980 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 00:41:15.980 --> 00:41:17.684 align:middle line:84% Their economy was completely destroyed. 00:41:17.684 --> 00:41:18.350 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:41:18.350 --> 00:41:22.068 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Well, in that game, you can lose [INAUDIBLE], 00:41:22.068 --> 00:41:24.870 align:middle line:84% but not, actually lose [INAUDIBLE]. 00:41:24.870 --> 00:41:27.171 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: You can stall the game for a very long time 00:41:27.171 --> 00:41:29.420 align:middle line:84% by just running around building pylons across the map. 00:41:29.420 --> 00:41:33.310 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:41:33.310 --> 00:41:35.800 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It's a game full of positive feedback loops. 00:41:35.800 --> 00:41:38.020 align:middle line:84% So it's one of those things where, once you 00:41:38.020 --> 00:41:40.340 align:middle line:84% feel that things are snowballing, 00:41:40.340 --> 00:41:43.330 align:middle line:84% if you are right that things are actually snowballing out 00:41:43.330 --> 00:41:46.360 align:middle line:90% of your control, then yes. 00:41:46.360 --> 00:41:47.790 align:middle line:90% There's no way to actually win. 00:41:47.790 --> 00:41:50.835 align:middle line:90% But yes, you can draw it out. 00:41:50.835 --> 00:41:53.461 align:middle line:84% But theoretically, there really shouldn't be a way to win, 00:41:53.461 --> 00:41:55.960 align:middle line:84% because it's a game of positive loops-- of positive feedback 00:41:55.960 --> 00:41:57.215 align:middle line:90% loops. 00:41:57.215 --> 00:41:58.840 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Some people quit prematurely. 00:41:58.840 --> 00:41:59.464 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yes. 00:41:59.464 --> 00:42:02.790 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Adrian was famous for rage quitting and commentators 00:42:02.790 --> 00:42:04.226 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:42:04.226 --> 00:42:05.600 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Did he just rage quit? 00:42:05.600 --> 00:42:06.760 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It was pretty even. 00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:07.280 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:42:07.280 --> 00:42:08.030 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: He could still come back. 00:42:08.030 --> 00:42:09.363 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: And that's the thing. 00:42:09.363 --> 00:42:10.810 align:middle line:84% If you are wrong, and you are not, 00:42:10.810 --> 00:42:13.540 align:middle line:90% actually, in a bad situation-- 00:42:13.540 --> 00:42:16.480 align:middle line:84% if you are actually pretty even-- then, 00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:19.330 align:middle line:84% because it's a game of limited information-- 00:42:19.330 --> 00:42:21.820 align:middle line:84% imperfect information-- you don't know 00:42:21.820 --> 00:42:23.530 align:middle line:90% exactly how bad off you are. 00:42:23.530 --> 00:42:27.100 align:middle line:90% 00:42:27.100 --> 00:42:29.945 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: On the [INAUDIBLE] the person not having their 00:42:29.945 --> 00:42:33.368 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE]. 00:42:33.368 --> 00:42:34.835 align:middle line:90% So that's-- sometimes you-- 00:42:34.835 --> 00:42:36.791 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] you make them play it out. 00:42:36.791 --> 00:42:39.236 align:middle line:90% I want to make sure that-- 00:42:39.236 --> 00:42:42.128 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] if the person didn't know how to win. 00:42:42.128 --> 00:42:42.628 align:middle line:90% They had it. 00:42:42.628 --> 00:42:44.966 align:middle line:84% But they just didn't know how to use it properly to win. 00:42:44.966 --> 00:42:48.754 align:middle line:84% And so [INAUDIBLE], except for one person who's like, 00:42:48.754 --> 00:42:49.795 align:middle line:90% I'll make them play that. 00:42:49.795 --> 00:42:51.070 align:middle line:90% But then they couldn't do it. 00:42:51.070 --> 00:42:52.986 align:middle line:84% But one of my friends was playing [INAUDIBLE]. 00:42:52.986 --> 00:42:54.906 align:middle line:84% And he had-- he was in a situation 00:42:54.906 --> 00:42:59.620 align:middle line:84% where he could make arbitrary many copies of his card. 00:42:59.620 --> 00:43:02.492 align:middle line:84% And every time he made-- his copies would last for one turn. 00:43:02.492 --> 00:43:08.980 align:middle line:84% He'd [INAUDIBLE] And so, he ended up-- 00:43:08.980 --> 00:43:10.990 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] made him go through [INAUDIBLE] 00:43:10.990 --> 00:43:14.323 align:middle line:84% and said, [INAUDIBLE] and click, and actually make 00:43:14.323 --> 00:43:17.480 align:middle line:90% 50 copies of his card. 00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:20.570 align:middle line:84% He just spent almost 10 minutes going through 00:43:20.570 --> 00:43:21.890 align:middle line:90% and making copies of this card. 00:43:21.890 --> 00:43:23.330 align:middle line:90% And if he just clicked-- 00:43:23.330 --> 00:43:24.980 align:middle line:84% if he made a specific [INAUDIBLE] 00:43:24.980 --> 00:43:28.395 align:middle line:84% that was easy to make, he would just lose the game. 00:43:28.395 --> 00:43:29.640 align:middle line:90% So-- 00:43:29.640 --> 00:43:31.390 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: So, yeah-- so execution error-- 00:43:31.390 --> 00:43:37.090 align:middle line:84% I mean, that happens even in real-time games like StarCraft. 00:43:37.090 --> 00:43:39.060 align:middle line:84% Yes, you should not be able to win 00:43:39.060 --> 00:43:42.100 align:middle line:84% this game unless your opponent makes a huge mistake. 00:43:42.100 --> 00:43:45.205 align:middle line:84% And if you're-- that happens, by the way. 00:43:45.205 --> 00:43:46.996 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: There's another interesting thing 00:43:46.996 --> 00:43:49.788 align:middle line:84% that happens from hidden information in League 00:43:49.788 --> 00:43:52.320 align:middle line:84% of Legends, where, as a spectator, 00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:56.100 align:middle line:84% you can see how much gold both teams have total. 00:43:56.100 --> 00:43:58.590 align:middle line:84% But you can't see, even, how much gold your own team 00:43:58.590 --> 00:44:00.416 align:middle line:84% has total, when you're actually playing. 00:44:00.416 --> 00:44:01.790 align:middle line:84% You can only see number of kills, 00:44:01.790 --> 00:44:06.300 align:middle line:84% and maybe number of towers, and relative farm counts, 00:44:06.300 --> 00:44:06.800 align:middle line:90% basically. 00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:09.983 align:middle line:84% But you can't actually tell, oh, we're actually up in gold. 00:44:09.983 --> 00:44:12.388 align:middle line:84% So some of the interesting things 00:44:12.388 --> 00:44:16.717 align:middle line:84% will happen where a team can be down eight kills or 10 kills 00:44:16.717 --> 00:44:19.352 align:middle line:84% or something, but still be even or better in gold just 00:44:19.352 --> 00:44:22.310 align:middle line:84% from having gathered different objectives and more [INAUDIBLE] 00:44:22.310 --> 00:44:24.520 align:middle line:90% and stuff. 00:44:24.520 --> 00:44:31.270 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: And I think bringing this to a point of design, 00:44:31.270 --> 00:44:33.260 align:middle line:84% whether you allow players to concede 00:44:33.260 --> 00:44:35.200 align:middle line:84% the game in progress has, actually, 00:44:35.200 --> 00:44:40.470 align:middle line:84% been something that's been actively enacted in DotA, 00:44:40.470 --> 00:44:44.830 align:middle line:84% and Moebius, games like League of Legends and in DotA 2. 00:44:44.830 --> 00:44:47.899 align:middle line:84% DotA 2, in particular, for a long time-- 00:44:47.899 --> 00:44:49.690 align:middle line:84% and I'm not sure if that's still the case-- 00:44:49.690 --> 00:44:52.570 align:middle line:84% actually did not allow you to concede the game in progress. 00:44:52.570 --> 00:44:55.360 align:middle line:84% Can anyone-- does anyone play DotA 2? 00:44:55.360 --> 00:44:56.595 align:middle line:90% Anyone confirm this? 00:44:56.595 --> 00:44:57.220 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Once. 00:44:57.220 --> 00:44:58.960 align:middle line:84% I think it still doesn't allow you. 00:44:58.960 --> 00:44:59.975 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Still doesn't allow you? 00:44:59.975 --> 00:45:00.940 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I haven't played in awhile. 00:45:00.940 --> 00:45:03.231 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: OK, it's definitely one of those things that 00:45:03.231 --> 00:45:04.470 align:middle line:90% struck me as, what? 00:45:04.470 --> 00:45:05.970 align:middle line:84% And it's because of these reasons. 00:45:05.970 --> 00:45:07.670 align:middle line:84% It's because-- just because you think 00:45:07.670 --> 00:45:09.160 align:middle line:84% that you've lost the game, doesn't necessarily 00:45:09.160 --> 00:45:10.500 align:middle line:90% mean that you lost the game. 00:45:10.500 --> 00:45:13.360 align:middle line:84% And the designers decided that it's more important 00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:17.820 align:middle line:84% that you fight it out to the bitter end than to concede. 00:45:17.820 --> 00:45:21.147 align:middle line:84% But of course, just because you can't quit the game, 00:45:21.147 --> 00:45:23.230 align:middle line:84% doesn't mean that you can't quit the application-- 00:45:23.230 --> 00:45:24.060 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:45:24.060 --> 00:45:26.820 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: --or [INAUDIBLE]. 00:45:26.820 --> 00:45:27.320 align:middle line:90% Huh? 00:45:27.320 --> 00:45:27.820 align:middle line:90% Yeah? 00:45:27.820 --> 00:45:28.614 align:middle line:90% What? 00:45:28.614 --> 00:45:29.810 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]. 00:45:29.810 --> 00:45:31.260 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah, [INAUDIBLE]. 00:45:31.260 --> 00:45:35.170 align:middle line:84% Or you could just choose not to do anything-- 00:45:35.170 --> 00:45:38.870 align:middle line:84% deliberately walk into your opponent [INAUDIBLE]. 00:45:38.870 --> 00:45:41.137 align:middle line:90% Let's see, your hand? 00:45:41.137 --> 00:45:42.845 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The reason-- one of the reasons 00:45:42.845 --> 00:45:45.376 align:middle line:84% that I don't play DotA is because they 00:45:45.376 --> 00:45:46.470 align:middle line:90% don't allow you to quit. 00:45:46.470 --> 00:45:49.190 align:middle line:84% It's irritating to me when the game is clearly over for me. 00:45:49.190 --> 00:45:52.616 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Yeah, I mean, it's a good 40-plus minutes per game. 00:45:52.616 --> 00:45:53.820 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Yeah, it can take a long time to finish out a game. 00:45:53.820 --> 00:45:54.580 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:45:54.580 --> 00:45:56.329 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And I want go do something else, 00:45:56.329 --> 00:45:57.950 align:middle line:84% or I just want to take a mental break. 00:45:57.950 --> 00:45:59.406 align:middle line:90% And they won't let me. 00:45:59.406 --> 00:46:02.495 align:middle line:90% 00:46:02.495 --> 00:46:03.994 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I watched the presentation 00:46:03.994 --> 00:46:06.651 align:middle line:84% on [INAUDIBLE] last week in another-- 00:46:06.651 --> 00:46:09.066 align:middle line:90% in a class I'm taking. 00:46:09.066 --> 00:46:11.930 align:middle line:84% And I believe a lot of the justification for that was also 00:46:11.930 --> 00:46:16.460 align:middle line:84% that it irritated people who were allegedly more 00:46:16.460 --> 00:46:19.910 align:middle line:84% serious gamers, because there are all these people just 00:46:19.910 --> 00:46:25.033 align:middle line:84% casually playing the game who will just give up. 00:46:25.033 --> 00:46:27.523 align:middle line:84% They ruin it for the rest of us who want to keep playing. 00:46:27.523 --> 00:46:29.670 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yes. 00:46:29.670 --> 00:46:33.490 align:middle line:84% They are the ones who feel if you are slightly behind 00:46:33.490 --> 00:46:34.920 align:middle line:90% you can still fight back. 00:46:34.920 --> 00:46:38.920 align:middle line:84% Whereas, people who just play this game to chill out. 00:46:38.920 --> 00:46:40.720 align:middle line:84% They're just like, oh, I don't feel 00:46:40.720 --> 00:46:42.570 align:middle line:90% like fighting back right now. 00:46:42.570 --> 00:46:43.810 align:middle line:90% Let's start a new game. 00:46:43.810 --> 00:46:46.185 align:middle line:84% And if they had the ability to concede they will do that. 00:46:46.185 --> 00:46:48.090 align:middle line:90% 00:46:48.090 --> 00:46:49.506 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I was just thinking that 00:46:49.506 --> 00:46:51.797 align:middle line:84% don't the most serious of gamers join with the team 00:46:51.797 --> 00:46:52.630 align:middle line:90% and they're on the-- 00:46:52.630 --> 00:46:53.963 align:middle line:90% GUEST SPEAKER: Yeah, absolutely. 00:46:53.963 --> 00:46:56.634 align:middle line:84% And even when you're playing by yourself in these games, 00:46:56.634 --> 00:46:58.550 align:middle line:84% high level players don't concede, because they 00:46:58.550 --> 00:47:01.220 align:middle line:90% know can come back. 00:47:01.220 --> 00:47:03.180 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But it's a spectrum, right? 00:47:03.180 --> 00:47:04.871 align:middle line:84% You don't start off by being serious. 00:47:04.871 --> 00:47:06.370 align:middle line:84% You start off by being sort of, hey, 00:47:06.370 --> 00:47:08.892 align:middle line:84% what's this game all about, and end up this middle tier-- 00:47:08.892 --> 00:47:10.600 align:middle line:84% well you're still playing with strangers, 00:47:10.600 --> 00:47:14.730 align:middle line:84% but you are getting really interested in doing well. 00:47:14.730 --> 00:47:20.310 align:middle line:84% And right now Todd Harper, which I was describing, 00:47:20.310 --> 00:47:22.450 align:middle line:84% is actually thinking pretty hard about what 00:47:22.450 --> 00:47:25.780 align:middle line:84% is the value of having taunt as a game mechanic. 00:47:25.780 --> 00:47:31.370 align:middle line:84% Fighting games have that action which 00:47:31.370 --> 00:47:35.080 align:middle line:84% deliberately wastes time and opens you up to attack, right? 00:47:35.080 --> 00:47:39.250 align:middle line:84% But the whole point is that you will do that in order to-- 00:47:39.250 --> 00:47:42.520 align:middle line:84% It's the digital equivalent of trash talking. 00:47:42.520 --> 00:47:45.100 align:middle line:84% I'm going to make this move, deliberately 00:47:45.100 --> 00:47:46.300 align:middle line:90% making myself vulnerable. 00:47:46.300 --> 00:47:49.300 align:middle line:84% Because I know I cannot lose this game, 00:47:49.300 --> 00:47:51.120 align:middle line:90% because you are so bad. 00:47:51.120 --> 00:47:54.550 align:middle line:90% Or I think you are so bad. 00:47:54.550 --> 00:47:57.610 align:middle line:84% I think there's things like that in League of Legends 00:47:57.610 --> 00:48:01.300 align:middle line:84% although I don't know about the others. 00:48:01.300 --> 00:48:08.380 align:middle line:84% And so the question is, what is the real value of that? 00:48:08.380 --> 00:48:10.817 align:middle line:90% You can already taunt. 00:48:10.817 --> 00:48:12.400 align:middle line:84% Especially if you're playing something 00:48:12.400 --> 00:48:14.860 align:middle line:84% like an online game on the computer, 00:48:14.860 --> 00:48:20.590 align:middle line:84% typing up a taunting comment takes actions. 00:48:20.590 --> 00:48:23.200 align:middle line:84% That means that it takes your fingers away from actually 00:48:23.200 --> 00:48:26.740 align:middle line:84% playing the game, because you have to type these words out. 00:48:26.740 --> 00:48:29.050 align:middle line:84% And as a result of that, it's already a drawback 00:48:29.050 --> 00:48:30.010 align:middle line:90% to be able to do that. 00:48:30.010 --> 00:48:31.740 align:middle line:90% Why do you need a game mechanic? 00:48:31.740 --> 00:48:34.530 align:middle line:84% Which means that game designers are explicitly supporting 00:48:34.530 --> 00:48:36.464 align:middle line:90% you doing the taunting. 00:48:36.464 --> 00:48:40.640 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think that actually, at least in League, when you 00:48:40.640 --> 00:48:42.466 align:middle line:90% have a character you have four. 00:48:42.466 --> 00:48:45.952 align:middle line:84% I think it's joke, laugh, taunt, and dance. 00:48:45.952 --> 00:48:47.610 align:middle line:84% But actually people just do it for fun. 00:48:47.610 --> 00:48:51.330 align:middle line:90% 00:48:51.330 --> 00:48:54.150 align:middle line:84% For example, with high ELO streams sometimes 00:48:54.150 --> 00:48:57.310 align:middle line:84% all 10 people will group up and have dance parties, 00:48:57.310 --> 00:49:01.480 align:middle line:84% in close agreement to not fight and just goof around. 00:49:01.480 --> 00:49:02.850 align:middle line:90% Other times it's really funny. 00:49:02.850 --> 00:49:10.196 align:middle line:84% I saw this stream where Sion was getting jumped on by two people 00:49:10.196 --> 00:49:11.642 align:middle line:84% and decided to dodge a skill shot 00:49:11.642 --> 00:49:14.328 align:middle line:84% by doing a taunt, which is taking his axe 00:49:14.328 --> 00:49:15.500 align:middle line:90% and going like this. 00:49:15.500 --> 00:49:19.670 align:middle line:84% And then dodging the skill shot, and then just walking out. 00:49:19.670 --> 00:49:23.840 align:middle line:84% So that's just funny little [INAUDIBLE] 00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:26.410 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Right. 00:49:26.410 --> 00:49:30.310 align:middle line:84% In Starcraft you can make your characters dance 00:49:30.310 --> 00:49:32.080 align:middle line:84% just by clicking back and forth real fast. 00:49:32.080 --> 00:49:34.660 align:middle line:84% Then they just walk left, walk right, walk left, walk right. 00:49:34.660 --> 00:49:39.310 align:middle line:84% And I've seen that and other game mechanics that aren't 00:49:39.310 --> 00:49:41.320 align:middle line:90% explicitly taunt mechanics. 00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:44.290 align:middle line:84% To be able to tell the other player, no. 00:49:44.290 --> 00:49:45.330 align:middle line:90% You've basically lost. 00:49:45.330 --> 00:49:47.230 align:middle line:90% You should just concede now. 00:49:47.230 --> 00:49:48.610 align:middle line:84% Or even if you don't concede, I'm 00:49:48.610 --> 00:49:50.300 align:middle line:90% going to win this game anyway. 00:49:50.300 --> 00:49:52.930 align:middle line:84% So you might as well concede now. 00:49:52.930 --> 00:49:56.140 align:middle line:84% But then they also have a slash dance command to actually make 00:49:56.140 --> 00:49:57.090 align:middle line:90% your characters dance. 00:49:57.090 --> 00:49:59.330 align:middle line:84% And that's a game mechanic, right? 00:49:59.330 --> 00:50:02.071 align:middle line:84% When you fight slash dance you do no damage, 00:50:02.071 --> 00:50:03.820 align:middle line:84% and you will take whatever damage is being 00:50:03.820 --> 00:50:06.700 align:middle line:90% inflicted on you deliberately. 00:50:06.700 --> 00:50:09.370 align:middle line:84% And I've seen a couple of games lost because someone 00:50:09.370 --> 00:50:11.110 align:middle line:90% decided to type slash dance. 00:50:11.110 --> 00:50:14.020 align:middle line:90% And that's the risk. 00:50:14.020 --> 00:50:16.950 align:middle line:84% But again that's the game explicitly supporting 00:50:16.950 --> 00:50:19.510 align:middle line:90% this this sort of behavior. 00:50:19.510 --> 00:50:21.250 align:middle line:90% It's supposed to be meta. 00:50:21.250 --> 00:50:23.110 align:middle line:84% It's supposed to be the sort of thing that 00:50:23.110 --> 00:50:24.240 align:middle line:90% happens above the game. 00:50:24.240 --> 00:50:27.490 align:middle line:84% We're going to be playing a bunch of games. 00:50:27.490 --> 00:50:30.300 align:middle line:90% Obviously these are board games. 00:50:30.300 --> 00:50:33.909 align:middle line:84% The talking, the communication, what's going on in this game? 00:50:33.909 --> 00:50:35.950 align:middle line:84% And what are you going to take out from the game? 00:50:35.950 --> 00:50:38.200 align:middle line:84% It's all happening above the board as opposed to 00:50:38.200 --> 00:50:40.060 align:middle line:90% inside the game. 00:50:40.060 --> 00:50:41.090 align:middle line:90% Except for Space Alert. 00:50:41.090 --> 00:50:43.776 align:middle line:84% Maybe Space Alert it is all just part of the game. 00:50:43.776 --> 00:50:46.390 align:middle line:90% 00:50:46.390 --> 00:50:49.090 align:middle line:84% I want you to be thinking about this, about what's 00:50:49.090 --> 00:50:50.980 align:middle line:90% happening above the table. 00:50:50.980 --> 00:50:56.900 align:middle line:90% about what it's about. 00:50:56.900 --> 00:50:59.220 align:middle line:84% Information they are exchanging or interactions they 00:50:59.220 --> 00:51:01.880 align:middle line:84% are having that's not part of the game itself. 00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:03.400 align:middle line:84% So what does the game explicitly do 00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:05.620 align:middle line:84% to be able to support social interaction? 00:51:05.620 --> 00:51:09.130 align:middle line:84% To be able to either support the kind of social interaction 00:51:09.130 --> 00:51:11.020 align:middle line:84% that's happening inside the game system, 00:51:11.020 --> 00:51:14.020 align:middle line:84% or to be able to draw on the social relationships 00:51:14.020 --> 00:51:16.450 align:middle line:84% that you have with other people on the table 00:51:16.450 --> 00:51:18.707 align:middle line:84% to be able to enhance the game experience. 00:51:18.707 --> 00:51:19.790 align:middle line:90% Did you have your hand up? 00:51:19.790 --> 00:51:23.240 align:middle line:90% 00:51:23.240 --> 00:51:27.220 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: So in League, theoretically it can be real-- 00:51:27.220 --> 00:51:30.262 align:middle line:90% there are people who often-- 00:51:30.262 --> 00:51:32.710 align:middle line:84% The enemy should not just try to use their abilities on me 00:51:32.710 --> 00:51:34.040 align:middle line:90% because I taunt them. 00:51:34.040 --> 00:51:36.590 align:middle line:90% 00:51:36.590 --> 00:51:37.506 align:middle line:90% There has been a case. 00:51:37.506 --> 00:51:38.994 align:middle line:84% I just sit there taunting and then 00:51:38.994 --> 00:51:41.760 align:middle line:84% their enemy uses all their abilities on me. 00:51:41.760 --> 00:51:45.039 align:middle line:84% And then my team ends up winning the fight, and the record off 00:51:45.039 --> 00:51:45.660 align:middle line:90% of that. 00:51:45.660 --> 00:51:48.290 align:middle line:90% 00:51:48.290 --> 00:51:52.020 align:middle line:84% Sometimes taunting someone will have an actual impact. 00:51:52.020 --> 00:51:53.470 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But you could arguably 00:51:53.470 --> 00:51:55.790 align:middle line:84% have achieved the same goal without and explicit taunt, 00:51:55.790 --> 00:51:56.290 align:middle line:90% right? 00:51:56.290 --> 00:52:01.455 align:middle line:84% You know, just by standing right in front of your opponent. 00:52:01.455 --> 00:52:02.830 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: In your taunting you're 00:52:02.830 --> 00:52:05.371 align:middle line:84% telling the opponent that you're not really paying attention. 00:52:05.371 --> 00:52:06.740 align:middle line:90% That you could also be attacked. 00:52:06.740 --> 00:52:08.810 align:middle line:84% You're less likely to dodge that move. 00:52:08.810 --> 00:52:09.476 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: True. 00:52:09.476 --> 00:52:11.994 align:middle line:90% 00:52:11.994 --> 00:52:14.410 align:middle line:84% Something to keep in mind when you're designing your games 00:52:14.410 --> 00:52:16.905 align:middle line:84% is that there are all these things about how 00:52:16.905 --> 00:52:18.955 align:middle line:84% it would be fun to be able to design mechanics 00:52:18.955 --> 00:52:21.620 align:middle line:84% to be able to support these kinds of social interaction. 00:52:21.620 --> 00:52:22.800 align:middle line:84% But you got to be very, very careful. 00:52:22.800 --> 00:52:23.300 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:52:23.300 --> 00:52:26.470 align:middle line:84% And every time you design something 00:52:26.470 --> 00:52:30.160 align:middle line:84% you're both giving your players a tool to do something else 00:52:30.160 --> 00:52:32.260 align:middle line:84% and it's now officially mandated by your game. 00:52:32.260 --> 00:52:34.426 align:middle line:84% Because you have a rule that actually says that this 00:52:34.426 --> 00:52:35.597 align:middle line:90% is something they can do. 00:52:35.597 --> 00:52:37.180 align:middle line:84% And they may use that rule creatively. 00:52:37.180 --> 00:52:40.480 align:middle line:84% Or they may use that rule destructively. 00:52:40.480 --> 00:52:42.659 align:middle line:84% Again it all comes down to testing. 00:52:42.659 --> 00:52:44.200 align:middle line:84% You don't always know, but you should 00:52:44.200 --> 00:52:47.450 align:middle line:84% know what you're trying to achieve with the game socially 00:52:47.450 --> 00:52:49.193 align:middle line:90% when you're making a game. 00:52:49.193 --> 00:52:51.730 align:middle line:84% You should have that conversation today 00:52:51.730 --> 00:52:53.500 align:middle line:84% when you finally break up into your teams. 00:52:53.500 --> 00:52:55.250 align:middle line:84% But for now what we're going to do is just 00:52:55.250 --> 00:52:59.842 align:middle line:84% play a bunch of board games But primarily about social play. 00:52:59.842 --> 00:53:01.300 align:middle line:84% And then on Wednesday I think we're 00:53:01.300 --> 00:53:04.962 align:middle line:84% going to bring you [INAUDIBLE] games with very changing rules. 00:53:04.962 --> 00:53:08.227 align:middle line:90% 00:53:08.227 --> 00:53:10.435 align:middle line:84% John, you want to talk a little bit about these games 00:53:10.435 --> 00:53:12.879 align:middle line:90% that you brought? 00:53:12.879 --> 00:53:14.670 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: You want to do it right now? 00:53:14.670 --> 00:53:16.110 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yes. 00:53:16.110 --> 00:53:18.870 align:middle line:84% And then we'll get all the games out and have a break 00:53:18.870 --> 00:53:19.720 align:middle line:90% simultaneously. 00:53:19.720 --> 00:53:23.560 align:middle line:84% All right, I'll start with this one. 00:53:23.560 --> 00:53:24.996 align:middle line:90% Has anyone played this? 00:53:24.996 --> 00:53:28.250 align:middle line:84% OK, maybe you could help me explain it. 00:53:28.250 --> 00:53:30.670 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: I watched two hours of videos 00:53:30.670 --> 00:53:34.000 align:middle line:90% and I don't really get it. 00:53:34.000 --> 00:53:35.500 align:middle line:90% There is really a lot to it. 00:53:35.500 --> 00:53:41.558 align:middle line:90% 00:53:41.558 --> 00:53:42.780 align:middle line:90% There is a lot going on. 00:53:42.780 --> 00:53:47.325 align:middle line:84% But the gist of it is that everyone gets to pick a role. 00:53:47.325 --> 00:53:52.760 align:middle line:84% And each role pretty much stems straight from the TV show. 00:53:52.760 --> 00:53:55.823 align:middle line:84% Have you guys seen Battlestar Galactica? 00:53:55.823 --> 00:53:56.823 align:middle line:90% It's a really good show. 00:53:56.823 --> 00:53:57.489 align:middle line:90% It's on Netflix. 00:53:57.489 --> 00:53:59.923 align:middle line:90% You should go check it out. 00:53:59.923 --> 00:54:03.010 align:middle line:84% And actually it seems like the consensus on the board game 00:54:03.010 --> 00:54:05.620 align:middle line:84% community online actually really like this game. 00:54:05.620 --> 00:54:08.070 align:middle line:90% So it seems there's a lot to it. 00:54:08.070 --> 00:54:11.549 align:middle line:84% But essentially you choose a character from the game, 00:54:11.549 --> 00:54:12.840 align:middle line:90% and they have different powers. 00:54:12.840 --> 00:54:18.660 align:middle line:90% 00:54:18.660 --> 00:54:20.720 align:middle line:84% Some of you are human and some of you are Cylon. 00:54:20.720 --> 00:54:23.690 align:middle line:84% The Cylons are robots that look just like humans. 00:54:23.690 --> 00:54:27.930 align:middle line:84% So there's spaceships coming to get you, and some of the Cylons 00:54:27.930 --> 00:54:29.151 align:middle line:90% are on the ship. 00:54:29.151 --> 00:54:32.510 align:middle line:84% And their goal is to basically wipe out humanity. 00:54:32.510 --> 00:54:36.310 align:middle line:84% And the human goal is to survive and you don't know who is who. 00:54:36.310 --> 00:54:37.685 align:middle line:84% There's a critical moment in time 00:54:37.685 --> 00:54:41.066 align:middle line:84% where the Cylons will reveal themselves and get 00:54:41.066 --> 00:54:44.482 align:middle line:90% even better powers. 00:54:44.482 --> 00:54:46.460 align:middle line:90% So there's lots of cards. 00:54:46.460 --> 00:54:51.290 align:middle line:84% So there's a military leader and a political leader. 00:54:51.290 --> 00:54:53.240 align:middle line:84% And they each get different decks of cards. 00:54:53.240 --> 00:54:55.180 align:middle line:84% If you're the political leader you basically 00:54:55.180 --> 00:55:01.390 align:middle line:84% can put people in the brig. There's so many components. 00:55:01.390 --> 00:55:03.755 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It is, I'll say, the most complicated game 00:55:03.755 --> 00:55:04.853 align:middle line:90% that I've ever played. 00:55:04.853 --> 00:55:06.962 align:middle line:84% And this is true of many replays. 00:55:06.962 --> 00:55:08.920 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: I think you have to find it fun, 00:55:08.920 --> 00:55:10.878 align:middle line:84% because after you invest all that time to learn 00:55:10.878 --> 00:55:14.670 align:middle line:84% how to play it, you're not going to not play it. 00:55:14.670 --> 00:55:17.490 align:middle line:90% 00:55:17.490 --> 00:55:20.550 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: A lot of the rules are sort of unnecessary. 00:55:20.550 --> 00:55:22.826 align:middle line:84% You can literally clear 90% of it. 00:55:22.826 --> 00:55:26.160 align:middle line:84% And the end of the game has all these weird rules. 00:55:26.160 --> 00:55:29.139 align:middle line:84% It has too many rules, but it's still fun. 00:55:29.139 --> 00:55:29.930 align:middle line:90% GUEST SPEAKER: Yes. 00:55:29.930 --> 00:55:31.721 align:middle line:84% So depending on who you are, you can either 00:55:31.721 --> 00:55:33.800 align:middle line:84% be a military leader, a political leader, 00:55:33.800 --> 00:55:39.260 align:middle line:90% or you could be a pilot. 00:55:39.260 --> 00:55:41.440 align:middle line:84% The political leader gets to put people in jail. 00:55:41.440 --> 00:55:43.676 align:middle line:84% The military leader gets nukes, and they 00:55:43.676 --> 00:55:47.745 align:middle line:84% get to strategically use them against the enemy. 00:55:47.745 --> 00:55:53.950 align:middle line:84% And whenever there's a decision that has to do with fighting, 00:55:53.950 --> 00:55:56.831 align:middle line:84% they get to take the lead on that. 00:55:56.831 --> 00:55:57.955 align:middle line:90% So there's different roles. 00:55:57.955 --> 00:55:59.413 align:middle line:84% And it's interesting that each role 00:55:59.413 --> 00:56:03.610 align:middle line:84% has different decks of cards that support that role. 00:56:03.610 --> 00:56:04.940 align:middle line:90% The turn is really complicated. 00:56:04.940 --> 00:56:06.130 align:middle line:90% It's a bunch of sets. 00:56:06.130 --> 00:56:09.660 align:middle line:84% You draw a card, and then you collectively 00:56:09.660 --> 00:56:13.780 align:middle line:90% face an objective, a crisis. 00:56:13.780 --> 00:56:17.220 align:middle line:84% And you all have to vote for commit resource 00:56:17.220 --> 00:56:20.600 align:middle line:84% cards, of which some can be good and some can be bad. 00:56:20.600 --> 00:56:24.150 align:middle line:84% So the Cylons try commit bad resource cards 00:56:24.150 --> 00:56:26.650 align:middle line:84% to make sure that this objective is not completed. 00:56:26.650 --> 00:56:29.143 align:middle line:84% And the humans tend to put in the good ones 00:56:29.143 --> 00:56:30.690 align:middle line:90% so the objective is completed. 00:56:30.690 --> 00:56:33.192 align:middle line:84% But there's a lot of meta-game where the Cylons don't really 00:56:33.192 --> 00:56:34.320 align:middle line:84% want you to know that they're Cylons. 00:56:34.320 --> 00:56:35.736 align:middle line:84% And then there's special abilities 00:56:35.736 --> 00:56:39.400 align:middle line:84% where you can flip a card up and see what everyone's resource 00:56:39.400 --> 00:56:40.060 align:middle line:90% card is. 00:56:40.060 --> 00:56:43.345 align:middle line:84% I think they're called skill cards. 00:56:43.345 --> 00:56:45.870 align:middle line:90% It's a cool simulator. 00:56:45.870 --> 00:56:47.693 align:middle line:90% And you can jump. 00:56:47.693 --> 00:56:50.712 align:middle line:90% There is so many components. 00:56:50.712 --> 00:56:52.420 align:middle line:84% We probably don't want to play this game, 00:56:52.420 --> 00:56:54.086 align:middle line:84% because I think that the play-through is 00:56:54.086 --> 00:56:55.460 align:middle line:90% two or three hours. 00:56:55.460 --> 00:57:00.359 align:middle line:84% But all the [INAUDIBLE] you might want to change. 00:57:00.359 --> 00:57:02.150 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: It's a great game to know about. 00:57:02.150 --> 00:57:03.940 align:middle line:84% It's a great game to play, if you've 00:57:03.940 --> 00:57:07.150 align:middle line:84% got a full weekend dedicated to board gaming or something 00:57:07.150 --> 00:57:07.829 align:middle line:90% like that. 00:57:07.829 --> 00:57:09.620 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: And there's expansions, too. 00:57:09.620 --> 00:57:10.870 align:middle line:90% This is a pretty popular game. 00:57:10.870 --> 00:57:13.750 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: I think we can play this in two hours. 00:57:13.750 --> 00:57:16.000 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: I think you'd have to leave it, though, 00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:17.131 align:middle line:90% to explain it to everyone. 00:57:17.131 --> 00:57:19.630 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: I want to make sure there's enough time for teams 00:57:19.630 --> 00:57:21.635 align:middle line:84% going to help you to verify [INAUDIBLE] 00:57:21.635 --> 00:57:23.160 align:middle line:84% So there's probably not enough time. 00:57:23.160 --> 00:57:26.430 align:middle line:84% But I ask you to do that so that people will get 00:57:26.430 --> 00:57:29.612 align:middle line:90% a sense of what is involved. 00:57:29.612 --> 00:57:31.050 align:middle line:90% Also look at it a bit. 00:57:31.050 --> 00:57:35.240 align:middle line:84% One of the nice things I like are these little counters. 00:57:35.240 --> 00:57:36.480 align:middle line:90% It's just a counter. 00:57:36.480 --> 00:57:40.060 align:middle line:84% Five, four, three, two, one, 0, which means 00:57:40.060 --> 00:57:42.441 align:middle line:90% you have normal pod condition. 00:57:42.441 --> 00:57:44.690 align:middle line:84% But it's a nice way to be able to keep track of stats. 00:57:44.690 --> 00:57:51.140 align:middle line:90% 00:57:51.140 --> 00:57:52.806 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: Is that OK for that game? 00:57:52.806 --> 00:57:53.700 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: Yeah. 00:57:53.700 --> 00:57:55.876 align:middle line:90% That's great. 00:57:55.876 --> 00:57:57.610 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: This game, Space Alert, 00:57:57.610 --> 00:57:59.940 align:middle line:90% has anyone played this one? 00:57:59.940 --> 00:58:02.430 align:middle line:90% It's really cool. 00:58:02.430 --> 00:58:05.430 align:middle line:84% I think this game is really neat. 00:58:05.430 --> 00:58:07.270 align:middle line:84% Maybe I can talk about the board? 00:58:07.270 --> 00:58:09.412 align:middle line:90% It's this cooperative game. 00:58:09.412 --> 00:58:10.620 align:middle line:90% And you're playing as a team. 00:58:10.620 --> 00:58:14.044 align:middle line:84% You're this crew on a spaceship there. 00:58:14.044 --> 00:58:16.200 align:middle line:90% And it goes like this. 00:58:16.200 --> 00:58:19.246 align:middle line:84% You have 10 minutes to prepare a hyper jump. 00:58:19.246 --> 00:58:21.642 align:middle line:84% And during those 10 minutes new information 00:58:21.642 --> 00:58:24.939 align:middle line:84% is coming in from the audio CD that you play. 00:58:24.939 --> 00:58:30.138 align:middle line:84% There's 16 different tracks, so there's a lot of replayability. 00:58:30.138 --> 00:58:31.850 align:middle line:84% And at the end of the game, there's 00:58:31.850 --> 00:58:33.004 align:middle line:90% this frantic playing phase. 00:58:33.004 --> 00:58:34.550 align:middle line:84% And there are going to be periods where you 00:58:34.550 --> 00:58:35.840 align:middle line:90% can't talk to your teammates. 00:58:35.840 --> 00:58:39.260 align:middle line:84% There's periods where you can trade cards. 00:58:39.260 --> 00:58:42.030 align:middle line:84% And basically there will be these trajectories, 00:58:42.030 --> 00:58:43.460 align:middle line:90% depending upon which enemies. 00:58:43.460 --> 00:58:44.960 align:middle line:84% So there's the red part of the ship, 00:58:44.960 --> 00:58:47.376 align:middle line:84% the white part of the ship, and the blue part of the ship. 00:58:47.376 --> 00:58:49.920 align:middle line:84% They each have an upper deck and a lower deck. 00:58:49.920 --> 00:58:53.210 align:middle line:84% And there will be enemies coming at you from space. 00:58:53.210 --> 00:58:57.130 align:middle line:84% And you man your shields, but also 00:58:57.130 --> 00:59:02.310 align:middle line:84% use energy to shoot the objects down and basically survive. 00:59:02.310 --> 00:59:05.730 align:middle line:84% And if they do six damage to any one part of your spaceship, 00:59:05.730 --> 00:59:07.880 align:middle line:90% then it's game over. 00:59:07.880 --> 00:59:10.450 align:middle line:84% When you take damage you get certain debuffs. 00:59:10.450 --> 00:59:13.910 align:middle line:84% Your shields would become weaker. 00:59:13.910 --> 00:59:16.940 align:middle line:84% So you have little avatars that move around on the board. 00:59:16.940 --> 00:59:21.520 align:middle line:84% And you need to be in each room to do your action. 00:59:21.520 --> 00:59:24.710 align:middle line:84% So there's an A action, a B action, and a C action. 00:59:24.710 --> 00:59:28.700 align:middle line:84% So just taking a look at the white one, you all start here. 00:59:28.700 --> 00:59:31.510 align:middle line:84% The C action is the computer, so the first two 00:59:31.510 --> 00:59:33.485 align:middle line:90% moves of the game. 00:59:33.485 --> 00:59:37.780 align:middle line:84% I think there's 12 moves, and there is three sections. 00:59:37.780 --> 00:59:39.466 align:middle line:84% And the first two moves of each section 00:59:39.466 --> 00:59:43.422 align:middle line:84% you have to have someone be the computer. 00:59:43.422 --> 00:59:45.460 align:middle line:90% This is the gun and the shields. 00:59:45.460 --> 00:59:47.880 align:middle line:84% The gun and shields are powered by green cubes 00:59:47.880 --> 00:59:50.050 align:middle line:90% that go down here. 00:59:50.050 --> 00:59:52.128 align:middle line:84% And you have to constantly be replenishing them. 00:59:52.128 --> 00:59:56.740 align:middle line:90% 00:59:56.740 --> 00:59:59.720 align:middle line:90% There are also internal threats. 00:59:59.720 --> 01:00:01.984 align:middle line:84% Creatures will crawl into your spaceship, 01:00:01.984 --> 01:00:03.980 align:middle line:84% and you have to get these bots up 01:00:03.980 --> 01:00:09.816 align:middle line:84% and running to take care of them. 01:00:09.816 --> 01:00:11.400 align:middle line:84% There is some really good tutorials 01:00:11.400 --> 01:00:13.650 align:middle line:90% and play-throughs on YouTube. 01:00:13.650 --> 01:00:15.452 align:middle line:84% So if you don't get a chance to play, 01:00:15.452 --> 01:00:18.270 align:middle line:84% you should definitely check it out. 01:00:18.270 --> 01:00:20.240 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: The play-throughs on YouTube 01:00:20.240 --> 01:00:21.480 align:middle line:84% are probably pretty hilarious, I'm going to guess. 01:00:21.480 --> 01:00:22.771 align:middle line:90% GUEST SPEAKER: They're amazing. 01:00:22.771 --> 01:00:24.780 align:middle line:90% 01:00:24.780 --> 01:00:27.732 align:middle line:84% I saw this solitaire one where this guy was playing solitaire. 01:00:27.732 --> 01:00:29.717 align:middle line:84% It's a really good way to learn the game. 01:00:29.717 --> 01:00:31.550 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: Playing the solitaire is probably 01:00:31.550 --> 01:00:33.830 align:middle line:84% a lot like playing FTL, if anyone's played 01:00:33.830 --> 01:00:36.069 align:middle line:90% that on iPad or a computer. 01:00:36.069 --> 01:00:38.110 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: It reminded me of FTL quite a bit. 01:00:38.110 --> 01:00:41.260 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: You imagine FTL where every single member is actually 01:00:41.260 --> 01:00:42.900 align:middle line:84% controlled by different players, then 01:00:42.900 --> 01:00:44.754 align:middle line:84% you start to get several more people there. 01:00:44.754 --> 01:00:47.790 align:middle line:84% So you put these action cards down, 01:00:47.790 --> 01:00:51.646 align:middle line:84% but you don't actually resolve the game until after 10 minutes 01:00:51.646 --> 01:00:54.126 align:middle line:90% are over. 01:00:54.126 --> 01:00:57.350 align:middle line:84% There is different difficulties, so you can put in harder cards. 01:00:57.350 --> 01:01:02.000 align:middle line:90% 01:01:02.000 --> 01:01:05.229 align:middle line:84% There is a lot of details that I am missing. 01:01:05.229 --> 01:01:07.020 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: The primary one is that if you've 01:01:07.020 --> 01:01:09.090 align:middle line:84% played RoboRally, or any other kind of game 01:01:09.090 --> 01:01:11.400 align:middle line:84% that's got a little bit of a program event to it, 01:01:11.400 --> 01:01:14.320 align:middle line:84% you're basically programming your character 01:01:14.320 --> 01:01:15.839 align:middle line:90% to do these things. 01:01:15.839 --> 01:01:17.630 align:middle line:84% You're kind of figuring out and visualizing 01:01:17.630 --> 01:01:18.910 align:middle line:90% where things are going to go. 01:01:18.910 --> 01:01:21.350 align:middle line:84% And you can talk about what you are going to do, 01:01:21.350 --> 01:01:24.309 align:middle line:84% and what to do at specific turns. 01:01:24.309 --> 01:01:26.100 align:middle line:84% But you won't actually know how it actually 01:01:26.100 --> 01:01:28.100 align:middle line:84% runs out until after the 10 minutes is spent. 01:01:28.100 --> 01:01:32.550 align:middle line:84% And a big part of the fun is just flipping over the cards, 01:01:32.550 --> 01:01:34.360 align:middle line:90% seeing what people actually did. 01:01:34.360 --> 01:01:37.370 align:middle line:84% Realizing that oh no, wait, we both clicked the same button 01:01:37.370 --> 01:01:38.610 align:middle line:90% at the same time. 01:01:38.610 --> 01:01:39.600 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: Or you're in the wrong room. 01:01:39.600 --> 01:01:41.766 align:middle line:84% You think you're in one room, but you're in another. 01:01:41.766 --> 01:01:43.360 align:middle line:84% And you're clicking the wrong thing. 01:01:43.360 --> 01:01:45.480 align:middle line:84% Or two people take an elevator at the same turn 01:01:45.480 --> 01:01:50.300 align:middle line:84% and it will actually delay one person's actions a bunch. 01:01:50.300 --> 01:01:52.490 align:middle line:84% So all your cards are laid out and that's your plan, 01:01:52.490 --> 01:01:54.134 align:middle line:84% but then a delay happens and you have 01:01:54.134 --> 01:01:56.184 align:middle line:84% to shift all your cards to the right. 01:01:56.184 --> 01:01:57.850 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: It's a game about coordination 01:01:57.850 --> 01:01:59.510 align:middle line:84% where every single mechanic in the game 01:01:59.510 --> 01:02:02.400 align:middle line:84% is to prevent that coordination from actually happening. 01:02:02.400 --> 01:02:04.659 align:middle line:90% 01:02:04.659 --> 01:02:06.450 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: If you listen to the tracks, 01:02:06.450 --> 01:02:09.070 align:middle line:84% there are periods where you're not allowed to communicate, 01:02:09.070 --> 01:02:12.630 align:middle line:90% which can be really frustrating. 01:02:12.630 --> 01:02:14.630 align:middle line:84% And it's constantly throwing new monsters at you 01:02:14.630 --> 01:02:16.400 align:middle line:90% from all different directions. 01:02:16.400 --> 01:02:19.702 align:middle line:84% So managing where the monsters are coming from, 01:02:19.702 --> 01:02:21.634 align:middle line:84% where the threats are coming from. 01:02:21.634 --> 01:02:25.230 align:middle line:84% These are the cards that either move rooms, 01:02:25.230 --> 01:02:27.494 align:middle line:84% either to the red side or to the blue side, 01:02:27.494 --> 01:02:28.577 align:middle line:90% where you can hit buttons. 01:02:28.577 --> 01:02:32.310 align:middle line:84% And you only have a certain amount of these in your hand. 01:02:32.310 --> 01:02:34.236 align:middle line:84% And you have to coordinate with your teammates 01:02:34.236 --> 01:02:35.735 align:middle line:84% at a certain point to get the action 01:02:35.735 --> 01:02:39.418 align:middle line:90% that you want of your team. 01:02:39.418 --> 01:02:42.316 align:middle line:90% 01:02:42.316 --> 01:02:44.906 align:middle line:90% Is there anything interesting? 01:02:44.906 --> 01:02:45.697 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: Pandemic. 01:02:45.697 --> 01:02:58.928 align:middle line:90% 01:02:58.928 --> 01:03:00.386 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: This is a co-op game 01:03:00.386 --> 01:03:03.988 align:middle line:84% where everyone on your team is playing against the board. 01:03:03.988 --> 01:03:05.800 align:middle line:84% You are playing against the computer. 01:03:05.800 --> 01:03:10.640 align:middle line:84% So you're all a team and basically there's 01:03:10.640 --> 01:03:12.720 align:middle line:84% four deadly virus outbreaks all over the world 01:03:12.720 --> 01:03:14.660 align:middle line:90% and they're spreading. 01:03:14.660 --> 01:03:17.040 align:middle line:84% And you need to research the cure. 01:03:17.040 --> 01:03:27.881 align:middle line:90% 01:03:27.881 --> 01:03:30.746 align:middle line:84% There's different roles, which is cool, because in co-op games 01:03:30.746 --> 01:03:34.538 align:middle line:90% we have roles. 01:03:34.538 --> 01:03:35.770 align:middle line:90% So there are five roles. 01:03:35.770 --> 01:03:40.207 align:middle line:90% 01:03:40.207 --> 01:03:42.956 align:middle line:84% So at each turn you pick a couple cards. 01:03:42.956 --> 01:03:47.330 align:middle line:90% 01:03:47.330 --> 01:03:49.280 align:middle line:90% And basically there are cards. 01:03:49.280 --> 01:03:50.820 align:middle line:90% There's cities all over the map. 01:03:50.820 --> 01:03:55.310 align:middle line:84% And your little guys go all over the world for treatment 01:03:55.310 --> 01:04:00.730 align:middle line:84% with these, set up research centers, research cures. 01:04:00.730 --> 01:04:05.220 align:middle line:84% And you need a certain amount of cards, like five of that color. 01:04:05.220 --> 01:04:08.670 align:middle line:84% And you have the role of your researcher, you only do four. 01:04:08.670 --> 01:04:13.900 align:middle line:84% So the medic can cure people faster. 01:04:13.900 --> 01:04:19.560 align:middle line:84% There is a logistics guy that can fly people 01:04:19.560 --> 01:04:21.070 align:middle line:90% around the world with ease. 01:04:21.070 --> 01:04:24.218 align:middle line:84% And you only have so many actions. 01:04:24.218 --> 01:04:27.120 align:middle line:84% And constantly there will be breakouts 01:04:27.120 --> 01:04:29.595 align:middle line:84% where if you get too many diseases in one area, 01:04:29.595 --> 01:04:32.670 align:middle line:84% it will cause the neighborhoods around it to be infected. 01:04:32.670 --> 01:04:36.600 align:middle line:84% So you have these chain reactions. 01:04:36.600 --> 01:04:39.720 align:middle line:84% Again, coordinating well with your team 01:04:39.720 --> 01:04:42.333 align:middle line:84% in a cooperative manner for a cooperative gain, which 01:04:42.333 --> 01:04:43.560 align:middle line:90% I wasn't able to do. 01:04:43.560 --> 01:04:44.285 align:middle line:90% We lost a bunch. 01:04:44.285 --> 01:04:50.361 align:middle line:90% 01:04:50.361 --> 01:04:51.610 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: It is a tough game. 01:04:51.610 --> 01:04:53.300 align:middle line:84% But the more you play it, definitely 01:04:53.300 --> 01:04:55.520 align:middle line:84% the more you start to get used to how 01:04:55.520 --> 01:04:57.830 align:middle line:84% the systems work, especially the explosions, the virus 01:04:57.830 --> 01:04:59.050 align:middle line:90% explosions. 01:04:59.050 --> 01:05:03.440 align:middle line:84% Forbidden Island is same designer. 01:05:03.440 --> 01:05:07.047 align:middle line:84% And I feel the rules are a little easier to understand. 01:05:07.047 --> 01:05:08.880 align:middle line:84% It's not actually all that different a game. 01:05:08.880 --> 01:05:11.510 align:middle line:90% 01:05:11.510 --> 01:05:15.130 align:middle line:84% We'll also bring it out for you to check out. 01:05:15.130 --> 01:05:16.940 align:middle line:90% And these three games over here? 01:05:16.940 --> 01:05:18.738 align:middle line:90% Shadows over Camelot. 01:05:18.738 --> 01:05:21.780 align:middle line:90% The Wrath of Ashardalon. 01:05:21.780 --> 01:05:25.130 align:middle line:84% We're here primarily so that you can take a look at that them, 01:05:25.130 --> 01:05:27.610 align:middle line:84% but we don't have enough time to play games in class today. 01:05:27.610 --> 01:05:31.952 align:middle line:90% 01:05:31.952 --> 01:05:34.100 align:middle line:84% Shadows over Camelot is basically, 01:05:34.100 --> 01:05:36.056 align:middle line:84% is sort of Arthurian traitor mechanics. 01:05:36.056 --> 01:05:40.562 align:middle line:90% 01:05:40.562 --> 01:05:44.090 align:middle line:84% Ashardalon is actually just Dungeons and Dragons, only 01:05:44.090 --> 01:05:45.902 align:middle line:90% packaged into a nice little-- 01:05:45.902 --> 01:05:47.860 align:middle line:84% You don't have to think too hard about creating 01:05:47.860 --> 01:05:49.234 align:middle line:84% your own character ahead of time. 01:05:49.234 --> 01:05:52.390 align:middle line:84% So you can just jump right in and get into the playing part. 01:05:52.390 --> 01:05:54.929 align:middle line:90% 01:05:54.929 --> 01:05:55.970 align:middle line:90% It's kind of interesting. 01:05:55.970 --> 01:05:57.540 align:middle line:84% They take a chunk of the meta out. 01:05:57.540 --> 01:05:59.994 align:middle line:84% The whole, how do you create a character for instance. 01:05:59.994 --> 01:06:02.160 align:middle line:84% Which a lot of people do enjoy Dungeons and Dragons, 01:06:02.160 --> 01:06:04.355 align:middle line:84% but it does take an awful long time. 01:06:04.355 --> 01:06:06.110 align:middle line:90% And how do create a campaign? 01:06:06.110 --> 01:06:08.945 align:middle line:84% Well, the box comes with the campaign and all the maps 01:06:08.945 --> 01:06:09.770 align:middle line:90% that you need. 01:06:09.770 --> 01:06:12.353 align:middle line:84% So this is basically one box, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. 01:06:12.353 --> 01:06:15.570 align:middle line:90% 01:06:15.570 --> 01:06:17.780 align:middle line:84% That's going into dungeons and killing monsters 01:06:17.780 --> 01:06:18.633 align:middle line:90% and getting loot. 01:06:18.633 --> 01:06:22.890 align:middle line:90% 01:06:22.890 --> 01:06:25.034 align:middle line:90% I think we just played this one. 01:06:25.034 --> 01:06:29.281 align:middle line:90% 01:06:29.281 --> 01:06:32.876 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] I just played the expansions-- 01:06:32.876 --> 01:06:43.230 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] fade in and out of reality. 01:06:43.230 --> 01:06:47.600 align:middle line:84% [INAUDIBLE] jump between different zones. 01:06:47.600 --> 01:06:49.190 align:middle line:90% PROFESSOR: I could see that. 01:06:49.190 --> 01:06:50.910 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: If there is-- 01:06:50.910 --> 01:06:57.204 align:middle line:90% there is [INAUDIBLE] 01:06:57.204 --> 01:06:58.620 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: A lot of expansions are 01:06:58.620 --> 01:07:01.350 align:middle line:84% designed for people who've mastered the original game. 01:07:01.350 --> 01:07:05.100 align:middle line:84% Because theoretically, if you play the game often enough 01:07:05.100 --> 01:07:07.469 align:middle line:84% and you're coordinated enough as a group, 01:07:07.469 --> 01:07:09.010 align:middle line:84% you should be able to beat everything 01:07:09.010 --> 01:07:11.920 align:middle line:90% that the game throws at you. 01:07:11.920 --> 01:07:12.980 align:middle line:90% Same goes for Pandemic. 01:07:12.980 --> 01:07:15.240 align:middle line:84% The question is that coordination part 01:07:15.240 --> 01:07:18.180 align:middle line:90% and some luck of course. 01:07:18.180 --> 01:07:22.290 align:middle line:84% All the audio tracks will also be available on MP3. 01:07:22.290 --> 01:07:24.620 align:middle line:84% If somebody wants to play Space Alert, 01:07:24.620 --> 01:07:27.090 align:middle line:84% I would suggest actually taking a corner of the room, maybe 01:07:27.090 --> 01:07:28.350 align:middle line:90% that one. 01:07:28.350 --> 01:07:30.560 align:middle line:84% Because you need to be able to hear what's going on. 01:07:30.560 --> 01:07:34.080 align:middle line:84% Actually, could you just plug it in there? 01:07:34.080 --> 01:07:36.702 align:middle line:90% AUDIENCE: It's pretty loud. 01:07:36.702 --> 01:07:38.160 align:middle line:84% If your computer has a CD drive you 01:07:38.160 --> 01:07:38.755 align:middle line:90% could do something over there. 01:07:38.755 --> 01:07:40.296 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: I feel like the tracks 01:07:40.296 --> 01:07:42.822 align:middle line:90% are designed to disorient you. 01:07:42.822 --> 01:07:45.280 align:middle line:84% PROFESSOR: But you need to be able to hear what's going on. 01:07:45.280 --> 01:07:47.970 align:middle line:84% So it needs to be loud enough that everyone around the table 01:07:47.970 --> 01:07:51.750 align:middle line:84% can hear on top of all the talking that you're 01:07:51.750 --> 01:07:54.865 align:middle line:90% going to be making in the game. 01:07:54.865 --> 01:07:59.345 align:middle line:84% So give it a try just on the computer speakers. 01:07:59.345 --> 01:08:00.720 align:middle line:84% If we can't hear what's going on, 01:08:00.720 --> 01:08:03.420 align:middle line:84% then we'll try it again with other speakers. 01:08:03.420 --> 01:08:06.256 align:middle line:84% We should definitely be able to hear. 01:08:06.256 --> 01:08:08.310 align:middle line:84% Definitely try to pick a corner where 01:08:08.310 --> 01:08:11.910 align:middle line:84% the noise of the other games isn't going to bother you. 01:08:11.910 --> 01:08:15.505 align:middle line:84% Also, just take a look at the parts. 01:08:15.505 --> 01:08:17.630 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: Two to four players for Forbidden Island, 01:08:17.630 --> 01:08:19.050 align:middle line:90% it takes about half an hour. 01:08:19.050 --> 01:08:21.218 align:middle line:90% Two to four, for Pandemic? 01:08:21.218 --> 01:08:24.120 align:middle line:84% GUEST SPEAKER: For Pandemic two to four. 01:08:24.120 --> 01:08:26.539 align:middle line:84% AUDIENCE: And then this one, one to five. 01:08:26.539 --> 01:08:30.065 align:middle line:90% 01:08:30.065 --> 01:08:31.315 align:middle line:90% [INAUDIBLE] 01:08:31.315 --> 01:08:50.874 align:middle line:90%