Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35142 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20817 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7405 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3967 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3493 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2074 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2582 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2250 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2494 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3014 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1971 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3692 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2619 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2461 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2289 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2505 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Talk about whatever you like related to games that doesn't fit anywhere else.

Certainty vs. Ambiguity

More
23 Jan 2018 19:02 #261902 by birdman37
Replied by birdman37 on topic Certainty vs. Ambiguity

dysjunct wrote: I thought that was Lew Pulsifer.

I was about to post the exact same reply...

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2018 19:09 - 23 Jan 2018 19:12 #261903 by Sevej
Replied by Sevej on topic Certainty vs. Ambiguity
Not only underused, but intentionally so. Publishers need to sell games, and the best games for that purpose are games that are reliable.

Games with contain a high degree of luck and uncertainty tend to have crazy moments, but only once in a while. Most people'd rather settle for something not exciting but delivers most of the time.

I doubt very little designer is not aware of using uncertainty. They just don't want to use it.

(It also because making a reliable game with luck and uncertainty is more difficult)
Last edit: 23 Jan 2018 19:12 by Sevej.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Colorcrayons

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2018 22:41 #261909 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Certainty vs. Ambiguity

dysjunct wrote: I thought that was Lew Pulsifer.


Whoops, my bad. Yeah, it was Pulsifer, not Costikyan.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2018 22:55 #261910 by Shellhead

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jan 2018 23:33 #261912 by Jackwraith
Replied by Jackwraith on topic Certainty vs. Ambiguity
As with music, my opinion varies widely. I love Go. I have a ridiculous number of books about Go. I'm not a good player, but it's one of the few games that I have on my phone that I semi-regularly play. I desperately want to get better at it, but I don't have anyone regular to play with. My girlfriend, almost strictly a Eurogamer, isn't interested. Me, mostly an ATer when it comes to boardgames, loves the most popular abstract in the world. WTF? But having perfect information doesn't detract from the variety of the games, because the possible moves and combinations are so wide-ranging.

However, I also loved GW games. The hidden information in those games is, of course, the dice. You know what your opponent's army is, what it can do, even the spells and magic items before play begins. Rolling fistfuls of dice is the (literal) variable in those games once they've started (there are, of course, ridiculous numbers of variables in army composition, scenario, etc.) But as I argued to many people back in the day on BGG, the skill and "test of intellect" in those "random" games is bending those odds in your direction. If I get a full-on charge with my Plague Furnace and 8-rank deep unit of Frenzied Plague Monks, i'm probably gonna seriously fuck up whatever I hit. But I have a 50% chance of missing with every roll I make (Monks are WS3.) But if I eliminate the target unit's rank bonus because my Night Runners flank them at the same time because I snuck them forward, then I'm almost certainly winning that combat, regardless of how poorly I roll. I maneuvered my units to not only get the charge, but get it at the right time (with Skaven, no less! Am I a god? Let's ask the Plague Priest on the Furnace...) That's where you're trying to take that hidden information (i.e. how well or not you're going to roll) and bend it to your advantage.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Colorcrayons, birdman37

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Jan 2018 10:23 - 24 Jan 2018 10:23 #261943 by engelstein
Replied by engelstein on topic Certainty vs. Ambiguity
Would love to play some Go. I am also an aspirational player, who hasn't played a real game in decades. There must be some sort of online/app-based way to play?
Last edit: 24 Jan 2018 10:23 by engelstein.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Jan 2018 13:31 #261986 by RobertB
Replied by RobertB on topic Certainty vs. Ambiguity
Yeah, I remember Dr. Pulsipher. He seemed just about as full of crap as Raph Koster.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.157 seconds