User:Spazalicious Chaos/Spaz's Law of Immersion- How a Game is Rated Via Reality

A lot of people talk about "bad games" and "good games" and why games belong in one category or the other. However, such black and white terms do not stay true in the gray melting pot of RPGs, as the very minds that sit down and built stories together warp and shift all games. Without some overarching power to keep all games consistent, like the RPGA or the Camarilla, whether a game is good or bad is up to the people who play them. I hate 4e as a game, but I have found a group that I can play with sanse vomit.

Since all games boil down to how they are played for quality, what it boils down to is how well a game supports your play style. I like realistic games, as then I can use the weird-ass shit that happens in real life all the time to add weird-ass shit to my games. I rate this realism via the following process.

Spaz's Law of Immersion
If a simulation of a given situation cannot incorporate a possiblity or action that can be performed or created by the simulation user, the simulation is invalid and the user cannot be immersed.

The testing of this law is simple and can be done in three easy steps.

Immersion Phase 1- Create Self as Character
Really, this is kinda obvious- can I create an avatar of my self that represents my existing abilities using the games character creation process?

First, you have to have a resonably good picture of your own capabilities and talents. Second, you have to be ready to advance or retard the character creation process to match your skill level; while I know only four people that can be presented as a full powered hero in Scion, my 3.5e avatar is not possible below 7th level (multiclassing is a bitch...) Finally, you have to be accepting of additional powers that the character creation process my land you with, like way more hit points than you'd think you had or (minor) magic powers. However, never be too forgiving with extra powers. If you have to grab a flaming sword and laser vision before you can drive your car, the game sucks.

Case of Breaking Point: D&D 4e I have yet to find a way to create anything resembling myself in 4e. To get my rather basic crafting and survival skills apparently I have to be a bard with every multiclass feat known to WotC... and then I still can't get all the skills I know regardless of how I'm built. As far as I'm concerned, 4e is the worst game ever. Hell, even FATAL is a better game...

Immersion Phase 2- Peace Time Actions
This one is very important for me and can only be revealed through play- can I do the types of things I can normally in the same conditions?

Things I look for are realisitc ways to get tasks done faster (can my friends help? can I read some instructions on it?), how difficult or easy it is to get tasks done with a given ammount of time (do I have to roll to pee? how long will it take me to do research?), and if there are varying degree of quality for said tasks that represent skill AND resources. The last part is of vital importance. If it takes me 4 hours and six dollars to make a rubberband gunblade by myself, but the same ammount of time and the same resulting quality if a carpenter friend helps, fuck you game.

Case of Breaking Point: Space 1889 For some reason, there is no way for people to combine resources or aid one another in this game. If your martian colonist tries to build a barn, apparently no one can help him. If your are setting charges for a battle field, you have to set up the entire field yourself. I think South Park said it best- dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

Immersion Phase 3- Combat
Final item on the list and of least import, how do fights break down? I can and will play a game with broken combat systems (see intro), but it had better allow me some creative option to get some reality in there.

I fight and spar with unarmed and weapons techniques, thus I know how a fight should look and feel. Note SHOULD, not DO. I am not a combat vet, I have been in only a few (less than ten) life or death situations, and I can count the combat/violence related ones on one hand. But I have trained and know what to expect.

For the rest of you, start a friendly fist fight with your friends. You don't need to break each other, and it should all be consentual; treat fighting your friends like you would sex and you should be okay as far as the law is concerned. After a few bouts of this should should get a feel of what heroic combat would be like, as "heroic" is all based on this kind of social rediculousness anyway.

Now, take your avatar selves that you should have already made and run that combat, with all toy's you had in the actual fight. The closer your options and abilities were to what they were in the real fight, the better the combat system.

Case of Breaking Point: D&D 3.5 While many of the other d20 games are reasonably close (True 20 and d20 Modern in particular), in D&D the lack of wound effects just bugs me. I don't fight the same or as effectively when at 10% health. Also, the crossbow reloading times are FUBAR, as are muzzle loading weapons and attack per round. As a point of intrest, the average man with no training can get in 4 attacks per second. With his fists.