tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7781060643507162251.post1346320711632392932..comments2023-10-08T08:54:40.079-04:00Comments on LARP Ohio: Cultivating Player PerspectivesTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17437406306299325645noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7781060643507162251.post-61850041786028567122010-08-17T16:08:06.135-04:002010-08-17T16:08:06.135-04:00BF Skinner is definitely the godfather of this pos...BF Skinner is definitely the godfather of this post. All player behaviors, from Cheating to PvP to emergent plot, can be understood in terms of invcentives. If players aren't acting in the way you expected, they may be experiencing different incentives than the ones you created.Fresh Heirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14258886590487231741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7781060643507162251.post-87058752253339363222010-08-13T14:37:18.209-04:002010-08-13T14:37:18.209-04:00@Noah
Perfect example, and I couldn't have sa...@Noah<br /><br />Perfect example, and I couldn't have said it better myself. No one was wrong, but the perceptions were different.<br /><br />I will add, it's very easy as plot to think that something is straight-forward, obvious, or common sense when it isn't for a player in the game. Always try and get an unbiased observer to check a plotline to avoid situations like that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10979935681444364292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7781060643507162251.post-76159479155257151472010-08-13T11:13:56.289-04:002010-08-13T11:13:56.289-04:00Yea I have seen that too, it is important for plot...Yea I have seen that too, it is important for plot to realize that just because you expect someone to react a certain way does not mean that you should punish them for not acting that way. Some of the coolest plot lines I have ever seen have been off the cuff responses to player actions.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17437406306299325645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7781060643507162251.post-2181239126890694392010-08-13T11:10:45.616-04:002010-08-13T11:10:45.616-04:00Ah, now this is something I can comment on knowled...Ah, now this is something I can comment on knowledgably. Bill is absolutely correct. Positive reinforcement is the single best way to alter behavior, as evidenced by B.F. Skinner's work in Behaviorism. Punishing players for operating in ways that they have been taught are effective, or have not been taught are ineffective, is conter-productive. It leads to feelings of frustration and helplessness, which generate player apathy and ultimately loss of player base. <br /><br />The most effective way to generate behavioral change over the long term is to begin with fixed ratio (wherein players recieve rewards each time they complete a task in the desired manner) and transition to variable ratio (wherein players recieve rewards at random within an averaged variable set) Variable ratio reinforcement has the lowest degree of behavior extiction, therefore leading to longer sets of desired behavior with less reinforcement. For practical examples think Las Vegas casinos or WoW treasure drops (both are brilliantly executed).<br /><br />The point is, human beings are highly (almost eerily) moldable if you can control significant enough portions of their environment. In LARP, the plot can control virtually all portions of the environment, and are fully capable of adjusting player behavior over what can really be a relatively short amount of time.<br /><br />David Jurns, B.A, M.Ed.<br /><br />P.S. - B.F. Skinner FTWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7781060643507162251.post-39366535212779579412010-08-13T10:58:10.474-04:002010-08-13T10:58:10.474-04:00A good example of this was a plotline where my cha...A good example of this was a plotline where my character's barbarian tribe was going to war with another tribe. The way I've been "wired" to play is that if a challenge is presented to you in the game, then you are supposed to deal with it directly. <br /><br />In the writer's mind, we were supposed to recruit an army of NPC allies from the numerous plot factions, and only attack their leaders directly. But because of the way I'm wired, when I was presented with the challenge of "a barbarian army attacked your tribe's settlements," I responded by directly attacking them. The battle was insanely rough, nearly unwinable. Waves upon waves of barbarians with slays were thrown at us, supported by normal-only-to-hit Faeries.<br /><br />Afterwards, I was like, "That was insane. If these barbarians are that powerful, how did they not take over the world already? Are my tribe's barbarians that buff? Geez!" The writer's response was, "What'd you expect? Your 8-man team took on *a whole army* by yourselves. There are plenty of allies you could've used, but you just walked up in person."<br /><br />My reaction was, "What do you mean, 'we took it on by ourselves?' Of course we did. We're at a Nero event, that's what you do at events. The NPCs say, 'Here's a problem,' and you go solve the problem."<br /><br />Neither one of us was wrong, but we both had drastically different expectations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com