On Wed, 13 Jul 2016, nichdel wrote:
> On 07/12/2016 08:02 PM, Owen Jacobson wrote:
> I'd make an argument that the commodity produced by Agora is the story of
> Agora.
That's... a great way to look at it; never thought of it that way.
> Side-note: By this line of reasoning, the herald is the most important office.
I've often thought this! Every now and then, seeing the (mostly unchanging)
Herald report in passing, brings both good memories and future ideas.
> If this is our end-goal then we need to reward behavior that makes the game
> more interesting, and increases the chances that other players do interesting
> things. Sub-games are perhaps the easiest way to do this, but often the least
> interesting. Reading the story of how someone won a game, even a game of
> brilliant tactics, is usually boring to everyone except those who are deeply
> invested in the game. And the only game that we can rely on Agora players
> being invested in is Agora (or, more abstractly, nomics).
>
> Thus, reading how a proposal created a time of uncertainty and chaos, leading
> to desperate attempts to fix things, is interesting to us. Reading about scams
> that were sudden strokes of genius is fascinating. Large-scale events where
> players took sides and battled with proposals, CFJs, and witty banter are the
> life-blood of Agora.
I wouldn't dismiss "winning reports" too much. Proposal-fights are fun, but
my favorite fights (even when not involved personally) were around non-proposal
struggles: winning, economy, office elections, all support "scams and strokes of
genius".
> * Substantial successful proposals.
>
> * CFJs that generate significant controversy.
Just empirically, I think I disagree. I think the "most enjoyable" play
happens
when a set of rules are stable enough and CFJ-proofed enough that gameplay
(again, economy or winning) can be pursued by multiple players for several
months leading to an exciting but "fair" climax (maybe with some minor 'clever
interpretation' CFJs on the way, but nothing game-breaking). Having the rules
pulled-out-from-under someone via CFJ or scam (e.g. the way it killed the
dungeonmaster) can be really annoying, and just from observation, seems to turn
off players and leads to disenchantment/dropping out. *Especially* if it
happens after considerable gameplay time has been invested.
Of course, big scams or more "notorious" in retrospect but I'm not sure if
it's more "pleasurably memorable" in the players who were there or not...
As a side note, your email is a kick for me to dust off my year-old half-
finished thesis...
