Spam Spam Spam Humbug 81 – Gameplay Features: Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em
Subscribe on iTunes | Subscribe on Google Play | Subscribe on TuneIn | Subscribe on Stitcher | Subscribe on Podbean | Subscribe on Android
Co-Producers
This episode of Spam Spam Spam Humbug is brought to you by our Patreon backers; thank you to everyone who supports Spam Spam Spam Humbug and the Ultima Codex by that means. And, as always, a hearty thank you to our Patreon co-producers: Seth, Dominik, Chris, Violation, Adam, Avatar’s Radio, Erik, Thorwan, Pascal, Neil, Helgraf, Aaron, the Hearth of Britannia, Edward, Stirring Dragon, and Cranberry.
New Patrons
We have two big shout-outs to give to backers this week. Firstly, we want to say thank you to Stirring Dragon, who has been a “behind the scenes” figure of the podcast for a while now. He recently bumped his pledge level, for which we are very grateful.
And we have a new backer as well…we say both thank you and welcome to Cranberry, whom you’ll remember from a few episodes that she has turned up for.
New Ultima Dragons
Facebook: Bruce, Michael, Kelly
Podcast Topic(s)
This was a bit more of a systems-level discussion…not a pure technical discussion, but definitely focused on the design side of gaming. We take a look at the side effects of gameplay features (e.g. NPC schedules, day/night cycles, monster level scaling), and note the impact these can have on a player’s overall enjoyment of a game. Because while they sound like good things on paper, a lot of these systems can result in mixed feelings on the part of gamers.
For example: it’s not always desirable to lose the ability to go back and “farm” earlier content for certain items, or for experience. There’s a certain entertainment value — and a certain catharsis — to being able to go back and utterly demolish weak opponents in overly dramatic ways.
Or, consider NPC schedules: when you need a particular item from a particular shopkeeper — or, worse, when you’re critically wounded, and poisoned, and in desperate need of a healer — and the NPC you need to talk to not only has gone to sleep, but will refuse to transact with you even if you do wake him up (because his store is closed), that can be a significant blocker, and put a bit of a dark cloud over your enjoyment of an game’s “immersive sim” aspects.
We also ask: if a game developer implements a game mechanic that is exploitable, but then after realizing it is, fails to fix it for an extended period of time, does that mean they are condoning exploiting that mechanic?
Support Spam Spam Spam Humbug
Patreon | Buy Games at GOG | Like Ultima on Facebook | Follow the Ultima Codex on Twitter
Join the Ultima Community
UDIC.org | Ultima Dragons on Facebook | Ultima Dragons on Google+ | Follow the Ultima Dragons on Twitter | Ultima Dragons on Slack | The Weyrmount | Ultima Dragons on Discord
Send Feedback
Send Us an Email | Leave a Voice Message | Join Us on Discord
Where to Find Us Online
WtFD – Twitter | Facebook | The Ultima Codex | About.me
Balron – Tumblr | Ultima Dragons on Facebook | Facebook | Twitter
Draxenath – Steam | Record of the Dragon Goddess
Boolean – Twitter | Eight Virtues Games | YouTube | 8VRadio
Goldenflame – Tapestry of Ages Games | Twitter | Facebook | SoundCloud
Music
Ultima VI Gates of Creation by OC ReMix
We take a look at gameplay features — NPC schedules, day/night cycles, and other systems — and their impact on one’s enjoyment of a game.