Why the Random Number God is not your friend.
08-19-2013, 12:46 AM
Random chance is a mechanic in a lot of games. It exists to add some uncertainty to the players' strategy and force them to do some basic risk management. Risk management as a game mechanic is fun! Being 'unlucky' however, is very not fun.
When the player misses with his ultimate attack for the 5th turn in a row, they blame the Random Number God. When that loot they want just won't drop, the Random Number God is angry. Why players personify random chance in games is due to the difference in how we think probability works, and how it ACTUALLY works.
For example, if the player has a 50% chance to hit a target, any reasonable person would take that to mean "I will miss about every other turn." The reality is they will very likely have runs of 4 or even 5 turns where they do not score a hit (if this doesn't make sense to you, try it for yourself). The difference between the expected and actual outcome will cause the player to become frustrated.
"But Pen" you might say "even if random chance doesn't make sense, it's still fun because it effects everything equally!" To which I say, not true! If the player has an unlucky run, they might game over and lose progress. If enemies have an unlucky run, the player just gets one easy fight.
How can we, the game developers, make random chance more fair to the player?
When the player misses with his ultimate attack for the 5th turn in a row, they blame the Random Number God. When that loot they want just won't drop, the Random Number God is angry. Why players personify random chance in games is due to the difference in how we think probability works, and how it ACTUALLY works.
For example, if the player has a 50% chance to hit a target, any reasonable person would take that to mean "I will miss about every other turn." The reality is they will very likely have runs of 4 or even 5 turns where they do not score a hit (if this doesn't make sense to you, try it for yourself). The difference between the expected and actual outcome will cause the player to become frustrated.
"But Pen" you might say "even if random chance doesn't make sense, it's still fun because it effects everything equally!" To which I say, not true! If the player has an unlucky run, they might game over and lose progress. If enemies have an unlucky run, the player just gets one easy fight.
How can we, the game developers, make random chance more fair to the player?