The discussion with Moroagh continues, with the blog post Game devs learning from gamers (yes, I know it’s hard), part I. Alas, there’s no comment function over there, so I can’t reply directly in context.

The post is about the parable that Moroagh wrote a while back. The core point that Moroagh raises is a good one: designers have a strong tendency to say “the game should be played this way,” and to be resistant to alternate modes of play. I could maybe make the case that designers have that tendency because it’s core to their role: saying “the game should be played this way” is a decent, if not all-encompassing, description of what game design actually is.

That said, no designer worth their salt tries to change human nature, or assumes they have complete control. It’s just not in the cards. Moroagh is absolutely right to call designers on this.

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