Optimizing Play: Why Theorycrafting Breaks Games and How to Fix It

Paul, Christopher A.

Optimizing Play: Why Theorycrafting Breaks Games and How to Fix It
  • 出版商: MIT
  • 出版日期: 2024-05-14
  • 售價: $1,410
  • 貴賓價: 9.5 折 $1,340
  • 語言: 英文
  • 頁數: 200
  • 裝訂: Quality Paper - also called trade paper
  • ISBN: 0262547783
  • ISBN-13: 9780262547789

    • 海外代購書籍(需單獨結帳)

商品描述

An unexpected take on how games work, what the stakes are for them, and how game designers can avoid the traps of optimization.

The process of optimization in games seems like a good thing--who wouldn't want to find the most efficient way to play and win? As Christopher Paul argues in Optimizing Play, however, optimization can sometimes risk a tragedy of the commons, where actions that are good for individuals jeopardize the overall state of the game for everyone else. As he explains, players inadvertently limit play as they theorycraft, seeking optimal choices. The process of developing a meta, or the most effective tactic available, structures decision making, causing play to stagnate. A "stale" meta then creates a perception that a game is solved and may lead players to turn away from the game.

Drawing on insights from game studies, rhetoric, the history of science, ecology, and game theory literature, Paul explores the problem of optimization in a range of video games, including Overwatch, FIFA/EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Clash Royale, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends. He also pulls extensively from data analytics in sports, where the problem has progressed further and is even more intractable than it is in video games, given the money sports teams invest to find an edge. Finally, Paul offers concrete and specific suggestions for how games can be developed to avoid the trap set by optimization run amok.

商品描述(中文翻譯)

一個意想不到的觀點，探討遊戲的運作方式、其風險，以及遊戲設計師如何避免優化的陷阱。

在遊戲中，優化的過程似乎是一件好事——誰不想找到最有效率的方式來遊玩和獲勝呢？然而，正如克里斯多福·保羅在《Optimizing Play》中所論述的，優化有時可能會冒著公共資源悲劇的風險，即對個人有利的行為可能會危及整個遊戲的狀態。他解釋道，玩家在進行理論推演、尋求最佳選擇時，無意中限制了遊玩。發展一個元遊戲（meta），或是最有效的策略，會結構化決策過程，導致遊玩停滯。隨著時間的推移，'陳舊'的元遊戲會產生一種遊戲已被解決的感知，並可能使玩家轉向其他遊戲。

保羅借鑒了遊戲研究、修辭學、科學史、生態學和遊戲理論文獻的見解，探討了在多款視頻遊戲中優化的問題，包括《Overwatch》、《FIFA》/《EA Sports FC》、《NBA 2K》、《Clash Royale》、《World of Warcraft》和《League of Legends》。他還廣泛引用了體育數據分析的資料，因為在體育中，這個問題的發展更為深入，且比在視頻遊戲中更難以解決，考慮到體育隊伍為了尋找優勢所投入的資金。最後，保羅提供了具體且明確的建議，說明如何開發遊戲以避免優化失控所設下的陷阱。

作者簡介

Christopher A. Paul is Professor of Communication and Media at Seattle University. He is the author of Free-to-Play and coauthor, with Mia Consalvo, of Real Games (both MIT Press). He is also the author of The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games and Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games.

作者簡介(中文翻譯)

克里斯多福·A·保羅是西雅圖大學的傳播與媒體教授。他是《免費遊玩》的作者，並與米婭·康薩爾沃共同撰寫《真實遊戲》（均由麻省理工學院出版社出版）。他還是《電子遊戲的有毒精英主義》和《文字遊戲與電子遊戲的話語》的作者。

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