Jan 9, 2018, 7:06 PM

@lisse24 In a perfect world, anyone not interested in a system or that doesn't find it fun just wouldn't participate in it and it wouldn't trouble anyone that exists on its own, but that's not really how I have to plan things, unfortunately.

So there's a ton of questions I have to ask for any coded system in order to keep the same atmosphere I want. Who is this fun for? What kind of RP does it help foster? What problems does it solve? What potential negative behaviors might it introduce as a consequence, and how to counteract that? What are the abuse cases and how do we stop those?

Those are the most basic ones, then you get into a lot more nebulous feel, because for any system with any kind of mechanic benefit, you have this really fine line of feeling worthwhile for players that are motivated mechanically, but also then you'll have a niche appeal of ones that will enjoy it and ones that won't, and you have to try to make it worth enough that most players will see it as a worthwhile endeavor without being so overwhelming that it feels mandatory.

One use case that you just can't help are players that are true completists, that feel extremely unhappy unless they have total mastery over every aspect of the game and are completely independent and self-reliant. Particularly when you design specifically to counteract that by trying to design collaborative systems that create scarcity by force reliance upon other PCs, because the former goal can lead to extremely problematic outcomes. The best you can do in those situations is try to balance by degree in trying to make the rewards scaled to give diminishing returns.