Who does an army listen to? I'm reading Shadow Games (the 4th book in the Black Company series) and there's a situation where a General might be in a position to draft folk for an army, but there's a local religion to whose Priests these folk are loyal.

I'm think about forum mafia, and how things can swing depending on who's mafia and who's not. What about depending on who really has the hearts of the people? It's something you might not know until it's tested, and the test might cost you dearly. (I.e. the General says "to battle!" And the Priest says "mutiny!")

Mafia writ large. An army a thousand strong, each conscript playing a game of localized mafia.

How do I stay focused on one project? How do I know what project is worth focusing on? This is a major issue and I don't yet have a solution. Maybe ADHD meds are the solution! I've never tried to get 'em. It feels like giving up. Shouldn't I be able to figure out the brain I've got? It's scary to think about giving up on that fight.

I've been playing forum mafia and every game I find myself rubbing uncomfortably up against my ego, as well as some paranoid tendencies.

It's fascinating and I love playing this game for this reason: it lets me go hard and examine myself in a safe space.

In the most recent game a player was going at me hard for "acting suspicious" and I reacted by suspecting them back - I theorize because I didn't want to accept that I was being suspicious / playing a bad town game. Much easier to believe that this other player was mafia, trying to cast undeserved suspicion on me!

I resolved this feeling and got back to being reasonable, but it was too late... I'd lost impartiality and ended up making the wrong decision. We lost that game. RIP.

Change log

Changed 'Settings' to 'Metagame' (lost the SSSS alliteration. Oh well.)

Changed 'Skin' to 'Sensation' (less fun, but reads better. thanks randy!)

Change log 2

Changed them back. Flip-flopping.

Settings (or Metagame)
The player's agency to choose what part of the game they want to play, and how they want it to work.
Covers things like controls, difficulty settings, and accessibility... but also equipment, level selection, and hub worlds.

System
The interesting decisionspace's material. Minmaxing, optimization, economy.
One half of gamefeel.

Skin
Juice, control, feeling. Presentation. Sensation.
One half of gamefeel.
One half of narrative.

Story
Words and memories. The stories you remember and transmit? Not the story of the game (though that may reside here). The themes, but not the emotions.
One half of narrative.

Ought I look back at deadgames and alivegames through this lens?

If I write something poetic or motivational or otherwise feel-y and someone argues the truth value of what I'm saying, is there a point in engaging beyond to state, "It's not declaring truth"?

Or ... should I only make statements that I believe are true? It seems terribly restrictive. In what contexts may I abuse the truth for effect?

Thecatamites' quote describes a dynamic - a particular experiential phenomenon. it's poetry. Reading it, you may relate or you may not. What type of writing is this? Descriptive-empathetic? It's just a statement. I guess the use of the term "no-one" is strictly speaking a falsehood, but it communicates a sense of belonging, and it's casual language anyway.

Even to say "I cannot read videogame text" would be a falsehood. How does rational logic understand poetry? It can't. Poetry has already gone meta. You don't argue with poetry unless you're a great fool.

Watching Sable, I see a coming-of-age story. Sable is going to do the gliding. Seems like you get a mask? Okay. You need to get permission from the grown-ups. They see you as adult, you get to do the coming-of-age.

Makes me think: What if they never do? What does a story arc look like for a character who's denied their coming-of-age because the adults don't see them as adult?

Very vinegary, not sweet. Works as an interesting side dish, but not great. Try something else to respect the beautiful lotus root.

Stir Fried Lotus Root with Pepper
5 from 5 votes
Prep Time:
10 mins
Cook Time:
5 mins
Course: Side DishCuisine: Chinese Servings: 2 -4 Author: Maggie Zhu

INGREDIENTS
1 segment 350 grams / 12 ounces lotus root
1 cup cubed chili pepper or bell pepper
3 tablespoons chopped scallion or green onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon black vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS
Rinse and peel lotus root. To cube lotus root, cut the segment in half lengthwise, slice along the tube, then cut into 1- to 1.5-centimeter (about 0.5-inch) cubes. Prepare and cut the other vegetables.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add lotus root and boil for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat (high heat on an electric stove) until hot. Add scallion and stir until fragrant. Add lotus root and pepper, and stir until half cooked, about 3 minutes (longer if you use a skillet instead of wok). Add sugar and swirl in vinegar. Immediately stir to mix the seasoning well, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in salt and stir until mixed well, about 20 seconds. Stop heat and transfer everything to a plate.
Serve warm as side or appetizer.

a game is an invitation to play.

in some cases, a game includes the definition - in part or in whole - of the material with which you are invited to play.

i can't make games without gameplay. replayability comes from mastery, comfort, variety, with a little bit of this sort of meta-spice: ownership over my own particular relationship & sense that others will have their own relationships to the gameplay... let's call it individuality & sonder, or perhaps individuality and empathy. the double-edged sonder...

not just "the feeling you get when realising everyone around you has a rich and complex life just as you do",
but also feeling that your own life is rich and complex, and not merely flat and present.

GAMEPLAY
- mastery, comfort
- ownership/sense of reality with different people (maybe)
- variety

NOT GAMEPLAY
- aesthetic, sense of place
- reflection, "reading"

Replayability fantasy/aesthetic types:

AESTHETIC, SENSE OF PLACE
- Space I like to inhabit, or revisit

VARIETY
- High spatial variability - nothing will happen "The same" as last time. (Beetlenaut)

OWNERSHIP? SENSE OF REALITY WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE (SONDER)
- Things COULD HAVE gone very differently. My own journey. Same as above but also different (LabAtMidnight, jackcrawford_)

MASTERY, COMFORT
- the feeling that your skills are improving. cozy and inspiring. mastery over repeated segments. (ms_frogrammer, TheGrittyDev)
- Long replayability - reward curiousity and experimentation, incrementally develop a relationship with it over time. "I often find myself replaying and winning the same games many many times" (lorenschmidt, tonehackRL)

REFLECTION, "READING"
- get deeper meaning and understanding of it; pay attention to detail; enjoy it again under a new light (mutmedia, raforlamot)

Thinking about forgettability. Is this a goal? Memorable?