Theorycraft and Optimization - Wordplay and the Discourse of Video Games - page 128

8 Theorycraft and Optimization

One of the striking things about games is that they can be played in many
dif erent ways. Changing a reward system by introducing welfare epics
altered World of Warcraft ( WoW ), but that was an intervention initiated
by developers. Wordplay can also address how players shape the discourse
of video games. In many games new tactics are tested and developed that
allow players to develop strategies in an attempt to improve their odds of
success. When new approaches are successful they are often copied, imi-
tated, and integrated into other styles of play, ef ectively becoming new
norms for the game, like the forward pass in American football or the of -
side trap in soccer. These elements are intimately connected to wordplay, as
changes in games are formed and sustained by the elements both surround-
ing them and within them. Wordplay illustrates how the adoption of new
means of play is advanced, as people must perceive the change as likely to
be successful as a precursor to adapting the approach.
Shortly after the release of WoW 's fi rst expansion The Burning Cru-
sade , I became interested in the emergence of theorycrafting, as it helped
me play 'better.' Theorycraft, a strategy designed around the mathematical
analysis of WoW , is a discursive construct predicated on advising players
how to optimally 'play' WoW , suggesting what equipment to wear, what
talents to choose, and an order in which to cast spells. I was focused on
raiding, 1 large-scale group player versus environment play and, as a mage,
my primary job was to do as much damage as possible. One day I stumbled
across the Elitist Jerks web forums. There I found a cornucopia of infor-
mation about how to play WoW , with discussions of the optimal talents,
the most valuable trade skills, and sophisticated analyses of which spells
would be best in certain situations. It was my introduction to theorycraft-
ing and I was hooked. Since then, theorycrafting has become part of the
accepted canon of WoW , a norm for play, especially for those who raid.
Applying wordplay to theorycrafting of ers room to analyze how games
change over time and how players can infl uence a game's design by reshap-
ing how games are played.
Online games of er many ways to play and a social base upon which to
test new approaches. The combination of these factors fuels the development
of things like theorycrafting. Coinciding with an increase in statistical analy-
sis in sports and society, theorycrafters developed and advanced a specifi c